Chapter 5 - THE BOY AT THE FUNERAL
Gregory was moved from the wedding property before dawn.
Not released.
Not beaten.
He was placed under guard at an unused Caruso guest house until Sofia decided whether she wanted any further contact.
Lorenzo wanted him farther away.
Sofia wanted answers first.
She met Gregory in the sitting room with Lorenzo and Marco present.
The door remained open.
Gregory noticed that immediately.
Sofia sat across from him.
No wedding dress now.
Dark sweater.
Hair tied back.
No veil.
No ring.
Gregory looked at her empty hand.
She saw him notice.
Good.
“You knew me when I was nine.”
Gregory remained silent.
“Cesare told us.”
His face changed.
Only slightly.
Enough.
Sofia continued.
“You attended Mom’s funeral.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To see the family that destroyed mine.”
Lorenzo moved.
Sofia lifted one hand.
He stopped.
Her father’s restraint mattered.
She looked back at Gregory.
“What did Cesare tell you?”
Gregory laughed bitterly.
“That your father forced mine to help Alessandra leave.”
Lorenzo frowned.
“Then?”
“That something went wrong.”
“What?”
Gregory looked directly at him.
“Thomas tried to save her.”
A pause.
“You arrived angry.”
“According to who?”
“Cesare.”
Of course.
Gregory continued.
Cesare told him Lorenzo blamed Thomas for the fire.
That Lorenzo ordered him taken away.
That Thomas was never seen again because Carusos did not forgive men who embarrassed them.
Gregory was twenty-one.
His father was missing.
His mother had already spent years telling him the Carusos destroyed Thomas.
Cesare’s story fit the wound.
So Gregory believed it.
Sofia leaned forward.
“Why marry me?”
Gregory looked at her.
The answer did not come quickly.
“Say it.”
“At first?”
“Yes.”
“To get close.”
“To Dad?”
“To all of you.”
“And later?”
Gregory’s jaw tightened.
“That changed.”
Sofia stared.
“Did it?”
He looked down.
Gregory claimed he fell in love.
Maybe part of him did.
That was what made the rest uglier.
He loved Sofia while also resenting what her surname represented.
Every time Lorenzo treated her gently, Gregory remembered the father he lost.
Every time Sofia defended Lorenzo, Gregory heard Cesare telling him Caruso daughters were trained to worship power.
So Gregory began testing her.
Small things.
Correcting who she saw.
Disliking certain friends.
Choosing restaurants without asking.
Interrupting her when she disagreed.
Sofia remembered all of it now.
None looked like the bridal suite alone.
Together they formed a staircase.
She had been walking down it slowly.
“Why tonight?”
Gregory’s face changed.
The wedding made something final.
He believed once Sofia became his wife, Lorenzo would be forced to stop intervening.
He wanted proof.
Ownership disguised as marriage.
Sofia’s voice became quiet.
“You weren’t angry.”
Gregory looked at her.
“You planned to make me afraid.”
Silence.
“Yes.”
Lorenzo’s entire body tightened.
Sofia did not look away.
“Your father didn’t make you do that.”
“No.”
“Cesare didn’t make you do that.”
“No.”
“Whatever happened fifteen years ago didn’t put that club in your hand.”
Gregory closed his eyes.
“No.”
Good.
Then Lorenzo spoke.
“My turn.”
Sofia nodded.
Lorenzo placed Alessandra’s locket on the table.
“Your father gave you this.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
Gregory stared.
“Seven years ago.”
Everyone froze.
Lorenzo leaned forward.
“Thomas was alive seven years ago?”
“Yes.”
Sofia stared at Gregory.
“You met him?”
“Once.”
“Where?”
“Philadelphia.”
Gregory’s voice had become quieter.
Thomas contacted him through an old friend.
Gregory traveled alone.
He found his father living under another name.
Older.
Thin.
Alive.
Lorenzo asked:
“What did he tell you?”
Gregory’s silence became answer before the words.
Sofia understood.
“He told you Dad didn’t kill him.”
Gregory looked at her.
“Yes.”
The room changed.
Every excuse he had built around revenge cracked at once.
Lorenzo stared.
“And you still came after my daughter.”
Gregory looked toward the floor.
Thomas tried to explain the fire.
Gregory refused to listen after one sentence.
“He said Cesare lied.”
Lorenzo’s jaw tightened.
“Why didn’t you hear the rest?”
Gregory’s answer came through clenched teeth.
“Because I had spent eight years hating you.”
A pause.
“And I didn’t know who I was if he took that away.”
Sofia sat back.
Then Gregory said something none of them expected.
“My father is still alive.”
Lorenzo stopped.
“Where?”
Gregory shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“You just said—”
“He disappeared again after I walked out.”
Gregory looked toward Sofia.
“But three weeks before our wedding, he sent me a message.”
Sofia’s pulse changed.
“What did it say?”
May you like
Gregory looked at Lorenzo.
“Don’t marry her until you know what Cesare did to her mother.”
