CHAPTER 9
The words remained on the paper.
YOU ARE NEXT.
Elara read them again.
Then she looked at the three men standing around her.
No one spoke.
The old room seemed smaller than it had moments before. The air smelled of dust and smoke, and somewhere beyond the hidden doorway, the estate guards were still searching for the person who had entered their home.
Elara folded the note.
"Tell me the truth."
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
"What truth?"
She placed Matteo's final statement beside the threatening message.
"My father."
Dante looked away.
Luca lowered his eyes.
Elara saw it.
They knew something.
Perhaps not everything.
But enough.
"What exactly did my father mean to your families?"
Alessandro walked toward the desk.
"He wasn't simply an associate."
"Then what was he?"
"A trusted man."
Elara frowned.
"Trusted enough to be murdered?"
The question silenced them.
Alessandro looked at the old document.
"Your father helped create the agreement that kept the three families from destroying one another."
Elara stared at him.
"My father?"
"Yes."
Dante stepped closer.
"Years ago, the Morettis, Romanos, and De Santises were close to open war. Your father helped bring them together."
"Why?"
"Because he believed Bellacorte needed peace."
Elara gave a bitter laugh.
"And then you decided he betrayed you."
"We didn't decide it," Dante said. "We were told."
"By whom?"
Nobody answered.
She looked from one face to another.
"Who told you?"
Alessandro's expression hardened.
"We don't know."
"That isn't possible."
"It is."
Luca picked up the damaged page.
"The records were altered. Statements disappeared. Evidence appeared that made your father look responsible."
"Evidence you never questioned?"
"I questioned it."
Elara turned toward him.
"But you still believed it."
"I believed enough of it to distrust him."
Her chest tightened.
"What did he supposedly do?"
Dante answered.
"He was accused of breaking the agreement."
"How?"
"He was accused of taking information from all three families and selling it."
Elara shook her head.
"My father hated people who betrayed others."
"We know that now," Alessandro said.
She looked at him sharply.
"Now?"
He held her gaze.
"After what we've found, the story no longer makes sense."
Elara looked down at Matteo's handwriting.
Her father had spent years protecting her from Bellacorte.
She had always believed he was ashamed of his past.
Perhaps he had been afraid of it instead.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Alessandro didn't answer.
That silence hurt more than the confession.
Elara picked up the threatening note.
"You knew enough to tell me this."
"Yes."
Her eyes met his.
"Then you chose not to."
Alessandro accepted the accusation without defending himself.
"Yes."
Something inside Elara broke.
Not loudly.
There was no dramatic cry.
Only a quiet realization that trust could be lost without anyone raising their voice.
She walked past them.
No one stopped her.
The sitting room was empty.
Elara stood beside the windows, looking toward the dark gardens.
The three men entered behind her.
She turned.
"How long were you going to keep me here?"
Alessandro stopped.
"Until we knew you were safe."
"That's not an answer."
"It is the only one I have."
"You kidnapped me."
"Yes."
"You brought me here against my will."
"Yes."
"You locked the gates."
"Yes."
Her voice dropped.
"You made decisions about my life without asking me."
Alessandro looked at the floor for a moment.
"Yes."
Elara swallowed.
"Then don't tell me you're protecting me while you keep treating me like something you own."
Dante shifted uncomfortably.
Luca said nothing.
Alessandro's face changed.
The accusation had reached somewhere his anger could not protect.
"You are right."
Elara hadn't expected that.
"What?"
"You are right."
He walked toward the entrance.
Dante caught his arm.
"Alessandro."
He looked at him.
"She deserves a choice."
"She's safer here."
"I know."
"Then—"
"I said she deserves a choice."
Dante released him.
Alessandro reached the doors.
He unlocked them.
The heavy locks clicked one after another.
Elara stared.
He opened the doors.
Cold night air entered the room.
"There."
She didn't move.
Alessandro stepped away.
"If you want to leave, leave."
Dante looked toward him.
"You can't be serious."
"I am."
He looked at Elara.
"I won't hold you here."
Dante's jaw tightened.
"Someone is trying to kill her."
"I know."
"Then this is madness."
"No."
Alessandro's voice remained calm.
"Keeping her prisoner because we're afraid of what might happen isn't protection."
Luca leaned against the wall.
"If you leave, I can help you disappear."
Elara looked at him.
"And if I stay?"
