Chapter 7 - Why the Brides Ran
Bianca entered the estate wearing sunglasses at night.
That was dramatic even by Duca standards.
She removed them in Lorenzo's office, and I saw a yellowing bruise beneath her left eye.
Lorenzo's face hardened. "Who did that?"
"The same people who made me lie about you."
Nobody moved.
Bianca looked at me. "You received photographs?"
"Six."
"We all did. Different versions."
She pulled a folder from her bag.
Inside were copies of letters sent to each previous bride. One woman's brother had been photographed outside his school. Another woman's father had received fake tax documents. Bianca had been shown pictures of her younger sister leaving rehab.
"They told us Lorenzo would ruin our families if we stayed," she said. "Then they gave us proof that looked real."
"Why accuse him?" I asked.
Her eyes filled, but she didn't cry. "Because they said if I didn't, my sister would disappear."
Lorenzo looked away.
Six women hadn't run from him.
They had been weaponized against him.
"Who gave the orders?" Marco asked.
Bianca shook her head. "I never saw him. Ethan handled some messages. Silas handled money. But there was someone inside the family. Someone Lorenzo would never question."
Rosa's cane tapped once against the floor.
"How do you know?"
Bianca reached into the folder and removed a photograph.
It showed Silas Trent standing outside a private club with Ethan.
Beside them was a third man.
Older. Broad-shouldered. Silver hair.
Lorenzo went still.
"Uncle Carlo," he said.
Carlo Duca had helped raise Lorenzo after his father died. He sat on the board of every major Duca company. He had signed Lorenzo's first business contract and stood beside him at his parents' funeral.
Rosa closed her eyes.
"No," she whispered.
Bianca slid one more photograph across the desk.
Carlo was handing Silas a black folder.
The date in the corner was five years earlier.
The same week my father died.
Before anyone could speak, the estate alarm screamed.
Marco checked his phone.
"West gate breach."
Then a guard shouted over the radio.
"Mr. Duca, Rosa's car is gone."
We all turned.
May you like
Rosa was no longer in the room.
And Carlo Duca's number was calling Lorenzo's phone.
