Chapter 3
The chapel smelled like dust and old cedar.
My father’s chair still stood in the first row.
I had not entered since his funeral.
Livia came with me because she refused to stay anywhere Camilla could reach her. I did not argue. Rafe carried her when the stairs became difficult.
The cabinet was hidden behind the altar.
Small.
Iron-bound.
The brass key turned immediately.
Inside were six black signet rings.
Not current Valenti rings.
Older.
Each engraved with a different initial.
Beneath them was a photograph.
Marco.
Twenty-five years younger.
Standing beside Vittorio Serra.
My stomach tightened.
Serra had been my father’s greatest enemy.
He died when I was seventeen.
The man in the photograph had one hand on young Marco’s shoulder like a father.
Camilla appeared behind us.
Rafe’s men stopped her at the door.
I held up the photograph.
“Explain.”
Her face collapsed.
Marco did not come.
Interesting.
Camilla whispered:
“He raised him.”
The chapel went silent.
“Marco is Serra?”
“Not by blood.”
That distinction meant nothing yet.
She continued.
Marco’s father died when he was six. Vittorio Serra took him in and raised him among his own children.
Years later, after the Serra organization collapsed, Marco approached the Valentis under his birth name.
Nobody connected him to Vittorio.
Except my father.
“How?”
Camilla looked toward the cabinet.
“He found that photograph.”
“Then why let Marco stay?”
She laughed bitterly.
“Because your father thought he could turn him.”
Of course.
My father believed loyalty could be redirected if you gave a man enough responsibility.
Sometimes he was right.
Sometimes people simply became better at hiding.
I picked up one of the six rings.
“Who are these?”
Camilla looked away.
“Old captains.”
“Yours?”
No answer.
I looked at her.
“Camilla.”
“Yes.”
There it was.
Not Marco infiltrating alone.
My own cousin had built something with him.
“What?”
She whispered:
“A second table.”
The phrase felt familiar.
My father used to complain that certain relatives wanted a family behind the family.
Apparently Camilla created exactly that.
Then Livia spoke from Rafe’s arms.
“Aunt Camilla has black ring.”
Everyone turned.
Camilla went still.
Livia pointed at her.
May you like
“In purse.”
My daughter had just exposed the seventh member.