"I'll help you find the truth."
She studied him.
"You would?"
"Yes."
"No more hidden files?"
His mouth tightened.
"I'll try."
She gave him a tired smile.
"That's not very reassuring."
"It's the most honest answer I have."
Dante looked at her.
"If you walk out tonight, I'll understand."
She studied him.
"You'd let me go?"
"I wouldn't like it."
"But?"
"But I'd rather hate your decision than become another person who takes it from you."
Elara looked toward the open doors.
For the first time since arriving at the estate, the way out was completely clear.
No guard blocked the entrance.
No one reached for her.
No one ordered her to stay.
She could leave.
And suddenly, the decision frightened her more than being forced to stay.
Elara stepped outside.
The stone path stretched toward the gates.
Behind her, the three men remained inside.
None followed.
That mattered.
She walked slowly.
The night air touched her face.
For a moment, she imagined returning to her old life.
Her father's house.
The quiet rooms.
The funeral flowers that had probably already begun to wilt.
The locked wooden box.
The life she understood.
Then she remembered the note.
Do not go back to Bellacorte.
Her father had known something.
He had spent years keeping her away from this city.
And now someone was willing to kill her because of what he had hidden.
Leaving would not erase that truth.
It would only leave her alone with it.
She stopped at the gates.
The road beyond them was dark.
A car could take her away.
She could disappear.
But where would she go?
And how long before the person who wanted her dead found her?
More importantly, she would never know why her father had been afraid.
She turned.
The three men were still standing by the entrance.
Dante's hands were at his sides.
Luca watched her carefully.
Alessandro stood in the center.
None of them moved.
Dante finally called out.
"You sure?"
Elara shook her head.
"No."
He waited.
She took a breath.
"But I'm staying anyway."
Something shifted in Alessandro's expression.
He did not smile.
He simply nodded.
"Then you stay because you chose to."
"Exactly."
Dante gave a faint smile.
"You're still stubborn."
"I've been told."
"Good."
Luca walked toward her.
He carried the folder containing Matteo's surviving documents.
He held it out.
"No more secrets."
Elara took it.
She looked into his blue eyes.
"Don't promise what you can't keep."
"I won't."
She waited.
He corrected himself.
"I'll try not to."
That earned a small smile.
Alessandro stepped toward her.
"Are you certain?"
Elara looked at the house.
Then at him.
"No."
He frowned.
She continued.
"But I know I want answers."
"Then we'll find them."
Together, they walked back inside.
The moment Elara crossed the threshold, she knew something had changed.
She was still surrounded by danger.
She was still inside a house controlled by three powerful men.
But she was no longer staying because they had taken her.
She was staying because she had chosen to remain.
A car engine sounded beyond the gates.
Everyone turned.
A black vehicle stopped outside.
A man stepped out.
He carried a cream-colored envelope.
The guards approached him.
He raised both hands.
"Miss Vesperi?"
Elara walked toward the entrance.
"Yes."
"This is for you."
He handed the envelope to a guard, who brought it inside.
Elara noticed the seal.
A silver crest.
She didn't recognize it.
Luca did.
His face became serious.
"Valcieri."
Alessandro's expression hardened.
"Serafina."
Elara opened the envelope.
Inside was an invitation.
Miss Elara Vesperi,
You are cordially invited to a private gathering at the Valcieri residence tomorrow evening.
At the bottom was Serafina's signature.
Elara turned the page.
There was another note.
She read it silently.
Then her eyes widened.
"What?"
Dante stepped closer.
Elara handed it to him.
He read it.
His expression darkened.
Serafina had written:
I knew your father. I know what he discovered before his death. If you want the truth, come tomorrow evening.
Alessandro took the note.
"You're not going."
Elara looked at him.
"You just gave me a choice."
His eyes narrowed.
"I said the gates were open."
"Then don't close them now."
Dante almost smiled.
Luca examined the silver seal.
"Serafina never gives information without expecting something in return."
"Then I'll find out what she wants."
Alessandro shook his head.
"She is dangerous."
Elara looked at him.
"Because she's dangerous?"
He didn't answer.
"Or because you don't want me hearing what she has to say?"
His silence told her enough.
Dante folded his arms.
"She never gives anything away for free."
"Then we'll find out the price," Elara said.
"We?"
She looked at the three men.
"You're coming with me."
