Chapter 9
The family council met beneath Ristorante Bellagio.
I thought that sounded ridiculous.
Then I saw the room.
Stone walls.
Long table.
Old portraits.
Men and women seated like judges in a world that did not use ordinary courts unless it had to.
Dante stood beside me.
Nico was upstairs with Marco, Dante’s most trusted guard.
My mother waited in a protected room with federal agents.
Yes.
Federal agents.
Because Sofia had sent copies of her files to an investigator before she died.
Agent Clara Voss entered behind us with two plainclothes officers.
Half the council stiffened.
Good.
Let them be uncomfortable.
I was terrified too.
Ms. Rossi, the Bellagio attorney, placed my birth record on the table.
“DNA confirms Mara Hayes is Mara Bellagio, twin sister of Sofia Bellagio and legal co-beneficiary under Antonio Bellagio’s sealed trust.”
An old man stood.
“A waitress cannot walk in and control family voting rights.”
I looked at him.
“A baby cannot defend himself against men who want his money either.”
The room went silent.
Dante almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Silvio entered.
No one had invited him.
Everyone let him in anyway.
That told me who still feared him.
His cheek was bruised from Dante’s punch.
His smile was perfect.
“Mara,” he said. “Sister. Or should I say evidence?”
I stood straighter.
“Sofia left a video.”
“She left many things. Dead women are sentimental.”
Dante moved.
I touched his arm.
He stopped.
That surprised him.
It surprised me too.
I looked at Silvio.
“Did you kill her?”
He smiled.
“You already asked me.”
“You never answered.”
His eyes darkened.
“Because you are not owed answers.”
Agent Voss stepped forward.
“No. But the court is.”
She placed a warrant on the table.
Silvio’s smile faded.
Before she could reach him, the room doors locked from outside.
The lights flickered.
A voice came through the speaker system.
May you like
Silvio’s voice.
“If Mara wants the truth, let her survive the family first.”
