Chapter 8 - THE PRICE OF PROTECTIONEnzo arrived at the hospital in less than twenty minutes.
He found Nora in a conference room surrounded by security officers. Her hands were wrapped around a cup of untouched tea.
The moment he saw her, he crossed the room and knelt in front of her.
“Look at me.”
She did.
His eyes moved over her face, her neck, her wrists.
“Did they hurt you?”
“Nothing serious.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“They grabbed me. I got away.”
Enzo closed his eyes for a moment.
When he opened them, the fear had hardened into anger.
“Give me their descriptions.”
“Enzo, no.”
He looked at her as if he hadn't heard correctly.
“No?”
“You can protect me without turning this into a war.”
“They attacked you.”
“And if you respond by sending men after them, we'll never know who ordered it.”
“I don't care who ordered it.”
“I do.”
Nora took his hand.
“I need you to trust me enough to let me finish this.”
His jaw tightened.
For a long moment, she thought he would refuse.
Then he lowered his head and pressed his forehead against their joined hands.
“You have no idea what it does to me,” he whispered, “to imagine someone taking you away.”
Her anger softened.
“Then don't let fear make your decisions for you.”
He looked up.
“I don't know how to do that.”
“Learn.”
It was not a gentle answer.
But it was an honest one.
Enzo kissed her fingers.
“Tell me what you found.”
Nora showed him the photograph and the document.
He read the note about Lucia, his expression growing darker with every line.
“The third man,” he said, tapping the photograph. “I know him.”
“Who is he?”
“Vittorio Moretti. He was my father's attorney. He disappeared twelve years ago.”
“Disappeared?”
“His car was found near the harbor. No body was recovered.”
Nora looked at the scratched-out face.
“Do you think he's alive?”
“I think we need to find out.”
A knock sounded at the door.
Silvio entered in a wheelchair, with a doctor following close behind him.
“You should be in bed,” Nora said.
“So should you,” he replied.
He held out his hand for the photograph.
When he saw it, his face became ashen.
“Where did you find this?”
“St. Agnes,” Nora said. “What does ‘the three who agreed’ mean?”
Silvio stared at the words.
Then he looked at Enzo.
“Your uncle Matteo, Dr. Marcus Bell, and Vittorio Moretti.”
“What did they agree to?” Enzo asked.
Silvio's voice trembled.
“To conceal the birth of a child.”
“Daniel?”
“I don't know.”
“Stop saying that!” Enzo snapped. “You know more than you're telling us.”
Silvio flinched.
Nora stepped between them.
“Enzo.”
“No. He has spent years making decisions for everyone in this family. Now a woman is dead, a child has been lied to, and someone tried to attack you because of something he knows.”
Silvio's eyes shone with tears.
“You think I don't know what I've done?”
“Then tell us!”
The old man looked down at his hands.
“Matteo believed the child was his.”
Silence.
Nora felt the room tilt.
“Daniel's father was Matteo Carrai?” she asked.
Silvio shook his head slowly.
“That was what Matteo believed. Lucia never confirmed it. She told me the father was someone who had loved her before the Carrai name became a curse.”
“Who?” Enzo demanded.
“I never learned his name.”
“Why hide the child?”
“Matteo was married. His wife could not have children. He wanted an heir, but Lucia refused to let him claim the boy.”
“Why?”
Silvio looked at Nora.
“Because Matteo had already ordered the deaths of two people who knew about the pregnancy.”
Nora's stomach turned.
“Who were they?”
“A nurse and a driver. Both died in what the police called unrelated accidents.”
“And you did nothing?”
“I tried to stop him. I failed.”
Silvio's voice broke.
“Lucia came to me because she believed I was the only person Matteo still feared. She begged me to help her escape. I arranged for her to leave the city. I thought I had protected her.”
“But you didn't,” Nora said softly.
“No.”
He closed his eyes.
“And when Matteo showed me evidence that Lucia had died, I accepted it because I was too much of a coward to question him.”
Enzo stepped away from the wheelchair.
For a moment, Nora thought he might strike something.
Instead, he turned toward the window and stood perfectly still.
Silvio looked at him.
“I am not asking you to forgive me.”
“Good,” Enzo said. “Because I don't know if I can.”
Then he turned back.
“But I'm going to find out what happened to Lucia.”
May you like
His eyes moved to Nora.
“And I'm going to make sure no one else pays for our family's sins.”
