15 • The Ultimate Betrayal

• Months earlier •

◆ LORENZIO ◆

"Now what?" I leaned forward and stared at the Falco heirs, feigning a poker face to mask the days-old panic, guilt, and profound regrets that kept me tossing and turning in bed until dawn.

Ricchar, like Maximiliano, didn't look eager to sift through the evidence. The look in their scrutinizing eyes bordered on judgmental, even. Doubtful. Most likely they doubted my account of what happened.

Their partly confused, sometimes nonchalant reactions to the photos could be due to distrust. Of me. Of my family. But I already saw this coming.

"You tell me." Ricchar tilted his stubbled chin. The chandelier above his desk highlighted the curls in his hair and his curious stare.

"I... Tell you what?"

"Let's cut the shit. Yeah? When you decided to come here, did you expect a certain reaction?"

Bollocks. Why did it matter? Of course I expected them to react a certain way. Not just squint or stare at me as if they were merely watching me weave an elaborate web of