Chapter 7
Bianca called me herself.
At 9:12 a.m.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Massimo.”
Her voice hadn't changed.
Older.
Lower.
Still my sister.
“Hello.”
Fourteen years disappeared.
Then came back all at once.
“Where are you?”
She laughed softly.
“You always did skip the sentimental part.”
“Where?”
“Close.”
I looked at Evelyn.
She stared at the floor.
“Did you pay Varga?”
“No.”
“Did Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“For you?”
“No.”
Interesting.
“Then why?”
“Because she needed men who didn't know what the real plan was.”
I stood.
“What real plan?”
Bianca exhaled.
“You're surrounded by idiots.”
Adrian heard enough to shout:
“Who are you calling—”
I raised one finger.
He stopped.
Bianca laughed.
“So that's Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“Still alive?”
“For now.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“Because I want him to understand how completely his mother used him.”
Evelyn looked up.
I put the phone on speaker.
“Go ahead.”
Bianca continued.
“Adrian, you were never becoming boss.”
His face hardened.
“Who is this?”
“Bianca Caradonna.”
Silence.
Even Gabriel stared.
Adrian looked at Evelyn.
“You told me she was irrelevant.”
Bianca laughed.
“Your mother says that about women right before she needs them.”
Evelyn snapped:
“You ungrateful little—”
Bianca cut her off.
“You still sound exactly the same.”
I stepped toward the window.
“What do you want?”
“Not your chair.”
“Then?”
“To stop Helena's mistake.”
“Who's Helena?”
Silence.
Then I realized.
Bianca wasn't talking about a person in our current story.
She corrected herself.
“Evelyn.”
Interesting slip.
No.
Not slip.
Memory.
They had history.
“What mistake?”
Bianca continued.
“Evelyn thinks Varga will walk men through St. Michael, kill you, and hand Adrian the southern crews.”
Adrian stared at his mother.
“That is the plan.”
Bianca laughed again.
“No.”
I looked at Evelyn.
She wouldn't meet his eyes.
Bianca continued.
“Varga's men were supposed to enter tonight.”
I frowned.
“Tonight?”
“Baby shower.”
I looked at the decorations.
Of course.
All the senior family.
Capos.
Security distracted.
Sofia's pregnancy gathering everyone under one roof.
Adrian went pale.
“That wasn't until the christening.”
Bianca said:
“Your mother moved it.”
He turned on Evelyn.
“You said we had weeks.”
Evelyn snapped:
“Sofia was becoming a problem.”
There.
Casual.
My daughter as scheduling inconvenience.
She continued.
“Then that brat started repeating things.”
Noah.
My hands closed.
Bianca went quiet.
Then:
“What brat?”
Evelyn realized.
Too late.
I looked at her.
“My grandson.”
Bianca's voice changed.
“You used a child?”
Evelyn rolled her eyes.
“Don't pretend you're moral now.”
I stepped closer.
“What did you do?”
Evelyn stared back.
“He hears things.”
“So?”
“He needed to learn not to repeat them.”
“How?”
She smiled.
“I told him every time he talked about the basement, Sofia stayed in the dark room another hour.”
Adrian looked away.
Even he seemed uncomfortable.
I stared at Evelyn.
She kept going because she believed cruelty made her strong.
“He learned.”
“No.”
I looked at Noah's empty chair.
“He became afraid.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
My voice dropped.
“Only to people like you.”
Bianca spoke through the phone.
“Massimo.”
I answered.
“Talk.”
“Varga isn't coming for you.”
I frowned.
“Then?”
“He's coming for Gabriel.”
Gabriel straightened.
“Why?”
Bianca answered.
“Because Gabriel can prove Evelyn framed him twelve years ago.”
Not papers.
Not evidence.
Witnesses.
Living history.
“And if Gabriel dies,” she continued, “Evelyn can still tell the old capos he was the traitor.”
Gabriel smiled grimly.
“Convenient.”
“What about me?”
Bianca paused.
“You're supposed to survive.”
That surprised everyone.
“Why?”
“Because a wounded boss with a pregnant daughter taken hostage is easier to control than a dead one.”
The room went still.
Adrian looked at his mother.
“What?”
Evelyn said nothing.
Bianca continued.
“Sofia and Noah are the leverage.”
My vision narrowed.
“And the baby?”
Another pause.
“The baby makes the leverage permanent.”
I looked at Evelyn.
She finally seemed afraid.
Not of me.
Of Adrian.
He stood slowly.
“You said nobody was taking Sofia.”
Evelyn whispered:
“Sit down.”
“You said she would stay with me.”
“Adrian.”
“You lied.”
She slapped him.
Hard.
“Everything I've done is because you're too weak to do it yourself.”
He froze.
There it was.
Mother and son.
The illusion finally gone.
Evelyn pointed toward Sofia's empty chair.
“That girl has controlled you since the wedding.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“She obeyed when I made her.”
“No.”
Evelyn laughed cruelly.
“You had to hit an eight-month-pregnant woman because she wouldn't tell you about a door.”
She leaned closer.
“And you still think that makes you powerful?”
Adrian looked as if she'd stabbed him.
I didn't enjoy it.
I needed answers.
“Bianca.”
“Yes?”
“Where are Varga's men?”
“Already inside your perimeter.”
Every bodyguard in the room moved.
I looked toward the windows.
“How?”
Bianca answered:
“Vincent opened St. Michael before you found him.”
I turned.
Vincent closed his eyes.
“How many?”
He whispered:
May you like
“Eight.”
Then alarms began ringing beneath the estate.
