Chapter 3 - My Mother Came Back From the Dead With Proof Against Victor’s Father—But the Cruelest Truth Was What Adrien Had Done After He Fell in Love With MeMy mother’s real name was Evelyn Caruso.
That part Adrien had told me correctly.
The rest took six hours.
We sat in a private room arranged by Detective Ellis.
Mom drank coffee.
I stared at her.
Sometimes I forgot to listen because I was trying to reconcile the sixty-two-year-old woman in front of me with the forty-year-old mother I remembered.
She had not been dying from cancer.
Her friend Rebecca had been.
Rebecca and Mom had looked enough alike that, with illness and medication and a terrified seventeen-year-old daughter seeing what she expected to see, they managed the deception.
“I hated doing it.”
“You let me bury you.”
“Yes.”
“There was a funeral.”
“An empty coffin.”
I stood.
“I can't do this.”
Mom's face crumpled.
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
I paced.
“I spent twenty-two years missing you.”
“I know.”
“I graduated college without you.”
“Yes.”
“I got married.”
Her eyes filled.
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“I watched from across the street.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“I was there.”
“You watched me marry Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know what he became?”
“Eventually.”
“And you didn't come?”
“I couldn't.”
“You keep saying couldn't.”
“I was afraid.”
“So was I!”
The words exploded out of me.
“I was seventeen!”
She started crying.
“I know.”
I hated seeing it.
I hated that part of me wanted to comfort her.
I didn't.
Not yet.
“Tell me about Caterina.”
Mom wiped her face.
They had been sisters.
Caterina married Victor when she was twenty-four.
Victor was twenty-eight.
He loved her.
Mom was certain of that.
But Victor was also deeply embedded in the Duca organization.
He believed he could keep criminal business separate from family.
Caterina believed that was a lie men told themselves when the consequences landed on other people.
“She loved him,” Mom said. “But she was afraid of what loyalty was turning him into.”
Caterina discovered Antonio and Carlo Bellini laundering money through Duca Maritime.
She copied records.
Victor had begun asking questions separately.
But Caterina didn't trust him enough to give him the evidence.
Not yet.
“She wanted him to choose truth without knowing she was watching,” Mom said.
“He never got the chance.”
“No.”
On the night of the explosion, Caterina planned to meet federal investigators.
Mom drove separately.
Caterina's car exploded before she reached the meeting.
Mom saw the blast.
She also saw a black sedan leaving.
Antonio's.
“His father killed her?”
“I thought so.”
“Thought?”
“Antonio was in the sedan.”
“Then—”
“He wasn't driving.”
“Who was?”
“Carlo Bellini.”
Mom escaped.
Antonio found her twelve hours later.
He said Carlo had acted without permission.
Mom didn't believe him.
Antonio offered the deal.
Disappear.
Or Lena dies.
“So you disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you go to police?”
“I had evidence, but not enough.”
“Caterina's notebook?”
“Copies.”
“And the last piece?”
Mom reached inside her coat.
A small flash drive.
“This.”
“What is it?”
“Original account data and audio from a second recording.”
“Why keep it twenty-two years?”
“Because everyone I trusted kept dying.”
I understood the fear.
I still couldn't forgive the choice.
Not yet.
“Why return now?”
“Because Antonio found me.”
My stomach tightened.
“When?”
“Four months ago.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“And?”
“He said Victor had reopened Caterina's death.”
“Did he threaten me?”
“Yes.”
“Then why come closer?”
“Because hiding wasn't protecting you anymore.”
She looked at me.
“And because Adrien found you.”
My blood chilled.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I saw him outside your studio.”
“You knew who he was?”
“He looks like Antonio did young.”
“Why didn't you warn me?”
“I tried.”
“The anonymous messages.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
Mom had sent them.
“Why not just tell me?”
“Because I didn't know which Duca brother was using you.”
“Both.”
Her expression hardened.
“Yes.”
That afternoon, the flash drive went to federal investigators.
It proved Antonio and Carlo's financial crimes.
But the second recording complicated everything.
Antonio's voice:
Carlo, stop. This isn't what we agreed.
Carlo:
She goes to the FBI, we all go down.
Antonio:
Caterina is Victor's wife.
Carlo:
Then Victor should have married a quieter woman.
Then the sound of a struggle.
Antonio had known.
But he had tried to stop Carlo.
Too late.
Afterward, he helped cover it up.
Not because he ordered Caterina's death.
Because exposing Carlo would expose himself.
Cowardice.
Money.
Family reputation.
A woman's life buried beneath all three.
Antonio was found two days later.
He surrendered through an attorney.
Victor did not visit him.
Adrien did.
I learned that from Maria.
I had stopped taking Duca calls, but Maria asked to see me.
I agreed.
She looked twenty years older.
“I knew there were things my husband didn't tell me,” she said.
“Did you know about Caterina?”
“No.”
“Do you believe him?”
“That he didn't order it?”
“Yes.”
“Does that matter?”
Maria looked down.
“No.”
That answer surprised me.
“He covered up my daughter-in-law's murder to protect himself.”
Her voice broke.
“He let Victor believe she died because of random enemies.”
