Chapter 4 - The Brother Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Vittoria Columbo sat across from them.
For the first time, Renata saw fear in her face.
Not fear of Lorenzo.
Fear for him.
"Adrian is alive," Lorenzo said.
Vittoria nodded.
"Yes."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Then how do you know?"
"Because he called me."
"When?"
"Three years ago."
Lorenzo stared.
"You lied to me."
"I protected you."
He gave a bitter laugh.
"Everyone uses that word."
Vittoria looked at Renata.
"Your father understood."
Renata stiffened.
"What did he understand?"
"The arrangement."
"What arrangement?"
Vittoria reached into her bag and placed a document on the table.
It was a marriage agreement.
Renata read the names.
Luciano Columbo.
Daniel Ferrer.
Their signatures.
And one strange clause.
If the Ferrer and Columbo families unite through marriage, all assets held in the joint trust will be transferred to their descendants.
Renata stared.
"What is this?"
Lorenzo looked stunned.
"My father and your father planned to unite the families?"
"Yes."
"Through us?"
"Not exactly."
Vittoria shook her head.
"It was meant for your generation."
Renata's face heated.
"So my father wanted me to marry Lorenzo?"
"No."
Vittoria looked at her.
"He wanted you protected."
Renata closed her eyes.
"From whom?"
"From Matteo."
Her uncle.
Vittoria explained.
Matteo Ferrer had been the original mastermind behind the hidden financial network.
Daniel discovered it.
Luciano tried to dismantle it.
Matteo threatened both families.
Adrian found evidence.
He was forced into hiding.
Daniel disappeared.
The family pretended both men were dead.
Renata sat quietly.
"Why did my father never tell me?"
"Because you were seventeen."
"And when I became an adult?"
"By then the people watching you had already found you."
Lorenzo looked at his mother.
"You knew she was being watched."
"Yes."
"And you let me get close."
Vittoria met his eyes.
"I had hoped you would protect her better than we did."
Silence.
Renata looked at Lorenzo.
"Did you know about the marriage document?"
"No."
She smiled sadly.
"At least one person here didn't."
They found Adrian two days later.
He was living under another name in Switzerland.
When Lorenzo saw him, he didn't move.
Adrian smiled.
"You took your time."
Lorenzo punched him.
Adrian laughed.
Then hugged his brother.
Renata watched them.
Two men who had spent years apart.
Adrian looked at her.
"You must be Renata."
"How do you know me?"
"Because I was the one who found your father's last message."
She froze.
"What message?"
Adrian handed her a photograph.
Her father had written something on the back.
She will save you if you let her.
Renata looked at Lorenzo.
He looked away.
"Your father believed I would need you," Adrian said.
Renata swallowed.
"What happened to him?"
Adrian's face darkened.
"He was betrayed."
"By whom?"
"Someone close."
"Who?"
Adrian hesitated.
"Your mother."
Renata went still.
"No."
Adrian nodded.
"She didn't kill him."
"Then what did she do?"
"She gave Matteo the location where your father was hiding."
Renata stood.
"Why?"
"Because Matteo threatened you."
She closed her eyes.
Her mother.
The woman who had spent her entire life telling her how dangerous the world was.
Had sacrificed her husband.
To protect her daughter.
Renata couldn't decide whether to hate her or understand her.
Lorenzo approached.
"You don't have to decide tonight."
She looked at him.
"What would you do?"
"I'd choose the truth."
She laughed softly.
"You say that like it's easy."
"No."
He stepped closer.
"It's just cleaner than living inside a lie."
Renata touched the old photograph.
"What happened to my father?"
Adrian looked at her.
"He's alive."
Her heart stopped.
"What?"
"He survived the attack."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Lorenzo stared at his brother.
"You said he was alive."
"He was."
Renata's voice trembled.
"Was?"
Adrian nodded.
"He died two years ago."
She sank into a chair.
"He lived."
"Yes."
"And I never knew."
"No."
She cried quietly.
Lorenzo crouched beside her.
He didn't touch her.
He waited.
Finally she whispered,
"I never got to say goodbye."
Lorenzo answered,
"I know."
She looked at him.
"Did you?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I thought he was dead too."
They sat together.
No promises.
No romance.
Only grief.
That night Adrian handed Lorenzo another file.
"There is one more thing."
"What?"
"The ledger isn't complete."
Lorenzo frowned.
"What's missing?"
"The last page."
"Where is it?"
Adrian looked at Renata.
"Her father gave it to her years ago."
Renata froze.
"I don't have it."
Adrian smiled sadly.
"You do."
She searched her memory.
Then remembered.
A birthday.
A recipe.
A small wooden box her father had given her at seventeen.
She had kept it in her childhood home.
May you like
Lorenzo stared.
"We're going back."
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