Chapter 10
The wedding invitation had reached Bianca.
Marcus admitted it.
Not directly.
Through an old contact Thomas knew she still trusted.
“Did she answer?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know she received it?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Package disappeared.”
“What package?”
“A photograph.”
“Of?”
He looked at Ethan.
I felt sick.
“My son.”
Thomas interrupted:
“She deserved to know her grandson.”
“No.”
I stared.
“You wanted her to see him near the pool.”
Silence.
Vanessa began crying.
Not guilt.
Fear.
“I didn’t know that part.”
I looked at her.
“You shoved him.”
“Thomas said Bianca wouldn’t come unless the danger looked real.”
There.
The cruelty rearranged itself.
Ethan was not only bait for me.
He was bait for Bianca.
My father wanted both daughter and wife reacting to the same endangered child.
“Why?”
Thomas smiled faintly.
“Because Bianca took something.”
“What?”
“Loyalty.”
“From whom?”
“Old Moretti men.”
I understood.
Some older capos had never fully accepted Thomas after Bianca vanished.
If she returned publicly—
alive—
Thomas’s twelve-year story collapsed.
But if he controlled her return?
Different.
“You wanted her here.”
“Yes.”
“To kill her?”
“No.”
Thomas sounded offended.
“To finish a conversation.”
I almost laughed.
“You held her prisoner once.”
“She ran.”
“She survived you.”
“She stole men from this family.”
“She escaped.”
“Same thing.”
No.
I looked at Carlo.
“Which capos still know Bianca is alive?”
“Four.”
Thomas’s face hardened.
I continued.
“And they were invited tonight.”
Carlo nodded.
I looked across the terrace.
Four older men.
Silent since Ethan fell into the pool.
Watching Thomas.
Watching me.
One finally stepped forward.
Antonio Greco.
Seventy-two.
He looked at Thomas.
“You said Bianca was dead.”
My father answered:
“She was dead to this family.”
Antonio’s face twisted with disgust.
Thomas had just admitted it in front of everyone.
Another old capo spoke.
“And you used the boy to bring her back?”
Thomas smiled.
“He survived.”
Antonio looked at Ethan.
Then at Thomas.
“That is your defense?”
My father shrugged.
“It worked.”
I followed his gaze.
Beyond the pool.
Toward the garden entrance.
A woman stood there.
Silver threaded through dark hair.
Simple black dress.
No guards.
No announcement.
May you like
I knew her before my mind accepted it.
My mother had come home.
