9. Vera
Chapter 9
Vera
H e pauses at the door of the cellar lockup, his hand lingering on the handle as if he's unsure of his own decision. The silence stretches between us, thick with unsaid words.
"Tomorrow, I'll have you moved to a room in the main house," he says, his voice flat, distant. He doesn't turn to look at me, his back rigid, as though he's struggling to maintain control.
I swallow, trying to keep my voice steady.
"What does that mean?" My throat feels tight.
"What about my exile? The others—what will they say?"
He exhales, a heavy sound, like the weight of the world is pressing down on him.
"They will do whatever I tell them to do. They trust me. "
I hesitate, the next question burning on my tongue, but I'm scared to ask it. I ask anyway.
"Do you trust me?" My voice is small, trembling.
He freezes, the tension in his shoulders visible even from behind. For a moment, I think he might answer, but then, without a word, he turns and walks away, leaving me alone in the cold cellar. His footsteps echo down the hallway, growing fainter with each passing second. The silence that follows is deafening, and my heart sinks with it.
The next evening, Adrian barges in to fetch me, his face twisted in clear frustration. He tosses a handful of fresh clothes onto the bed, the fabric landing in a crumpled heap.
"Get dressed," he snaps, his tone sharp, eyes narrowed.
I scoop up the clothes and make my way to the small open-plan bathroom. But when I feel his gaze burning into me, I pause.
"Do you mind?" I ask, raising a brow. His eyes flicker, and he turns his back to me with an exaggerated sigh.
Sighing myself, I begin undressing and slip into the fresh clothing, the tension thick in the room. Even though he's turned away, his presence is still suffocating.
"I don't know why the hell he's letting you out of here," he mutters under his breath, clearly more to himself than to me.
I can't help the smirk that tugs at my lips. "Because he knows something's going on. I'm not the only one sensing it now."
Adrian spins around, his expression darkening. "Elio?" His voice drips with disdain. "He told me about your fucked-up theory on Elio. You're digging yourself into a deeper hole. All that's going to happen is we'll prove, once and for all, that you're a traitor. And next time?" He steps closer, eyes gleaming with menace. "There won't be an exile. You'll be removed permanently."
"Adrian," I say his name quietly, hoping to break through the wall of hostility between us.
"Don't bother," he cuts me off, his voice hard as stone. "That might work on my brother, but it won't work on me. I'm only here because he asked me to do this."
His jaw clenches, his eyes locking onto mine with cold precision.
"I trust him. I'll be by his side through everything and believe me when I say—I've got my eye on you, Vera. One wrong move, and you're done."
I sigh, nodding slowly, trying not to provoke him further. "I understand."
There's no point in trying to win Adrian over, not now. He's as fiercely loyal to Massimo as ever. I'm not here to make enemies, least of all with him.
"I'm not here to cause more damage," I say quietly. "I only want the truth to come out."
His eyes flicker with a mixture of doubt and anger. "Good luck with that," he mutters darkly.
"No one here is going to be happy to see you. They all think you're guilty, and it's only a matter of time before you make a mistake."
I swallow hard, the weight of his words settling in. "I know. Facing them is the price I'm willing to pay."
I follow Adrian up the stairs, toward the dining room.
He leads me into the noisy area where everyone is seated, about to have dinner.
I freeze in nervous tension.
"Vera?"
"Is that Vera Santoro?"
"But she was exiled?"
"What is going on?"
The murmurs rush through the room like a swarm of bees.
Massimo stands up at the head of the table.
"She will be seated next to me." He says, loud enough that everyone else stops talking and turns towards him. "Vera is here as my guest and I trust everyone will treat her with respect." People look around in shock, but they all nod. "Yes, Mas, of course." Uncle Marzio says. "Sit down, young lady. Dinner is about to be served, and we are all starving."
I bite my lip as I walk around the table towards Massimo. The only person I feel any serious threat from is Elio who has not taken his eyes off me. His glare is like heated rods of steel, stabbing into my body.
I sit down with Massimo watching me closely.
He doesn't say a word while they serve dinner, and I don't either .
I feel it's best for me to stay quiet, and despite being an obvious topic of discussion, I don't want to draw any additional attention to myself.
After dinner, I help everyone carry the plates and dishes to the kitchen where the cleaners will handle it.
Some of the family members are friendly to me and others just steer completely clear of my path. It's ok.
I'm here to find the truth. Once I have the truth, they will all see I was never a traitor.
Massimo is talking to a group of his uncles and cousins when Adrian comes to find me. "I'll escort you to your room." He says, stern and unfriendly. He clearly still doesn't trust me.
