第4章

Dominic Hale, our family attorney, followed Alessandra into the morgue. As he spoke, I finally understood what had happened. After the fire four years ago, the Neutral Committee had hidden my badly injured sister on Saint Brigid. When my father returned with her silver watch, he had no idea she was still alive. Only Dominic and the Committee knew.

Alessandra did not cry, but her face was frighteningly cold. Hands that had killed countless people trembled as she stroked my hair.

She ordered everyone out, leaving only Dominic and two independent witnesses.

She examined the bruise across my left ribs and the knife wound in my abdomen. Then she scraped the red fireplace paint from beneath my nails and sealed it in an evidence bag. Finally, she cut a lock of my hair and slipped it into her pocket. My spirit followed wherever she went. I couldn't touch her or speak. I couldn't tell her what Gianna had confessed. All I could do was watch as she pieced together what they had done to me, one piece of evidence at a time.

She picked up the body transfer order.

"Who signed this?"

"Salvatore," Dominic answered.

"Who ordered that her emergency treatment be denied?"

"There's nothing in writing."

"Why was the cause of death changed twice?"

"The first report listed internal bleeding. Then it was changed to a sedative overdose."

Alessandra sealed the broken vial in an evidence bag. This time, her hands didn't shake.

"Who's at the house now?"

"Representatives of the Five Families, members of the port board, reporters, and the core members of the Moretti family."

"They're holding her funeral?"

Dominic paused. "A memorial. Her body was supposed to be cremated here. After the service, Salvatore will officially recognize Gianna as a Moretti."

Alessandra looked up. Under the harsh white lights, it was like staring at my own face—only without any of my softness or hesitation.

"You have 15 days left of your ten-year isolation." Dominic blocked the door. "Wait another 15 days, and the Black Harbor Trust will smoothly transfer to you. Cross that isolation line, and the alarm goes off. If you're not back within 18 hours, the dockworkers' wages will be frozen. The families will riot. We'll have another war. Alessandra, you've waited almost ten years. Don't throw it all away now."

"Four years ago, you helped the Committee hide the fact that I was alive."

Dominic did not deny it.

"Where are all the letters Liliana sent me?"

"Salvatore ordered me to intercept them from the day you arrived. Four years ago, he decided you were dead. After that, no one sent anything here."

"Did she know I was alive?"

"No. Your family believed you died in the fire."

Alessandra stared at him.

"Then you don't get to ask me to wait for another fifteen days."

She had the witnesses seal my body in the neutral morgue and document every injury, the broken vial, and the transfer order. Then she tied the joined red cords around her wrist.

My spirit was pulled after her, away from my body. Alessandra entered a storeroom sealed for ten years. Inside were the black coat she'd worn to the island and a pistol kept in perfect condition.

"They traded ten years of my freedom for peace. Then they used that peace to kill Liliana." She pulled my black veil over her face and chambered a round. "I wasn't the one who broke the truce."

She crossed the yellow isolation line. An alarm screamed across Saint Brigid Island.

Six hours later, the Moretti great hall was filled with white funeral flowers. My portrait stood before an empty casket. Gianna stood at the center of the dais. Her shoulder now needed only a small dressing, and the silver Moretti crest gleamed on her chest.

My father addressed the packed hall. "Liliana's death has brought us profound grief. So that the Moretti family can move forward, I have decided..."

The doors flew open.

Alessandra walked in wearing my black veil. We were identical twins. Ten years had passed, the veil hid most of her face, and everyone believed she had died in the fire. No one recognized her.

Vincent reached her first. His grief vanished. He grabbed her wrist.

"Liliana? You faked your death?"

I floated beside them, invisible.

"You staged your funeral just to ruin Gianna's induction ceremony?"

Alessandra said nothing. She only glanced at the hand around her wrist. Vincent immediately let go.

Luca stormed down from the dais. "Put her back in the west wing!"

"Don't let her near a terminal!" For the first time, my father's voice shook.

Gianna gripped the silver crest on her chest. "You haven't had a place here in years."

They still thought she was me. Every insult meant for me now fell on Alessandra.

Alessandra walked straight to the terminal and pressed her thumb to the verification pad. It scanned her fingerprint, then the old scar between her thumb and forefinger.

A mechanical voice filled the hall. "Primary beneficiary verified. Alessandra Moretti. Status: alive."

Dead silence.

Dominic stepped behind Alessandra and read the independent witness statement aloud.

"Confirmed, Liliana Moretti was pronounced dead at 2:13 this morning. Confirmed, Alessandra Moretti left the Saint Brigid isolation zone at 9:07 this morning."

Vincent staggered back, staring at her. Then he finally noticed it. There was no crescent-shaped burn scar behind her ear. His legs buckled. He dropped to his knees beside my empty casket.

"That's not possible."

Luca shouted, "Alessandra!" Then his face twisted. "Fifteen days! Do you have any idea what you've destroyed?"

My father cut the power. But before the hall went dark, the terminal issued one final update.

"All command authority over Trust security is transferred to the primary beneficiary."

The security officers lining the hall turned their guns away from Alessandra and aimed them at my father and Luca.

The emergency lights came on. Gianna backed toward the brass plaque bearing the Moretti name and reached for the pistol hidden behind it.

Alessandra pulled off the veil.

"Liliana is dead."

She raised her gun. It swept past Vincent on his knees, past a pale-faced Luca, and stopped on Gianna.

"I'm Alessandra. I've come to collect an old debt."