Chapter 11 - HE WAS SUPPOSED TO LIVE
Massimo watched the video three times.
On the fourth, he stopped pretending he was breathing normally.
Dean’s voice filled the study.
“He needs to survive. Dead makes him a martyr. Broken makes him useful.”
Bellandi leaned back in his chair. “And if my guys miss?”
“Then I save him.”
Massimo paused the video.
The room felt too small.
Marco stood beside him, silent.
“He planned the rescue,” Massimo said.
“Yes.”
“The bullets he took?”
“Could’ve been arranged. Non-vital placement.”
Massimo laughed once, without humor.
“Twelve years.”
Marco looked away.
Every memory now had a second shadow behind it.
The flash drive contained more.
Payments to Dr. Hale.
Payments to two rehabilitation nurses.
A contract with a private security company tied to Bellandi shell corporations.
And repeated transfers to an account named C.A. Holdings.
Camille Ashwood.
Massimo stared at the initials.
“No.”
Marco did not answer.
“No.”
“We need to confirm it.”
Massimo wheeled away from the desk.
He found Camille asleep in their room.
For a long moment, he simply watched her.
Then he placed a printed bank statement on the pillow beside her face.
“Wake up.”
She blinked. “What?”
“Wake up.”
She saw the paper.
Color drained from her cheeks.
Massimo’s chest tightened.
“Tell me it’s fake.”
Camille sat up slowly.
“Massimo—”
“Tell me.”
She began to cry.
He hated her for making the tears look real.
“Dean said you were losing control,” she whispered. “He said the family would tear itself apart. He said this was temporary.”
“You paid a doctor to keep me in a wheelchair.”
“I didn’t know at first.”
“At first?”
She covered her face.
Massimo felt something inside him collapse.
“How long?”
Camille looked at him through tears.
“Since the hospital.”
He stared.
May you like
Then she said the one thing that hurt more than the rest.
“The wedding was supposed to make it permanent.”
