Chapter 7 - THE MAN I PAID TO PROTECT ME
Tony didn’t deny it.
That hurt more than I expected.
I looked at him.
“Three years?”
His jaw tightened.
“Boss—”
“Don’t call me that.”
Vivien stood ten feet away, almost relaxed now.
I pointed toward the study.
“Inside.”
We entered.
I closed the door.
Elena and Emma were still locked in the panic room.
For the first time that day, I felt grateful for steel.
Tony stood near the desk.
“I can explain.”
“Start.”
“Luca contacted me three years ago.”
“Why?”
“To warn me.”
“About?”
“Your father.”
“My father was dead.”
“His network wasn’t.”
Tony glanced at Vivien.
“Luca said somebody was rebuilding it.”
“And you believed him?”
“He gave me proof.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“He begged me not to.”
I laughed once.
“So my security chief takes orders from my dead brother.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“That sentence should be illegal.”
Vivien leaned against the bookshelves.
“Touching.”
I looked at her.
“You photographed my records.”
“Yes.”
“You cloned my security credentials.”
“No.”
That answer surprised me.
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No. But it’s true.”
“Who did?”
She looked at Tony.
Tony shook his head.
“Not me.”
Vivien smiled.
“Marco.”
“Where is he?”
“Probably listening.”
I studied her.
“What do you want?”
Her expression changed.
For the first time, I saw exhaustion.
“Freedom.”
I almost laughed.
“You live in a twelve-bedroom estate.”
“You think money is freedom?”
“To most people, yes.”
“To people who’ve never met your family.”
There it was again.
Family.
“What did my father do to you?”
She looked down.
“My father worked for him.”
“Rossi?”
“Not my real name.”
Tony went still.
Vivien looked at me.
“My name is Vivien Bellini.”
Marco’s daughter.
The room became silent.
“You’re Marco’s daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And you spent fourteen months in my bed.”
“Yes.”
“To steal from me.”
“At first.”
Those last two words were a knife she didn’t need to use.
“At first?”
She looked away.
I hated that part of me still cared whether the answer hurt her.
“What changed?”
“You.”
I stepped closer.
“Don’t.”
“I’m not lying.”
“You’ve done little else.”
She swallowed.
“My father wanted me to marry you, get access, transfer control, and make you sign the medical clause.”
“And then?”
Silence.
“Say it.”
“He planned to drug you on the honeymoon.”
Tony cursed softly.
“And kill me?”
“Not immediately.”
“That’s comforting.”
“He wanted you declared incompetent. Easier than murder. Cleaner.”
“And Elena?”
Vivien looked toward the floor.
“That wasn’t my plan.”
“But you knew.”
“Yes.”
My hand slammed against the desk.
She flinched.
“Why?”
“Because Elena could identify Luca. Because she knew too much about your father’s death.”
“You wrote the note?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“Marco.”
Tony frowned.
“Why hide it in Dominic’s safe?”
“I didn’t.”
The door behind us opened.
Nobody had touched it.
Elena stood there.
Emma beside her.
I stared.
“How did you get out?”
Elena held up my emergency key.
“It was already inside the panic room.”
I hadn’t left one there.
Emma pointed toward Vivien.
“She did.”
Vivien looked confused.
“No, I didn’t.”
Emma shook her head.
“Not you.”
She pointed behind Vivien.
At the bookshelf.
“Other Aunt Vivien.”
Every adult in the room went still.
Emma walked toward the shelves.
She pressed one carved wooden flower.
A hidden door clicked open.
Behind it stood a woman wearing the same blond wig and cream sweater as Vivien.
May you like
For half a second, it was like looking at a reflection.
Then the woman pulled a gun.
