Chapter 13 - THE BETRAYAL THAT BROKE THE KING
Salvatore stared at the photographs until the silence became unbearable.
His brother.
His wife.
His secret half brother.
All three together on the night someone tried to kill him.
“It's not what it looks like,” I said.
He turned toward me.
“How can you know?”
“Because photographs show moments. Not motives.”
Salvatore looked exhausted.
For eight years, pain had stolen his sleep.
Now the truth was stealing everything else.
“I trusted them,” he whispered.
I moved closer.
“Then find out what really happened before deciding who betrayed you.”
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
We called Carmine to the mansion.
He arrived twenty minutes later.
Salvatore placed the photographs on the desk.
“Explain.”
Carmine looked down.
His face collapsed.
“Oh, God.”
“Did you shoot me?”
“No.”
“Were you holding the gun?”
“Yes.”
Salvatore's fists tightened.
Carmine's voice broke.
“I took it from Vincent.”
The room went still.
“Vincent fired from the walkway,” Carmine continued. “Isabella saw him. She screamed. I grabbed the weapon, but he'd already hit you.”
Salvatore stared.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Vincent had Sofia.”
The name changed everything.
Carmine sank into a chair.
“Isabella had given birth in secret. Vincent discovered the baby. He threatened to kill her unless we cooperated.”
“Cooperated with what?”
“Destroying the evidence. Making you believe the harbor attack came from outside the family.”
Salvatore's voice shook.
“And you let me suffer?”
Carmine covered his face.
“I thought Vincent had removed the bullet. I didn't know he left anything behind.”
I watched Salvatore struggle with anger and grief.
Then Carmine said something unexpected.
“Anthony Russo found out.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“Your father discovered the altered medical records. He tried to warn Salvatore.”
“Then why didn't he?”
“Because Vincent threatened you.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Me?”
Carmine nodded.
“You were twenty-three. In dental school. Vincent knew where you lived.”
I couldn't breathe.
Dad had carried that secret for years.
To protect me.
Salvatore looked at me.
His expression softened.
“Lena.”
I shook my head.
“Don't.”
My voice cracked.
“I spent eleven months thinking my father died without telling me how proud he was of me.”
Tears blurred my vision.
“And now I'm finding out he spent years protecting people I didn't even know existed.”
Salvatore stepped closer.
“He was proud of you.”
I looked up.
“How do you know?”
“Because the night he saved me, he talked about his daughter. He said she would become a better doctor than he ever was.”
I began crying.
Salvatore pulled me gently into his arms.
For the first time, I let him.
Then Carmine's phone rang.
He answered.
His face turned white.
“Salvatore.”
We looked at him.
“Vincent moved Isabella.”
“Where?”
Carmine swallowed.
“To the old harbor hospital.”
Salvatore's expression hardened.
“Why?”
Carmine looked at me.
“Because he knows Lena has the original evidence.”
My heart stopped.
“What original evidence?”
Carmine whispered:
“Your father didn't leave the most important proof in locker 417.”
May you like
He pointed toward my necklace.
“He hid it in the gold pendant you've been wearing since medical school.”
