Chapter 12 - The Night Carlo Died
“No.” Luca backed away from the screen. “No. I wasn’t there.”
The video disagreed.
His face was clear.
Valeria stared at him. “You told me you were in Boston.”
“I was supposed to be.”
“What happened?”
Luca dragged both hands through his hair.
“Gregory called. Said Dad wanted to see me. When I got there, Serena was already in the room.”
On the video, Carlo tried to lift one hand.
His voice was weak but audible.
“Luca… don’t let him…”
Gregory stepped toward the camera and the image shook.
Then Serena injected something into Carlo’s IV.
Luca on the recording shouted, “What are you doing?”
The video cut out.
“What happened after that?”
“I panicked.”
“You left?”
Luca looked ashamed.
“Gregory said Dad was dying anyway. Serena said the injection was morphine. Then Dad stopped breathing.”
“And you told nobody.”
“I thought if I accused them and was wrong, I’d destroy us.”
Valeria’s laugh broke in the middle.
“So you protected the family by protecting the people who killed our father.”
Luca looked at the floor.
There was nothing left to say.
Tomas’s phone rang.
One of his men had found the armored Lincoln abandoned beneath the interstate.
No Gregory.
But there was blood in the back seat.
“Whose?” Valeria asked.
“Unknown.”
Then a second call came in.
This one from a number Tomas recognized.
He answered on speaker.
Victor Sanz said, “Mrs. Romano. I believe we have something that belongs to each other.”
Valeria’s voice went flat. “You don’t have Noah.”
“No.”
A groan sounded in the background.
Gregory.
Victor continued, “Your husband failed me. I’m willing to return him.”
“I don’t want him.”
“Maybe not. But he knows where Dr. Cole hid the original toxicology sample from your father.”
Valeria looked toward Serena, still guarded downstairs.
Victor chuckled.
“Bring me Maya Torres, and I’ll give you your husband alive.”
Valeria said, “No.”
May you like
Victor’s voice hardened.
“Then bring me Noah.”
