Chapter 6 - The Fire That Changed Everything
Tiberio broke through the back door.
Smoke filled the room.
“Where are you?”
“Upstairs!”
He ran.
A section of ceiling collapsed behind him.
“Move!”
Brena grabbed his hand.
They reached the stairwell.
The smoke was thick enough that she could barely see.
Tiberio covered her mouth with his sleeve.
Then they ran.
Outside, firefighters surrounded the building.
Brena collapsed onto the sidewalk.
Tiberio crouched beside her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He checked her arms.
Her face.
Her hair.
Then stopped.
His hands were shaking.
Brena noticed.
“Tiberio.”
“I thought I lost you.”
She touched his wrist.
“I’m here.”
He closed his eyes.
For the first time since she had met him, he looked afraid.
Not angry.
Not powerful.
Just human.
Later that night, the fire investigator confirmed it.
Arson.
The security cameras showed a man entering fifteen minutes before the fire.
His face was hidden.
But one detail was visible.
A silver walking cane.
Roman D'Angelo.
Tiberio stared at the screen.
“He's back.”
Maya joined them.
“This is bigger than the fire.”
She placed a file on the table.
“Federal investigators found something in the trust.”
“What?”
“Roman doesn't just want the money.”
She opened the file.
“He wants a witness.”
Brena stared.
“What witness?”
“You.”
“Why?”
“Because your father recorded the meeting where Roman ordered Alio's death.”
Brena felt cold.
“Where is the recording?”
“Inside the trust.”
The key was Brena.
But there was another problem.
The trust required three signatures.
Brena.
Grant.
Tiberio.
It had been designed years ago.
None of them could access it alone.
They met Grant at a secure location.
For the first time, all three stood together.
Father.
Daughter.
Husband.
Grant looked at Tiberio.
“Will you do it?”
Tiberio nodded.
“Yes.”
Brena looked at the documents.
“What happens if we open it?”
“Roman will know,” Maya said.
“Then he'll come.”
“Yes.”
Brena took the pen.
“I want this over.”
Tiberio covered her hand.
“Then we end it.”
They signed.
The trust opened.
Files appeared.
Videos.
Audio.
Contracts.
Names.
Alio's final message.
Brena pressed play.
Alio's voice came through the speakers.
“If I'm dead, Roman did it.”
Then another voice.
Grant.
“Why don't you run?”
Alio laughed.
“Because my brother will come.”
Brena's heart tightened.
Tiberio listened without moving.
Alio continued.
“And when he does, he'll find Brena.”
Grant spoke.
“She knows nothing.”
“That is why she's safe.”
Then Roman's voice.
Cold.
Calm.
“If the girl becomes involved, remove her.”
The recording ended.
Brena stared at Tiberio.
His face had gone completely blank.
Roman had known about her before the marriage.
The marriage itself had been part of a chain of events Roman had been monitoring.
Maya spoke.
“He wanted you to marry Tiberio.”
Brena looked confused.
“Why?”
“Because it would unite the trust's three required signatures.”
Tiberio understood first.
“Roman needed me.”
“Yes.”
“He couldn't access the trust because I didn't have a reason to sign.”
Maya nodded.
“And he couldn't force Grant.”
“So he manipulated us.”
All of them.
For years.
The wedding.
The debt.
The photograph.
Everything.
Roman had been moving pieces.
And now they had finally reached the end of the board.
But before they could act, Grant received a message.
Meet me alone.
He recognized the number.
Roman.
Grant stood.
“No.”
Tiberio stopped him.
“You're not going.”
“If I don't, he comes for Brena.”
“We stay together.”
Grant looked at his daughter.
“I have already failed you once.”
“You don't get to fail me again.”
She took his hand.
“We finish this together.”
For the first time in twenty years, father and daughter stood side by side.
Three days later, Roman made his move.
He kidnapped Maya.
A single message arrived.
Bring the trust.
Bring Grant.
Bring Brena.
Come alone, Tiberio.
Brena read it.
“No.”
Tiberio looked at her.
“I have to.”
“You're not doing this alone.”
“I don't want you near him.”
“You don't get to decide anymore.”
Silence.
She took his hand.
“Remember?”
He nodded.
“No more secrets.”
May you like
“No more.”
They went together.
