Chapter 8
No one moved.
Lorenzo descended slowly.
No bodyguards.
No weapon visible.
Only a black suit and an old Bellandi ring Dante had never seen.
Marcus smiled.
Vivienne looked relieved.
Thomas looked sick.
Dante watched all three reactions.
That told him more than Lorenzo’s face.
“Little brother.”
Lorenzo said it again.
Casually.
As though sixteen missing years were nothing.
Dante’s voice stayed low.
“You were watching.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Lorenzo looked toward Ava.
She pressed closer to Nico.
Dante saw it.
Lorenzo did too.
He smiled.
“There’s the famous weakness.”
Dante’s expression hardened.
Lorenzo walked into the room.
Several capos lowered their eyes instinctively when they saw his ring.
Dante noticed.
So did Lorenzo.
“That bothers you.”
Dante looked at the ring.
“Should it?”
Lorenzo smiled.
“It belonged to our grandfather.”
Thomas whispered:
“You weren't supposed to wear that.”
Lorenzo turned.
“And you weren't supposed to lie to him for half his life.”
Thomas went silent.
Power shifted again.
Lorenzo looked around the hall.
“This house hasn't changed.”
Then his gaze settled on Vivienne.
“You did well.”
Dante turned toward her.
She smiled proudly.
The truth became uglier.
She had not simply found Lorenzo.
She worked for him.
Marcus too.
Dante asked:
“How long?”
Vivienne’s smile widened.
“Before you proposed.”
The engagement ring suddenly looked different.
Lorenzo laughed quietly.
“She really thought you’d notice.”
Dante looked at Vivienne.
Her eyes were cold.
“You were never the smartest man in your own house.”
The insult landed.
Dante let it.
“What did you want?”
Lorenzo answered.
“The chair.”
Simple.
No performance.
Dante nodded once.
“At least you’re honest.”
Lorenzo’s smile thinned.
“I was born first.”
“So?”
Several older capos stiffened.
Lorenzo looked toward them.
“You hear that?”
He opened his arms.
“The man sitting in my father’s chair asks so.”
Dante’s eyes hardened.
“You weren’t here.”
“I was removed.”
“By him.”
Lorenzo’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
“Not me.”
“No.”
“Then why chain my daughter?”
Silence.
For the first time, Lorenzo’s confidence shifted.
Dante stepped closer.
“You wanted the chair.”
Another step.
“You wanted witnesses.”
Another.
“You had Vivienne bait me.”
Lorenzo’s eyes narrowed.
“And still the only thing you could think of was a three-year-old.”
The room changed.
The accusation landed where rank could not protect him.
Lorenzo’s mouth hardened.
“She was never in real danger.”
Ava’s monitor gave a soft warning beep.
Dante looked at him.
Lorenzo continued:
“We knew her condition.”
Dante stopped.
Vivienne’s face changed.
Marcus looked toward Lorenzo.
Too late.
Dante’s voice became almost inaudible.
“You knew.”
Lorenzo realized what he had said.
Dante stepped closer.
“How?”
No answer.
“Her cardiologist doesn’t speak to family captains.”
Silence.
“Her records stay private.”
Lorenzo looked toward Vivienne.
Dante followed.
Vivienne’s confidence faltered.
One second.
Enough.
Dante turned toward her.
“You gave him Ava’s medical details.”
Vivienne lifted her chin.
“I needed to know what was safe.”
Dante stared.
Safe.
She had researched exactly how far she could terrorize the child without causing collapse.
The room’s disgust deepened.
But Ava whispered from behind Nico:
“She wasn’t the one.”
Dante turned.
“What?”
Ava pointed at Lorenzo.
“Other man.”
The room froze.
“What other man?”
Ava looked toward the stairs.
“He checked my heart thing before Vivienne put the chain.”
Lorenzo’s face went still.
Dante followed Ava’s finger.
A second figure stood in the upper hallway.
Older.
Broad-shouldered.
Gray hair.
Dante knew him immediately.
Dr. Samuel Bellandi.
Family physician.
His father’s closest friend.
May you like
The man who had treated Ava since birth.
He had given Lorenzo her medical limits.
