Chapter 12 - THE GRANDFATHER WHO KEPT THE TWIN SECRET
Lorenzo Rossi arrived with an attorney.
For once, even Gabriel didn't allow him past security.
They met in the library.
Police present.
Mara recording.
Lorenzo looked at Matteo through the glass door and started crying.
That did not absolve him.
“Tell me everything,” Gabriel said.
Lorenzo did.
He discovered Matteo survived two years after Sofia's death.
Vincent told him.
At the time, Marco controlled multiple law-enforcement contacts and several Rossi captains.
Lorenzo feared bringing Matteo openly into the family would get both twins killed.
So he made a deal.
Vincent would monitor Matteo.
Dr. Shaw would care for him.
Lorenzo would secretly fund everything.
“You left my son with people working for Marco.”
“I thought Vincent worked for me.”
Vincent laughed bitterly from the other side of the room.
“I worked for whoever kept the boys breathing.”
Complicated.
Vincent had indeed allowed Marco some access while secretly feeding Lorenzo information.
He also knew Anna's identity.
The entire security system had become a web of divided loyalties.
Then Gabriel asked the question.
“Did you know Sofia's death wasn't an accident?”
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Gabriel stood.
Every officer in the room shifted.
I reached for his sleeve.
Not because he needed physical restraint.
Because he needed one reminder.
Leo.
Matteo.
He sat.
Lorenzo admitted he found evidence Marco sabotaged Sofia's vehicle.
But prosecuting Marco would expose Matteo's survival.
At least that's what Lorenzo told himself.
So he hid the evidence.
Protected one grandson by denying another son justice.
Gabriel whispered:
“You let me bury my wife believing she died because of a broken fuel line.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me blame myself for putting her in danger.”
“Yes.”
“You watched Leo grow up without answers.”
Lorenzo cried.
“Yes.”
Gabriel looked toward his sons.
Then something changed.
He did not threaten his father.
“Leave.”
Lorenzo stared.
“You're throwing me out?”
“No.”
Gabriel's voice stayed quiet.
“The state will decide where you go next.”
That shocked everyone.
He was done privately handling family crimes.
Mara collected Lorenzo's evidence.
It included the original mechanic's report proving sabotage.
Fingerprints.
Payment records.
Marco's messages.
Enough.
Then Matteo gave me something from his pocket.
A small key.
“Mom said this opens the truth.”
Sofia had left him a key through Dr. Shaw.
It belonged to a safe-deposit box in Albany.
Inside we found the final evidence package.
Financial records connecting Marco to:
Sofia's murder.
Catherine's death.
The attack on the sunroom.
And one planned payment scheduled for next month.
Recipient:
Dr. Naomi Feld.
My surgeon.
I stared at the name.
May you like
The private hospital wasn't safe.
Someone had been paid to make sure I didn't survive my recovery.
