Chapter 5
Victor refused to explain.
That told Serafina more than an answer would have.
She dismissed the room except for Anthony, Claire and her attorney.
Nolan was taken to a separate guest house under guard.
Victor remained only long enough to say:
“You want truth? Be careful which dead people you drag back into the room.”
Then he left.
Serafina watched the door close.
Her hands were steady.
Her breathing was not.
Anthony noticed.
“Do you want five minutes?”
“No.”
Her voice came out lower than usual.
Claire found the reference two hours later.
An archived board agenda dated twelve days before Lorenzo’s death.
Item 7:
REASSIGNMENT OF FINANCIAL AUTHORITY — S. BELLANDI.
No minutes were attached.
Serafina read the line repeatedly.
“Who attended?”
Claire checked.
Lorenzo.
Victor.
Anthony.
And two capos who were now dead.
Serafina looked at Anthony.
His face changed before she spoke.
“You knew.”
Anthony inhaled slowly.
“I knew there was a meeting.”
“What did Lorenzo want?”
“I left before the vote.”
“Why?”
“Because he asked me to.”
Serafina’s eyes narrowed.
Anthony looked genuinely uncomfortable.
“He said it was between husband and wife.”
Serafina stood.
“Seven years.”
“Serafina—”
“Seven years you've stood behind me and never told me Lorenzo planned to remove me.”
Anthony’s hand dropped from the chair.
“I didn't know what he decided.”
“You knew enough.”
The betrayal was smaller than Victor’s.
That did not make it painless.
Anthony had been Lorenzo’s closest friend.
After the funeral, he became Serafina’s most reliable capo.
Now even he had carried part of a secret.
Before leaving the room, Anthony stopped.
“There’s one thing.”
Serafina did not answer.
“Lorenzo wasn't angry at you before that meeting.”
She looked at him.
“He was afraid.”
“Of me?”
Anthony shook his head.
“For you.”
Then he left.
Serafina remained alone with the agenda.
If Lorenzo had been trying to remove her financial authority to protect her rather than punish her, one question replaced another.
Protect her from what?
Claire returned ten minutes later carrying an old encrypted email recovered from the same archive.
Sender:
LORENZO BELLANDI.
Recipient:
VICTOR BELLANDI.
Subject:
IF SHE FINDS ORCHARD BEFORE I END THIS, WE LOSE HER TOO.
Serafina stared at the screen.
May you like
Lorenzo had known about ORCHARD.
And he had trusted Victor with the warning.
