第2章

That afternoon, Vincent came to the west wing alone. No gun. No guards. Just a cup of warm milk. He sat on the edge of my bed, just as he had countless times over the past eight months, telling me to move on from our daughters' deaths.

"Lily, give me the original backup and I'll look into this properly."

"You're lying to me."

"I'm protecting you."

I grabbed the memory card and headed for the door, but Vincent seized my wrist.

"Hand it over!"

"Those are the last nineteen minutes of Sofia and Louise's lives! They were your daughters too!"

I bit the back of his hand. His grip loosened, and I tore free. I barely made it two steps before he shoved me from behind.

My lower back crashed against the stone edge of the fireplace. Something gave inside me. A dull thud. Then pain tore through my left ribs and abdomen.

I dropped to my knees. The memory card slipped from my hand and disappeared into the seam of the carpet.

Vincent froze. He instinctively reached for me. Then the door opened.

Gianna stood there. Her eyes dropped to the card on the floor, then lifted to me.

"Liliana, why do you have to destroy everyone? Would it kill you to just be a good little dog?"

She picked up the card and backed toward the desk. I gripped the fireplace and forced myself to my feet. Then I lunged for her.

Gianna didn't even flinch. She snatched a letter opener from the pen cup and stabbed me in the abdomen.

Blood poured down my stomach. I reached for the memory card, but my strength was gone. The room blurred around me.

Vincent caught me and roared, "Are you insane? If you kill her, how will you answer to everyone?"

Then, right in front of us, Gianna slashed her own shoulder.

Blood soaked through her white dress. She screamed and dropped to the floor.

People rushed in. My father, Luca, and Enzo were among them.

Gianna grabbed Vincent's leg and shook with sobs. "She tried to kill me. She said there was room in this house for one Moretti daughter."

"Get the doctor," my father said.

Mara Collins broke free from the guard holding her and rushed to my side. Her fingers had barely touched my left ribs when her face went pale.

"Her blood pressure is falling fast. Her abdomen is rigid. She may have a ruptured spleen. She needs emergency surgery now!"

Luca strode over to the wall and ripped the emergency phone line from the socket.

"A hospital visit creates medical records. The Five Families and the press will all be here tomorrow. No outsider can see her like this."

I looked at my father. I waited for him to look at me. At my injuries. Just once. He never did. His eyes stayed on Gianna, who was bleeding in Vincent's arms.

"We should treat the person who can represent us at tomorrow's ceremony. Why should we care whether that useless dead weight lives or dies?"

Mara's voice shook with panic. "Miss Russo's cut is shallow. Mrs. Bellini is the one whose life is in danger!"

"Take her out," my father ordered.

Enzo twisted Mara's arms behind her. As they dragged her away, she fought to look back at me. "Mrs. Bellini, don't fall asleep. Whatever you do, stay awake!"

Once Vincent had left Gianna with the doctor, he came back. He carefully lifted me onto the bed, as if a gentle touch could somehow undo the shove that put me there.

"When everything is over tomorrow, I'll drive you to the hospital myself."

My hands and feet were already cold.

"What if I can't make it? What if I die here?"

He said nothing.

"Vincent." I grabbed his cuff. "What will you do if I die here?"

He peeled my fingers from his sleeve, one by one.

"Stop threatening me with death. Lily, what happened to you? You were spoiled when Alessandra was alive. Are you really going to keep acting like this now that she's gone?

"I used to love you. I thought you were a sensible wife who knew her place. Now I see you're completely useless to me."

He stormed out, slammed the door, and locked me inside.

A silver cufflink had come loose in the struggle and rolled beside the bed. It was streaked with my blood. I reached beneath the bed frame and found the groove Alessandra had once carved to hide a knife. Then I slipped the cufflink inside, along with a second tiny memory card.

The card held only two things: the location data and the exact time Vincent received the forged leak document. Anyone who looked into it would find that the file accusing me of leaking family secrets had been created six hours after the family voted to lock me up.

Downstairs, the music rehearsal for tomorrow's ceremony began. Heavy drums thundered through the estate, nearly drowning out my fading heartbeat.

I waited until night swallowed the estate. No one came. Blood soaked through the sheets as the cold sank deeper into my body.