Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN THEY UNDERESTIMATEDAlessandro reached the second floor first.
He had a pistol in his hand before Genevieve saw him draw it.
“Stay behind me.”
She ignored him.
“Lucia!”
The baby’s cries came from the east corridor.
A security officer lay unconscious near the nursery entrance.
Not dead.
Genevieve saw his chest moving.
Another guard stood with his weapon raised toward an open window.
“Boss!”
“What happened?”
“Woman disguised as medical staff.”
The guard pointed outside.
“She entered through the service staircase. We stopped her before she reached the bassinet.”
Genevieve pushed past Alessandro.
Lucia lay inside the nursery.
Alive.
Crying.
Mrs. Donnelly stood beside the bassinet holding a heavy brass lamp in both hands like a weapon.
“I hit her.”
Everyone stared at the housekeeper.
Mrs. Donnelly lifted her chin.
“She reached for the baby.”
Alessandro lowered his pistol.
“Where is she?”
“Outside.”
The guard answered.
“She jumped from the balcony.”
“Second floor?”
“Yes.”
“Did she survive?”
“We don’t know.”
Genevieve reached Lucia.
The moment she lifted her daughter, the world narrowed.
Lucia’s tiny body was warm.
Unhurt.
Her screaming softened against Genevieve’s chest.
Alessandro moved beside them.
He ran his hands over Lucia’s blanket, checking for injuries.
“She’s okay.”
Genevieve nodded.
But her body had begun shaking.
“She was inside the room.”
“I know.”
“She touched the bassinet.”
“I know.”
Genevieve turned toward him.
“No.”
The force of the word startled him.
“No more.”
“What?”
“No more pretending this house is safe because there are gates.”
“Evie—”
“No more responding after someone attacks us.”
Her eyes filled with furious tears.
“Vincenzo watched me for months. Luca was compromised. A federal prosecutor may control half your organization.”
She held Lucia tighter.
“And now someone walked into our daughter’s nursery.”
Alessandro’s jaw tightened.
“What do you want me to do?”
Genevieve looked directly at him.
“Stop playing defense.”
He stared at her.
She continued.
“You keep trying to build higher walls.”
“That is generally how security works.”
“And every enemy you have already knows the walls.”
Alessandro said nothing.
“They know your houses.”
“They know your men.”
“They know your businesses.”
“They know your habits.”
Genevieve lowered her voice.
“You need something they do not know.”
“What?”
“Me.”
The answer silenced the corridor.
Mateo arrived moments later with Luca guarded by two men.
“What happened?”
Alessandro did not respond.
He was still looking at his wife.
Genevieve handed Lucia carefully to Mrs. Donnelly.
“Take her into our bedroom.”
Alessandro immediately objected.
“No.”
Genevieve faced him.
“I am not leaving the house.”
“That was not the part I objected to.”
“Then what?”
“You are not turning yourself into bait.”
Mateo glanced between them.
Genevieve crossed her arms.
“I never said bait.”
“You said something they do not know.”
“Yes.”
“And I know your face when you are about to suggest something dangerous.”
“You married that face.”
“I am beginning to regret encouraging it.”
Despite the danger, Mateo nearly smiled.
Genevieve walked back toward the library.
“We need information.”
Luca remained pale.
“You think Shaw sent the woman?”
“Yes,” Genevieve answered.
“Then she knows I talked.”
“How?”
“I told you.”
Luca looked exhausted.
“She owns people everywhere.”
Alessandro entered behind Genevieve.
“Not everywhere.”
Luca laughed.
“You still think this is your city.”
“No.”
Alessandro closed the doors.
“But I know someone she does not own.”
Mateo frowned.
“Who?”
Alessandro looked at Genevieve.
“The Costas.”
Silence.
For seven months, the Costa family had been treated as the enemy.
Alessandro had destroyed two warehouses.
Hijacked shipments.
Frozen accounts.
Three Costa soldiers had died during clashes caused by Vincenzo’s lies.
Genevieve understood immediately.
“That is why Vincenzo wanted war.”
Alessandro nodded.
“Evelyn Shaw needed the two organizations fighting.”
Luca lowered his head.
“She wanted both weakened.”
“And then?”
“She would offer protection to whoever remained.”
Mateo swore quietly.
Genevieve began thinking.
“Who leads the Costas now?”
“Rafael Costa.”
Alessandro’s expression darkened.
“He hates me.”
“Understandably.”
Alessandro looked offended.
Genevieve continued.
“You accused him of kidnapping your wife.”
“He was uncooperative.”
“You burned his warehouse.”
“He should have been more cooperative.”
“Sandro.”
“All right.”
Alessandro sighed.
“He hates me.”
“Does he know Vincenzo framed him?”
“Not yet.”
Genevieve looked toward Luca.
“Does Rafael know Shaw?”
“Yes.”
Luca’s answer came immediately.
“His sister does.”
Alessandro turned.
“Serena?”
“Yes.”
“What does Serena Costa have to do with this?”
Luca hesitated.
“She was working with Leo.”
Genevieve stopped breathing.
“What?”
Luca looked at her.
“Your brother contacted her.”
“Why?”
“Because he needed someone outside the Romano organization.”
Genevieve stared.
Leo and Serena Costa.
She had never heard her brother mention the woman.
“What were they doing?”
“Collecting evidence against Shaw.”
Mateo looked stunned.
“Why didn’t Leo tell Alessandro?”
“Because Leo found documents suggesting someone extremely close to Sandro was involved.”
“Vincenzo.”
“Yes.”
“He did not know how far the betrayal went.”
Genevieve sat.
Her brother’s final months were becoming a second life she had never known existed.
Alessandro looked toward Mateo.
