Chapter 4 - Room SeventeenThe Saint Vincent Hotel no longer existed.
In its place stood a luxury apartment tower.
But beneath the construction, one underground level had been preserved for historical reasons.
The developer had no idea why.
Lorenzo did.
Room Seventeen had been converted into storage.
They entered at 2:00 a.m.
The key fit.
Inside was a tiny room containing an old wooden desk.
Nothing else.
Serena looked around.
“Where’s the ledger?”
Lorenzo touched the wall.
“Something's wrong.”
She examined the floor.
“Look.”
A scratch mark.
Near the baseboard.
Lorenzo knelt.
They removed the panel.
Behind it was a small metal box.
Inside lay an old black ledger.
And beside it, a letter.
The handwriting belonged to Elizabeth.
Serena recognized it immediately.
She began crying before opening it.
Lorenzo stood beside her.
“You don't have to.”
“Yes.”
She opened it.
My little girl,
If you're reading this, I failed to keep the truth hidden.
Your real name is not Sophie.
I named you Serena because I wanted you to have a life untouched by the men who wanted to own you.
Serena covered her mouth.
Your father is not the man they told me he was.
Lorenzo looked at her.
She continued reading.
Your father was Adrian Duca.
Lorenzo went completely still.
Adrian Duca.
His older brother.
Dead at twenty-six.
Or so everyone had believed.
Lorenzo whispered:
“Your father was my brother.”
Serena stared.
She wasn't related to Lorenzo by blood through his father?
Yes.
She had become the hidden daughter of the Duca family.
But there was more.
The letter continued.
Adrian knew he would die.
He gave me the Black Ledger.
He asked me to protect Serena from our father.
Serena looked at Lorenzo.
“Our father?”
Lorenzo's face hardened.
Their father had been Dominic Duca.
A ruthless man.
A man whose reputation was worse than Lorenzo's.
“He wanted me dead too,” Lorenzo said.
The letter continued.
Lorenzo is the only one of them I trusted.
Serena's eyes lifted.
“Me?”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“Your mother trusted me.”
“But you didn't know.”
“No.”
“She trusted you anyway.”
He swallowed.
“I wish she had told me.”
“Why?”
“Because I would have protected you.”
Serena laughed bitterly.
“You couldn't even protect yourself.”
He stepped closer.
“No.”
His voice was soft.
“But I can protect you now.”
Before she could answer, footsteps sounded.
Lorenzo raised his gun.
A voice came from the darkness.
“You've always been sentimental, Lorenzo.”
Salvatore Vieri stepped into the light.
Serena recognized him from the photograph.
He looked old.
But not weak.
“You're dead,” Lorenzo said.
Salvatore smiled.
“So is your brother.”
Serena's blood chilled.
“You killed him.”
“Yes.”
Lorenzo aimed his weapon.
Salvatore laughed.
“Shoot me and you'll never know who ordered it.”
Lorenzo's finger tightened.
“Who?”
“Ask your board.”
“My board?”
“Your business partners.”
Salvatore pointed toward Serena.
“She isn't the prize.”
“What is?”
“The ledger.”
Salvatore smiled.
“It contains enough evidence to bring down every major criminal organization in the city.”
Lorenzo said nothing.
“You think you can destroy me.”
Salvatore shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Serena.
“She can.”
Then the lights exploded.
Gunfire filled the room.
Lorenzo grabbed Serena and pushed her behind the desk.
Salvatore disappeared.
When the shooting stopped, the ledger was gone.
But Serena had one thing.
She had torn a single page free.
A page listing names.
At the top was one she recognized.
Victor Hale.
Bellvita's general manager.
Lorenzo looked at the page.
May you like
His expression turned lethal.
“Now I know where the betrayal started.”
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