Chapter 3: The Secret He Carried
They took me somewhere I didn’t expect.
Not a warehouse.
Not a basement.
A house.
Quiet. Hidden. Expensive.
Safe.
That was the strangest part.
Lorenzo dismissed the others with a look. Even Dante hesitated before leaving.
Then it was just the two of us.
“You shouldn’t exist,” he said.
“I get that a lot.”
He poured two drinks. Handed me one.
I didn’t take it.
“Smart,” he said.
“Careful,” I corrected.
He set the glass down.
“Ricci,” he repeated. “Your father was supposed to disappear quietly.”
“You burned him alive,” I said.
His expression flickered.
“Wrong,” he said.
That word hung in the air.
“What?” I asked.
“He was gone before the fire.”
My stomach twisted.
“No,” I said. “I saw—”
“You saw what we wanted you to see.”
Silence.
For the first time since I got in the car, I felt something crack.
“Why?” I whispered.
Lorenzo leaned back slightly.
“Because your father betrayed people you don’t even know exist.”
“And you’re one of them?”
A pause.
May you like
“No,” he said.
That answer was worse.
