Chapter 13
The envelope belonged to Mia.
Lorenzo did not open it.
That surprised everyone.
Anthony looked at him.
“You don't want to know?”
“I do.”
Lorenzo’s eyes stayed on the envelope.
“That doesn't make it mine.”
A child psychologist reviewed it first.
Then Lorenzo sat beside Mia in a quiet room.
Her feet did not reach the floor.
The envelope rested on her lap.
“Mommy wrote it?”
“Yes.”
Mia traced the handwriting with one finger.
“Before the car?”
“Yes.”
Her breathing became uneven.
Lorenzo waited.
“Do I have to read it?”
“No.”
A pause.
“Can you?”
“If you want.”
Mia handed it over.
Inside was a short letter.
Elena told Mia that adults sometimes became angry when people told the truth.
She told her none of that anger was Mia’s fault.
She told her to trust Lorenzo even when he looked frightening.
And near the end:
Your father loves this family so much that sometimes he mistakes controlling it for protecting it. I hope one day you teach him the difference better than I could.
Lorenzo stopped reading.
Mia looked at him.
“Why’d you stop?”
His eyes lowered.
His voice roughened.
“Because your mother knew me.”
Mia waited.
He finished.
There was no accusation against Bianca.
No mention of Adrian.
Elena had written the letter before she knew exactly what the night would become.
But a second folded paper sat behind it.
Not for Mia.
For Lorenzo.
He opened it only after Mia left.
Elena had written:
If I am right, Bianca will make this about blood. Adrian will make it about loyalty. Both will tell you I was trying to take Mia away from you.
I am not.
I am trying to make you choose what kind of father she gets to grow up with.
Lorenzo lowered the page.
Anthony stood across the room.
Neither spoke.
Then Lorenzo reached the final line.
If I fail tonight, do not avenge me by becoming worse than the people I was trying to stop.
May you like
His hand began to tremble.
For the first time since Elena died, revenge and loyalty were no longer pointing in the same direction.