Dante's mouth curved.
"Obviously."
Luca nodded.
"Of course."
Elara raised an eyebrow.
"All three of you?"
Dante shrugged.
"You're becoming difficult to leave alone."
"Maybe I always was."
For the first time that night, Alessandro almost smiled.
Elara turned the invitation over.
A final line was written across the back.
Her smile disappeared.
She read it aloud.
"Ask Alessandro what happened the night your father died."
The room went silent.
Alessandro went completely still.
Later that night, Elara found Alessandro alone in the library.
The invitation lay on the desk between them.
She closed the door.
"Where were you?"
Alessandro didn't pretend not to understand.
"The night my father died."
He remained silent.
Dante was standing near one of the windows.
Luca sat at the far end of the room.
Elara looked at all three.
"You were there."
Alessandro finally answered.
"Yes."
"How old were you?"
"Seventeen."
"Did you see him?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
Alessandro walked to the window.
"I was supposed to stay outside the room."
"But you didn't."
"No."
He looked back at her.
"I heard voices."
"Whose?"
"Your father. My father. Marcello. Enzo."
Elara's pulse quickened.
"What were they arguing about?"
"They weren't arguing."
"Then what?"
Alessandro's expression changed.
"Your father was frightened."
Elara's breath caught.
"My father?"
"Yes."
"Of whom?"
"He wouldn't say."
Alessandro returned to the desk.
"He told the three families someone had altered the original agreement."
"Someone inside the families?"
"Someone close enough to manipulate records and turn people against one another."
"Did he know who?"
"He said he did."
Elara leaned closer.
"Who?"
"He never said."
"Why?"
"The meeting was interrupted."
"By whom?"
"We never found out."
Elara's frustration returned.
"Then what happened to him?"
"He disappeared."
"And the evidence?"
"Appeared afterward."
Dante finally spoke.
"Documents surfaced claiming Matteo had taken information from the families."
Elara looked at him.
"And you believed them."
"We were young," Dante said.
"You were old enough to question them."
"We did."
"But not enough."
The words hurt.
Dante accepted them.
"No."
Luca spoke quietly.
"We were raised to trust the people above us."
Elara looked at him.
"And your fathers?"
"They believed the evidence."
She turned back to Alessandro.
"Did you?"
He hesitated.
"Not completely."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"I had no proof."
"You had your memory."
"I was seventeen."
Elara's anger softened.
Only slightly.
"What did my father say to you?"
Alessandro looked down.
"I remember him looking at me."
"What did he say?"
His voice lowered.
"Protect your family."
Elara's eyes filled.
She understood then.
Her father had not been speaking about himself.
He had been speaking about her.
Alessandro had been only a boy, but Matteo had seen something in him.
Perhaps he had believed that boy would someday become a man capable of protecting what mattered.
"You remembered me?"
"No."
"Then why would he say that?"
"I don't know."
Alessandro stepped closer.
"I've spent years wondering."
Elara wiped quickly beneath one eye.
"My father knew you."
"Yes."
"He trusted you."
"I don't know if I deserved it."
The honesty in his voice hurt.
Elara looked at him.
"What about now?"
Alessandro held her gaze.
"Now I know I don't want anything to happen to you."
Her heart tightened.
He continued.
"I was ordered to protect you."
He paused.
"That stopped being the reason a long time ago."
Elara couldn't speak.
Dante looked away.
Then he said quietly:
"It stopped being duty for me too."
Luca rose from his chair.
"For me as well."
Elara looked at them.
Three men.
Three confessions.
And not one of them demanded an answer.
That made the words more powerful.
She opened her mouth.
Before she could speak, Luca's phone rang.
He answered.
"Yes?"
He listened.
His face changed.
"What?"
Alessandro straightened.
Luca turned away from them.
"You're certain?"
A pause.
"Check again."
He ended the call.
Dante stepped closer.
"What happened?"
Luca looked at Alessandro.
"The missing files were accessed again."
"When?"
"Tonight."
Alessandro's face hardened.
"From where?"
Luca's eyes moved toward the hallway.
"Inside the estate."
Silence.
Elara's gaze followed his.
Someone had entered their secure archive again.
Someone had bypassed the guards.
Someone who knew exactly what they were searching for.
And tomorrow night, she was expected at Serafina Valcieri's gathering.
The danger was no longer outside the house.
It was already inside.