Chapter 11
Bianca Moretti looked at me first.
Then Ethan.
Then Thomas.
My father stopped smiling.
For the first time in my life, I saw fear defeat him before a word was spoken.
“Valentina.”
My mother said my name like she had been carrying it for twelve years.
I couldn’t move.
Ethan could.
He stepped from behind my guard.
“Grandma?”
Bianca’s face broke.
Thomas snapped:
“Keep him back.”
I turned.
“Why?”
“He doesn’t know her.”
Bianca looked at him.
“He knows enough.”
Thomas’s jaw tightened.
My mother walked closer.
Ethan stared at her.
“You’re not dead.”
Bianca crouched.
“No.”
“Grandpa said you didn’t listen.”
Her eyes lifted to Thomas.
There was murder in that silence.
Then she looked back at Ethan.
“Your grandpa says many things.”
Ethan whispered:
“He let me fall in water.”
Bianca closed her eyes.
When she opened them, she looked at me.
“You got him out.”
“Yes.”
“You always were faster than me.”
The sentence hurt.
I crouched beside her.
“Why didn’t you come back?”
Bianca’s face twisted.
“I tried.”
Thomas laughed.
“Oh, please.”
Everyone turned.
He had recovered.
“Now the martyr arrives.”
Bianca stood.
“You watched me drown.”
“You survived.”
“You locked me away.”
“You were hysterical.”
“You hunted Peter.”
“He betrayed us.”
There it was.
Bianca stared.
“So you admit it.”
Thomas’s face changed.
Too late.
I looked at him.
“What happened to Peter?”
My father said nothing.
Bianca answered.
“Thomas had him beaten until his heart stopped.”
The terrace went silent.
Thomas snapped:
“He was weak.”
Bianca laughed bitterly.
“Everyone is weak except you.”
“He betrayed family.”
“He helped me escape you.”
“Same thing.”
Ethan reached for my hand.
I squeezed it.
Bianca looked at the child.
Then Thomas.
“You did it again.”
“What?”
“You used a child to control a woman.”
My father smiled.
“It got you here.”
Bianca nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
Then she looked around at the capos.
“And now they all know why.”
Thomas’s smile faded.
May you like
He had succeeded in bringing Bianca back.
He had simply forgotten she could speak once she arrived.
