Chapter 6
I locked Helena in the east sitting room with Rocco outside the door.
She screamed my name until the walls carried it.
I did not answer.
I went to Camila’s room.
Leo sat on the couch with Sofia’s second letter in his lap.
My sister had one arm around him.
Her face was pale.
I took the letter carefully.
My sweet Leo,
If you are reading this, I am sorry I could not protect you longer.
Your grandfather left something in your name.
Not money.
Not land.
Proof.
He knew men in our family had been using the estate to hide accounts, weapons, and debts. He put the proof where only your father would find it if he ever stopped trusting the wrong people.
I looked at Camila.
She nodded toward the bottom of the page.
The key is under the car your father gave you when you were four.
The toy car.
The one with the note.
I pulled it from my pocket.
The scraped side looked innocent.
I turned it over and peeled off the paper.
There, pressed into a hidden slot, was a tiny silver key.
Leo whispered, “What does it open?”
“I don’t know.”
But I had a terrible feeling.
My father had built half the estate before he died.
There were old safes everywhere.
Some known.
Some rumored.
One place came to mind.
The garage office.
The same room Sofia had said Helena entered.
We went there with Matteo, Camila, and two guards.
I did not bring Leo inside.
He waited at the doorway with Camila.
Behind the desk, under the bottom drawer, was a small keyhole.
The silver key fit.
A panel clicked open.
Inside was a drive.
A ledger.
And a photograph.
Helena standing beside my father.
Not at a party.
Not at church.
In this garage.
May you like
Seven years ago.
Before I ever met her.