“Contact Rafael.”
Mateo blinked.
“Directly?”
“Yes.”
“What do I say?”
Alessandro considered.
Genevieve answered first.
“Tell him Genevieve Romano wants to speak with Serena Costa.”
Every man looked at her.
Alessandro’s expression darkened.
“No.”
“You just agreed we need them.”
“I agreed I would speak to Rafael.”
“And he already hates you.”
“That is irrelevant.”
“It is extremely relevant.”
Genevieve leaned forward.
“If Leo trusted Serena, she may trust me.”
“She does not know you.”
“She knew my brother.”
Alessandro looked away.
Genevieve understood his resistance.
It was not strategy.
It was fear.
“You cannot lock me in a bedroom forever.”
“I can build a very comfortable locked bedroom.”
“Sandro.”
“No.”
His voice hardened.
“I found you six days ago.”
Genevieve fell silent.
The anger vanished from Alessandro’s face.
In its place was something more difficult.
“I found you after seven months believing you were dead.”
He looked toward the ceiling where Lucia slept.
“I met my daughter while a doctor was cutting her out of your body.”
His voice lowered.
“Then men opened fire.”
Genevieve’s expression softened.
Alessandro looked at her.
“I am trying, Evie.”
“I know.”
“No, you do not.”
His control cracked slightly.
“Every time you walk into another room, part of me expects you not to come back.”
Genevieve’s chest tightened.
Mateo quietly guided Luca toward the door.
They left the couple alone.
Alessandro rubbed his face.
“I wake up and reach for you.”
His voice was barely above a whisper.
“If you are not there, I cannot breathe.”
Genevieve crossed the room.
She took his hand.
“I came back.”
“I found you.”
“Yes.”
She lifted his hand to her chest.
“But I stayed.”
He looked at her.
“I could have left after the hospital.”
Alessandro said nothing.
“I could leave now.”
His hand tightened.
“But I am here.”
Genevieve stepped closer.
“Trusting me does not mean you stop protecting me.”
She touched his face.
“It means you understand I am choosing to stand beside you.”
Alessandro closed his eyes.
For years he had confused love with possession.
Protection with control.
He had never intended cruelty.
But fear could create its own kind of cage.
He opened his eyes.
“You speak to Serena.”
Genevieve exhaled.
“With me present.”
“Sandro—”
“That is my compromise.”
She smiled.
“Fine.”
The meeting was arranged for the following afternoon.
Not at Romano territory.
Not Costa territory.
Serena chose the location.
An abandoned theater in Brooklyn that had closed thirteen years earlier.
Alessandro hated every detail.
Genevieve found that reassuring.
Rain fell heavily when their convoy arrived.
The theater’s faded marquee still displayed letters from a production nobody remembered.
Mateo entered first.
Then Alessandro.
Then Genevieve.
Serena Costa waited alone on the stage.
She was thirty-six, dressed in black trousers and a cream coat.
No visible weapon.
Genevieve assumed that meant nothing.
Serena looked toward Alessandro.
“So.”
Her voice echoed through the empty theater.
“The famous Don finally admits he burned the wrong warehouse.”
Alessandro did not smile.
“You are welcome to invoice me.”
“I did.”
“You added emotional damages.”
“I was emotional.”
Genevieve almost laughed.
Serena’s eyes moved toward her.
The humor vanished.
“You look like Leo.”
Genevieve stopped.
Serena walked down from the stage.
“I am sorry.”
Genevieve struggled to answer.
“You knew him well?”
“Well enough.”
Something in Serena’s expression told Genevieve there was more.
“You loved him.”
Serena froze.
Alessandro looked at her.
Genevieve did not need confirmation.
“I did.”
Serena’s voice cracked.
“We were going to leave New York.”
Genevieve sat in one of the dusty theater seats.
“My brother never told me.”
“He wanted to.”
Serena sat beside her.
“But then he discovered Shaw.”
Alessandro remained several feet away.
“Tell us everything.”
Serena looked at him.
“Leo believed Evelyn Shaw had been controlling portions of both families for at least twelve years.”
“Through Vincenzo?”
“And people inside ours.”
“Who?”
“Some are dead.”
Serena looked toward Genevieve.
“Some are not.”
She reached into her coat.
Alessandro immediately moved.
Serena rolled her eyes.
“If I wanted to kill her, Romano, I would not reach slowly into a pocket.”
She removed an envelope.
Genevieve accepted it.
Her name was written across the front.
Leo’s handwriting.
She stopped breathing.
“He gave that to me three days before he died,” Serena said.
“He made me promise I would only deliver it if Vincenzo was exposed.”
Genevieve opened the envelope.
Inside was a single page.
Gen,
If you are reading this, I probably waited too long to be brave.
Please do not blame Sandro.
He has done terrible things. We both know that.
But my death will not be one of them.
I found the people who have been using both families.
Vincenzo is involved, but he is afraid of someone called Evelyn Shaw.
Serena is helping me.
Trust her.
And one more thing.
If Sandro loves anything more than power, it is you.
Make him prove it.
Do not let him tell you protection means obedience.
You were always smarter than both of us.
I love you.
Leo.
Genevieve could no longer see the page.
Tears blurred every word.
Alessandro turned away.
The sentence had struck him too.
Make him prove it.
For several minutes no one spoke.
Then Serena stood.
“There is one thing Leo never learned before he died.”
Genevieve wiped her face.
“What?”
“Why Shaw cares so much about the Romanos.”
Alessandro looked at her.
Serena’s expression became grim.
“Your father.”
“What about him?”
“Evelyn Shaw did not infiltrate your family.”
May you like
She paused.
“Your father invited her in.”
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