"It's okay," I tell myself, trying to calm the frustration rising in me. Adrian isn't the one I need to convince—it's Massimo. But I know the bond between them is tight, unbreakable. If Adrian remains hostile, it'll only make things harder. Winning him over, or at least dulling his hostility, would be a small victory. It might even open the door to reaching Massimo more easily.
I exhale, forcing myself to focus. Adrian's skepticism is to be expected, but that doesn't mean I can't change things. It wouldn't hurt to have Adrian on my side—or at the very least, not actively working against me.
I square my shoulders, silently vowing to find a way, no matter how steep the climb may be. Convincing Massimo won't be easy, but I've come too far and risked too much to stop now.
"Where's Elio?" I ask, following Adrian up the stairs .
"You don't get to ask questions, Vera. I don't even understand why my brother let you out of the cell." He huffs.
Fine. I guess Adrian is not a person I can get information from.
As we walk down the passage, the door to one of the rooms swings open, and Elio steps out, bumping into Adrian.
"Oh, sorry man," Elio mutters, rubbing his shoulder where they collided. Then his gaze drops to me, and his eyes narrow with disdain. "What…" he stammers, clearly caught off guard. His glare is sharp, cutting through the tension between us.
"Are you heading down for a cigar?" Adrian asks, brushing off the bump and the clear hostility in the air.
"Yeah," Elio replies, his gaze never leaving me. "What are you doing with her?" His tone sharpens, laced with suspicion.
"Showing her to her room," Adrian says, his voice clipped. "I'll join you in a minute."
Elio nods, but his eyes darken further, a brooding intensity settling over his face as he stares me down. For a moment, it feels like he's weighing something, measuring whether I'm worth the trouble. The tension between us thickens, his unspoken thoughts hanging in the air.
As he turns to leave, the cold stare he leaves behind lingers in the hallway, like a shadow of what's yet to come.
Adrian takes me to my room, sighs heavily, and then says. "I suggest you stay in your room. No one wants to catch you sneaking around after dark."
I bite back on my snarky comment and nod.
He turns and walks away.
As soon as I am one hundred percent sure he is gone and not coming back, I run to Elio's room. Quietly pushing the door open I slip inside. I doubt I have much time. Elio will be uncomfortable knowing I am up here, but I need to look around.
I pull the drawers open, search through the back of his closet, and finally, underneath the bed, right near the back - I find a box.
Dragging it forward I lift the lid open and pull out a notebook.
I wish I had a phone. I could have taken photos.
It looks like he attempted to code it, but the effort is sloppy—amateurish, really. The encryption is weak, and it's almost too easy to crack just by glancing at it. It's clear he either underestimated who would be looking or thought this would be enough to keep curious eyes away.
It lists dates and times of meeting points with someone from the Vitale family. On another page, it lists incoming payments.
Someone is paying him to share internal family information.
I can't believe he was stupid enough to write this all down.
I hear voices coming up the stairs outside. Shit.
I have to go .
Now.
I shove the book and the box back under the bed and run for the door. Slipping out just in time before Elio walks around the corner.
I pretend as though I'm walking towards the stairs, but Elio's sharp voice cuts through the air, stopping me in my tracks.
"Where are you going?" Elio snaps, his tone dripping with suspicion.
I lift my chin, refusing to let him intimidate me.
"To say goodnight to Massimo," I reply curtly, matching his sharpness with my own.
Elio's eyes narrow, his voice darkening with warning.
"I suggest you get back to your room instead. No one wants you down there."
I stop and glare at him, my anger bubbling to the surface.
"I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself, Elio. You're not in charge here."
For a brief moment, tension crackles between us, the unspoken animosity hanging in the air. His expression hardens, but he says nothing, turning away with a sneer.
He practically chokes in shock at my audacity.
But I know he's a traitor. I have seen the evidence. He needs to burn for what he's done.
And if he is the traitor - that means he knows where my son is.
I brush past Elio and the person he is walking with and then hurry downstairs to find Massimo. I need him to see that book.
Massimo is surrounded by the older uncles, caught in what looks like a serious discussion. Their expressions are grave, voices low and intense. I hover in the doorway, my heart pounding, desperate to grab his attention for just a moment. But he doesn't see me, lost in the weight of whatever they're discussing.
He notices me and his eyes keep darting over me until finally he excuses himself from the group and comes over to talk to me.
"I told Adrian to escort you to your room." He says quietly.
"He did. But you need to see something in Elio's room." I whisper back.
"You were in Elio's room?" he hisses.
"Massimo, I have to prove to you that he is not to be trusted. And I saw something that you need to see."
He clenches his jaw. "What is it?"
Adrian comes running towards us and grabs Massimo's shoulder.
"Brother, someone has breached the estate." He says in a dark panic.
"They're inside the walls."