Chapter 6 - THE MAN INSIDE THE FAMILY
For the first time since Sophia died, Lorenzo had something more dangerous than grief.
Hope.
His son was alive.
Hope made him vulnerable.
Marco knew it.
The ransom instructions arrived in pieces.
Transfer controlling ownership of six shipping companies.
Withdraw Lorenzo's security from three ports.
Relinquish two warehouses.
Sign documents giving Marco legal authority over a financial network that moved nearly forty percent of Rossi money through Europe.
It wasn't simply wealth.
It was infrastructure.
Whoever controlled those assets controlled the Rossi empire.
Mateo studied the demand.
"If we give him this, he'll have enough money and access to challenge you permanently."
Lorenzo looked at Leo—Hunter's Leo—sleeping in her arms.
"I don't care."
Mateo stared.
"You should."
"My son is alive."
"And if Marco gets what he wants, what stops him killing the baby anyway?"
Nothing.
They both knew it.
Hunter entered Lorenzo's office after midnight.
"You need another plan."
Lorenzo looked up.
"You should be sleeping."
"So should you."
"I don't sleep."
"I noticed."
She placed Leo in a bassinet.
The baby was gaining weight.
Slowly.
Gallagher said the poisoning should clear completely from his system.
Hunter should have felt nothing except joy.
But whenever she held him, she remembered another infant somewhere in danger.
Sophia's baby.
Lorenzo's baby.
The child Hunter had accidentally replaced.
"What do you know about Marco's wife?" she asked.
"Isabella?"
"Yes."
"She's my sister."
"That's not what I asked."
Lorenzo studied her.
Hunter had changed.
The quiet maid was gone.
Motherhood had given her something grief had temporarily stolen.
Purpose.
"Isabella married Marco twelve years ago. They have no children."
"Why?"
"Medical problems."
"Hers?"
"His."
Hunter nodded slowly.
"What does he want more than money?"
"Respect."
"From you?"
"From everyone."
"Then why switch the babies?"
Lorenzo leaned back.
"You think Marco planned it?"
"Don't you?"
"Yes."
"But poisoning Leo doesn't make sense."
"Why?"
"If Marco knew the babies were switched, he'd know Leo wasn't yours."
Lorenzo stopped.
Hunter continued.
"So either Marco didn't know about the poisoning..."
"...or someone else didn't know about the switch."
Exactly.
Two separate plots.
One person switched the babies.
Another tried to poison the Rossi heir.
Hunter stared at Lorenzo.
"How many enemies do you have?"
"Do you want the alphabetical list?"
Despite herself, she nearly smiled.
Then Isabella entered under guard.
"I need to speak to you."
Lorenzo nodded toward Hunter.
"Speak."
Isabella hesitated.
"Alone."
"No."
"Lorenzo."
"Hunter's daughter was poisoned because of our family. She hears everything."
Isabella looked ashamed.
Then she sat.
"I lied."
Lorenzo's expression hardened.
"About?"
"Sophia."
Hunter moved closer.
Isabella took a breath.
"She discovered something about Marco."
"What?"
"He had been transferring money from Rossi shipping accounts."
"How much?"
"Almost eighty million."
Mateo swore quietly.
"And you hid this?"
"I confronted him. Marco said it was temporary."
"Temporary theft?"
"He told me he was building an emergency fund in case the organization collapsed."
Lorenzo laughed without humor.
"You believed him?"
"I wanted to."
"When did Sophia find out?"
"Six months ago."
The same time Camilla disappeared.
Lorenzo's eyes narrowed.
"What happened between Sophia and Camilla?"
Isabella looked at the floor.
"They didn't fight."
"What?"
"That story was invented."
"By whom?"
"Marco."
Lorenzo stood.
Isabella continued quickly.
"Camilla saw documents she wasn't supposed to see. Marco accused her of stealing from us. Sophia wanted to protect her."
"So where did Camilla go?"
"I don't know."
Hunter stared.
"Then why was she at St. Catherine's carrying the baby?"
Isabella's head snapped up.
"What?"
Lorenzo showed her the photograph.
Isabella covered her mouth.
"Oh God."
"You know something."
"No."
"Isabella."
Tears filled her eyes.
"Sophia called me the night before the gala."
Lorenzo went still.
"What did she say?"
"She said if anything happened to her, I should look for Camilla."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"You were destroying half of New York after the bombing. You weren't listening to anyone."
Lorenzo looked as though she'd struck him.
She wasn't wrong.
"What else?"
"She said, 'Marco thinks the baby is leverage.'"
Silence.
Lorenzo stared at his sister.
"What does that mean?"
"I never found out."
Mateo's phone buzzed.
He answered.
Listened.
His expression changed.
"We found Camilla."
Lorenzo turned.
"Where?"
"Connecticut."
"Alive?"
Mateo hesitated.
"Yes."
Two hours later, three black SUVs pulled into an abandoned farmhouse outside Stamford.
Camilla Vale stood in the kitchen when Lorenzo entered.
She looked exhausted.
Older.
Frightened.
And furious.
"You shouldn't have come."
Lorenzo walked toward her.
"Where is my son?"
Camilla's eyes filled.
"Safe."
"Where?"
"I can't tell you."
Lorenzo slammed his hand onto the table.
"Marco is threatening to kill him."
Camilla stared.
"Marco doesn't have him."
Hunter, who had insisted on coming, froze.
"What?"
Camilla looked at Lorenzo.
"That video is fake."
"My son's face—"
"Is real."
She swallowed.
"But Marco doesn't have him."
"Then who does?"
Camilla glanced toward the stairs.
A floorboard creaked.
Lorenzo raised his gun.
Camilla whispered, "Don't."
Footsteps descended.
A woman appeared.
Thin.
Dark hair cut short.
A scar running from her temple to her jaw.
Lorenzo's gun slowly lowered.
He stared.
No one moved.
The woman stepped into the light.
Lorenzo stopped breathing.
"Sophia?"
His dead wife looked at him.
May you like
Then she whispered:
"Hello, Lorenzo."
