Chapter 13
Black Pine was quiet when they arrived.
Too quiet.
Snow had begun falling.
Giulietta still wore white.
Not the full bridal gown anymore.
She had changed into a dark coat over it, but the ivory fabric remained visible beneath.
A bride walking toward the man who may have designed her wedding years before she knew the groom.
Dominic Vane waited inside the lodge.
Alone.
Fire burning.
Whiskey poured.
He smiled when Giulietta entered.
“My little queen.”
She stopped.
“Don’t.”
His smile faded.
Cesare entered behind her.
Then Warren.
Margaret.
Preston.
Lorenzo remained outside under guard.
Dominic looked around.
“Impressive.”
Giulietta closed the door.
“You wanted us together.”
“Yes.”
No denial.
That irritated her.
“Why?”
“To see whether Lucia was right.”
Margaret’s face changed.
“You killed her.”
Dominic looked at her.
“No.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
Giulietta watched.
His answer was immediate.
Maybe true.
“Samuel?”
“Dead.”
“When?”
“Eight years ago.”
“How?”
“He tried to leave.”
“Who killed him?”
Dominic smiled faintly.
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“I did.”
Silence.
Warren stared.
Dominic continued.
“Samuel believed he was smarter than every family.”
“He was wrong.”
Giulietta stepped closer.
“Were you above him?”
“For a time.”
“Were you above Alessandro?”
“No.”
“Vittorio?”
Dominic laughed.
“Nobody was above Vittorio.”
“Then why engineer us?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Because your father asked me to.”
Silence.
Cesare whispered:
“Lie.”
Dominic smiled.
“Vittorio knew Preston would inherit Warren’s network.”
Warren’s face hardened.
“My son inherits nothing from me.”
Preston looked at him.
Dominic continued.
“Vittorio knew Giulietta would eventually need an alliance outside Marconi.”
Giulietta stared.
“Dad wanted me to marry Preston.”
“No.”
Dominic’s answer surprised her.
“He wanted you to meet.”
“Difference?”
“He said you would choose.”
Giulietta almost laughed.
“And you spent years shaping the choice.”
“Yes.”
“Then it wasn’t mine.”
Dominic’s smile faded.
“There.”
He looked almost proud.
“That is the question.”
Giulietta’s voice chilled.
“You arranged a violent man near me to test whether I recognized him.”
“No.”
“I arranged a man whose father raised him inside violence.”
“Same.”
“Not quite.”
Preston stepped forward.
“You knew.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Yes.”
“You knew what my father did to Mom.”
“Yes.”
“You told him I was too soft.”
Warren turned sharply.
Dominic smiled.
“I told him softness frightened him.”
“You knew what he would do.”
“Yes.”
Preston’s hands tightened.
Dominic continued.
“But Warren chose.”
Then toward Preston:
“And tonight you chose.”
Preston looked away.
Again.
No escape into manipulation.
Giulietta almost hated Dominic more for using truth accurately.
“Why?” she asked.
Dominic looked at her.
“Because Lucia believed families could break inherited violence.”
“And you?”
“I believed inheritance always wins.”
“So this was an experiment.”
“Partly.”
Margaret stepped closer.
“You ruined lives to win an argument with Lucia?”
Dominic looked at her.
“No.”
“My argument with Lucia was only the beginning.”
He turned toward Giulietta.
“Your mother believed people could choose truth over family.”
“Your father believed people could use darkness without becoming it.”
“Warren believed control could prevent abandonment.”
“Cesare believed silence could protect people.”
“Margaret believed disappearance could.”
“Preston believed fear could make a woman stay.”
Each person heard themselves.
Dominic continued.
“And you, Giulietta…”
He smiled.
“…believe understanding the pattern means you are outside it.”
Giulietta did not react.
Because that one landed.
“What do you believe?” she asked.
“That everyone becomes their strongest fear if enough pressure is applied.”
“Lucia?”
Dominic’s smile faded.
“She was the only person who kept proving me wrong.”
Silence.
Giulietta stepped closer.
“So you killed her.”
“No.”
“Samuel?”
“No.”
“Dad?”
“No.”
“Then where is she?”
Dominic looked toward Margaret.
“She knows more than she told you.”
Margaret went still.
Giulietta turned.
“Margaret.”
She closed her eyes.
Dominic smiled faintly.
“Finally.”
Giulietta’s voice darkened.
“What did you hide?”
Margaret looked at Preston.
Then Giulietta.
“Lucia found me ten years ago after Boston.”
“You said you saw her.”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“She asked me for one final favor.”
“What?”
“Take her somewhere Vittorio would never search.”
“Where?”
Margaret swallowed.
“A Hale property.”
Warren’s face changed.
“What?”
Preston stared.
Margaret continued.
“Your old house in Maine.”
Warren went pale.
“You brought Lucia into my house.”
“You had abandoned it.”
“Where?”
Margaret ignored him.
Giulietta stepped closer.
“How long?”
“Six months.”
“And then?”
“She left.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Alone?”
Margaret’s silence returned.
Giulietta felt anger rise.
“Not again.”
Margaret whispered:
“With a child.”
The room froze.
Giulietta stared.
“What child?”
Margaret looked at Dominic.
He smiled no longer.
“Lucia had a son.”
Cesare stepped backward.
Giulietta stopped breathing.
“My brother.”
Margaret nodded.
“Half-brother.”
Silence.
“Whose?”
May you like
Margaret’s eyes filled.
“Vittorio’s.”
