Chapter 7
Luca Arden was living in one of my warehouses under another name.
Not hiding from me.
Hiding inside my organization.
That was worse.
Marcus had placed him there.
Quiet work.
Night shifts.
No meetings.
No chance anyone important would see him.
I had Luca brought to the estate before midnight.
The gala guests who mattered stayed.
Capos.
Senior family.
People who had watched Isabella slap me and Marcus attack me.
I wanted witnesses now.
Luca entered the gallery.
He saw the letters.
Then Isabella.
Then Marcus.
His face collapsed.
“You found Bunny.”
I stopped breathing.
Not the letters.
Bunny.
“You knew where they were.”
Luca looked at Marcus.
Marcus said:
“Don't.”
Luca laughed weakly.
“You still think you're giving orders?”
Marcus's face hardened.
I stepped closer.
“What happened at the lake house?”
Luca stared at the floor.
Isabella spoke first.
“He's a drunk.”
Luca looked at her.
She smiled.
“Tell everyone how much you drank.”
His jaw tightened.
“Tell them why nobody believed you afterward.”
I stared at Isabella.
She had prepared this.
Years ago.
Discredit the witness before he spoke.
Luca looked at me.
“I wasn't drunk that night.”
“What happened?”
Marcus interrupted.
“William.”
I didn't look at him.
“Luca.”
He swallowed.
“Marcus came through the south road.”
Truth.
Vivian's letter.
“Why?”
“Vale meeting.”
A few capos shifted.
I looked at Marcus.
“Which Vale?”
Luca answered.
“Grant Vale.”
Silver wolf ring.
I felt the room narrow.
“Purpose?”
“The river route.”
Marcus laughed.
“Business.”
Luca looked at him.
“You told him William would be out of the way soon.”
Silence.
The capos looked at Marcus.
He stopped laughing.
“What did that mean?”
Luca shook his head.
“I didn't know.”
“Then?”
“Vivian arrived.”
My chest tightened.
“She wasn't supposed to be there?”
“No.”
“She saw Vale?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Luca looked at Isabella.
“She tried to get Vivian upstairs.”
Isabella's face hardened.
Luca continued.
“Vivian refused.”
“What did she say?”
“That she was calling William.”
I remembered.
No call came.
“Why not?”
Luca stared at the floor.
“Marcus took her phone.”
Silence.
Marcus said:
“She was panicking.”
Luca turned.
“You threw it into the lake.”
A murmur went through the gallery.
I looked at Marcus.
He shrugged.
“She wouldn't stop.”
Cruel people always reduce terror to inconvenience.
“Then?”
Luca continued.
“Grant left.”
“Before the fire?”
“Yes.”
Good.
One outside man less.
“What caused the fire?”
Luca closed his eyes.
Marcus stopped breathing.
I waited.
“The boathouse heater.”
I frowned.
“It had been broken.”
“Marcus turned the fuel valve.”
Silence.
Marcus stepped forward.
“No.”
Bodyguards blocked him.
Luca continued.
“He wanted smoke.”
“For what?”
“To destroy the maps Vivian had seen.”
Marcus shouted:
“Liar!”
Luca looked at him.
“You told me nobody was inside.”
Silence.
My blood went cold.
“Was Vivian inside?”
Luca nodded.
Isabella whispered:
“No.”
I turned.
She looked terrified.
Luca continued.
“She went back.”
“Why?”
He looked at Bunny.
My daughter's rabbit.
My heart stopped.
“Charlotte.”
I could barely speak.
“What?”
“Charlotte was sleeping in the upstairs bedroom.”
My entire body turned cold.
Vivian went back into a burning lake house because Charlotte was inside.
“Who got Charlotte out?”
Luca stared at Isabella.
I looked at my fiancée.
She said nothing.
Luca whispered:
“She did.”
Silence.
Isabella had rescued my daughter.
That didn't fit.
Not yet.
I stared.
“Then Vivian?”
Luca closed his eyes.
“Vivian made it downstairs.”
My heart slammed.
“What?”
“She was alive.”
Isabella whispered:
“Stop.”
Luca looked at me.
“She reached the service hall.”
My hands shook for the first time.
Vivian had survived the fire long enough to reach the door.
Then why had she died?
Luca looked at Isabella.
And suddenly I understood why Isabella had saved Charlotte first.
She wanted leverage.
Luca's voice broke.
“Vivian begged Isabella to open the outside gate.”
Silence.
I looked at the woman I planned to marry.
“She had the key.”
The brass key.
The one she still carried.
Luca nodded.
“Isabella stood on the other side.”
No one moved.
“What did she do?”
May you like
Luca looked at me.
“Nothing.”
