Chapter 3 - The Secret Victoria Left Behind
The wedding dress became a scandal.
The note became a mystery.
And Casius Leone became the last man in Manhattan I wanted to trust.
Unfortunately, I was also becoming the woman he trusted most.
Three weeks passed.
I traveled with him to meetings.
I handled his schedules.
I sat in strategy sessions.
I learned which men smiled before lying.
I learned which ones never smiled at all.
And I learned that Casius never sat with his back to a door.
One night, we were driving through Brooklyn when he asked, “Do you remember the day your father died?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
“Was it?”
I looked at him.
“You don't believe it was accidental.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Your father was supposed to testify against a man named Marco Bellandi.”
I stared.
“You said that name before.”
“Yes.”
“Who was he?”
“An old enemy.”
“Of your family?”
“Of everyone's.”
I watched the rain sliding down the car window.
“Did my father know him?”
“Yes.”
“Did my father betray him?”
Casius was silent.
“I don't know.”
“Then why investigate?”
“Because someone has been killing people connected to that old case.”
My heart stopped.
“How many?”
“Six.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I didn't want you involved.”
“I'm already involved.”
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
The car stopped outside an old church.
I frowned.
“Why are we here?”
“Because someone left you a message.”
Inside the chapel, beneath the altar, was a small envelope.
My name was written on it.
My hands shook.
Inside was a photograph of Victoria Leone wearing the wedding gown.
On the back:
Your mother saved her life. She will save yours.
I looked at Casius.
“My mother?”
“You never told me about your mother.”
“She died when I was twelve.”
“Name?”
“Lucia.”
His expression changed.
“Lucia Leone?”
“No. Lucia Rizzo.”
“Your mother was Victoria's closest friend.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
Casius took the photograph.
“My mother mentioned a Lucia once.”
“What did she say?”
“That if anything happened to her, Lucia would know where the truth was buried.”
We returned to the estate.
Casius opened the original bridal records.
One page was missing.
Another had been replaced.
Mrs. Bellini entered quietly.
She looked at the pages.
Then at me.
“It's time.”
She reached into her pocket.
She pulled out an old cassette tape.
“I've kept this for twenty years.”
Casius stared.
“What is it?”
“Your mother's voice.”
The recording was damaged.
But we could hear Victoria speaking.
“Lucia, if they come for me, take Nadia and leave.”
My knees nearly gave out.
Casius caught my arm.
The tape continued.
“Casius must never know what his father did.”
Casius froze.
“What did my father do?”
Victoria's voice became softer.
“He wasn't the man he pretended to be.”
The tape ended.
Casius stood motionless.
Then he turned toward me.
“Your mother took care of me after mine died.”
I whispered, “How?”
“She stayed in my house for six months.”
I couldn't breathe.
“My mother knew you?”
“Yes.”
“And my father?”
“Yes.”
“Why did nobody tell me?”
“Because someone wanted both families separated.”
The next clue came from an old tailor.
A seventy-nine-year-old man named Mr. Anton had worked for the Leone family when Victoria was alive.
He told us something shocking.
“Your mother brought Victoria to me two days before she died.”
“Why?”
“To make a second copy of the wedding dress.”
I looked at Casius.
“Why would she need another?”
Anton lowered his voice.
“Because she hid something inside the original.”
“What?”
“I never knew.”
The dress.
The note.
The hidden message.
The photograph.
Everything returned to the same place.
We went back to the fitting room.
Mrs. Bellini removed the lining.
Inside was a second layer of silk.
She cut a seam.
A small metal key fell onto the table.
I picked it up.
Casius stared.
“Do you recognize it?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“It opens my mother's private desk.”
My hands trembled.
The desk had been locked for forty years.
We opened it that night.
Inside was one letter.
Addressed to Casius.
I watched him read.
His face changed line by line.
“What does it say?”
He handed it to me.
Victoria had written:
My son,
If you are reading this, the people around you have failed you.
Your father was not killed by our enemies.
He was killed because he wanted to confess.
The person who ordered it is the person you trust most.
I stared at the final sentence.
There was one name beneath it.
Bellini.
Casius looked at Mrs. Bellini.
She went pale.
“No.”
He reached for his gun.
Mrs. Bellini raised both hands.
“I didn't kill him.”
“Your name is here.”
“It means my brother.”
“Your brother?”
“Yes.”
She began to cry.
“My brother worked for your father.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
“When?”
“Twenty-two years ago.”
Casius lowered the gun.
Then another thought hit me.
“Why would Victoria write your family name instead of his?”
Mrs. Bellini whispered:
“Because she knew the person who ordered the murder was still alive.”
A noise came from the hallway.
Glass shattered.
Dante shouted.
“Down!”
The lights went out.
Shots echoed through the estate.
When the emergency lights turned on, the desk was gone.
Someone had stolen Victoria's letter.
May you like
And on the floor was one thing left behind.
Gemma Rizzo's engagement ring.