“Why did Adrien visit?”
“He wanted answers.”
“About what?”
Maria looked uncomfortable.
“About you.”
My stomach tightened.
“What about me?”
“Ask him.”
I didn't want to.
I did.
Adrien met me at a coffee shop.
Neutral territory.
He looked terrible.
Good.
That was petty.
I allowed myself petty.
“What did you ask Antonio?”
Adrien stared into his coffee.
“Whether he told me to keep dating you.”
My chest tightened.
“What?”
“After I found you, I reported to Victor.”
“Like an assignment.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“Victor told me to determine whether you had contact with Evelyn.”
“So you asked me out.”
“Yes.”
“You already admitted that.”
“There’s more.”
Of course.
“Go.”
“After two months, I wanted out.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because I was falling in love with you.”
I said nothing.
“I told Victor.”
“What did he say?”
“To tell you the truth.”
That surprised me.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“Victor told you to confess?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Four months ago.”
My stomach dropped.
“You had four months.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because my father found out.”
“What did Antonio say?”
Adrien looked sick.
“He told me if you learned who you were, people connected to Bellini would come after the trust.”
“So he told you to keep me ignorant.”
“Yes.”
“And you agreed.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I told myself I was protecting you.”
I laughed.
There it was.
The oldest excuse in dangerous families.
Protection.
“I also knew if I told you, you'd leave me.”
At least he finally said the uglier truth.
“You lied because you wanted to keep me.”
“Yes.”
“Not protect me.”
“Both.”
“No.”
I leaned forward.
“You don't get to combine them because one sounds better.”
His eyes filled.
“You're right.”
I sat back.
“I loved you.”
“I love you.”
“That's not the point.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
He looked at me.
“I loved you and still chose myself over your right to know.”
That was the first apology that reached me.
Not enough.
But real.
“I can't be with you.”
He closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“Not now.”
“Okay.”
“Maybe never.”
His face tightened.
“Okay.”
I stood.
He didn't stop me.
Outside, Victor leaned against a black car across the street.
I almost laughed.
“You have got to be kidding.”
“I was waiting for Adrien.”
“Good.”
I walked past him.
“Lena.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“My father surrendered.”
“I know.”
“He wants to speak to you.”
“No.”
“I told him you wouldn't.”
“Then why mention it?”
“So you know I didn't make the decision for you.”
I stared.
That infuriating man had learned something.
“Thank you.”
He nodded.
I continued walking.
“Lena.”
I turned again.
“What now?”
“I owe you an apology.”
“You owe me several.”
“Yes.”
He approached but stopped several feet away.
“I used Adrien to investigate you.”
“Yes.”
“I watched you.”
“Yes.”
“I treated your life as a route to Caterina's truth.”
“Yes.”
“I was wrong.”
The simplicity of it unsettled me.
“No explanation?”
“There are explanations.”
“Not excuses?”
“No.”
“What changed?”
He looked toward the coffee shop.
“You.”
I immediately hardened.
“Don't.”
“Not romantically.”
“Good.”
“At least not only.”
My pulse betrayed me.
Victor continued.
“You were furious when you discovered what we had done, and your anger made sense.”
He looked almost embarrassed.
“I spent years believing good intentions gave me permission to make decisions for people.”
“Sounds familiar.”
“Yes.”
“Adrien.”
“And my father.”
That landed.
Victor had spent his life hating Antonio while repeating part of his behavior.
“You told Adrien to confess.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I realized I was turning him into me.”
Silence stretched.
“What happens now?” I asked.
“I leave you alone.”
“That easy?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
He almost smiled.
Then he reached into his coat.
This time, I didn't flinch.
He held out an envelope.
“What is it?”
“My resignation.”
“From?”
“Duca Maritime.”
I stared.
“Why are you giving it to me?”
“You own thirty-two percent.”
“I haven't accepted the trust.”
“If you do, you'll be the largest individual shareholder after my father’s shares are frozen.”
“I teach yoga.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because everyone keeps handing me shipping companies.”
A real smile appeared.
It transformed his face.
For one dangerous second, I understood exactly why Caterina had loved him.
Then the smile vanished.
“The company needs an independent board.”
“And?”
“I shouldn't run it.”
“Why?”
“Because I spent too long believing fear was management.”
I looked at the resignation.
“You're walking away?”
“From control.”
“Not ownership?”
“I'll put my shares into a blind trust until the criminal review is complete.”
“That is surprisingly responsible.”
“Don't sound so disappointed.”
I laughed.
Damn him.
Then a gunshot shattered the coffee shop window behind us.
Victor moved before I understood.
He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me behind the car.
A second shot struck metal.
People screamed.
Adrien ran from the shop.
“Lena!”
Victor shoved me toward the rear wheel.
“Stay down.”
“No heroic stupidity.”
His eyes flashed.
“Excellent time for a lecture.”
“Victor.”
“I heard you.”
Police arrived within minutes.
The shooter escaped.
But surveillance cameras caught the vehicle.
Registered to a Bellini company.
Carlo was alive.
And he had just made one thing very clear.
May you like
Caterina's murder had never been the end of the story.
It was the beginning.
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