Chapter 8 - CELESTE WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE PLAYING A GAME
For the first time, Valentina was afraid for the woman who helped destroy her wedding.
That emotion irritated her.
But fear does not ask permission before becoming complicated.
“Do you think Luca hurt her?”
Dante’s expression hardened.
“No.”
“You sound sure.”
“Luca is selfish, reckless, vain, and currently stupid.”
“Generous assessment.”
“He is not this.”
The distinction mattered.
They contacted police through attorneys.
No private revenge.
No secret army.
Valentina noticed that too.
Dante’s reputation was built on fear.
His actual behavior was far more controlled than the stories.
By evening, Celeste’s car was found near Bologna.
Empty.
Her phone remained inside.
Then an email reached Valentina.
FROM: C.ARDEN
SUBJECT: IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH
The message contained an address.
And one line:
COME WITHOUT DANTE.
Dante read it.
Then handed the phone back.
“You’re not going.”
Valentina stared at him.
His face changed immediately.
“Sorry.”
She waited.
“I mean I don’t think you should go.”
“Better.”
A muscle moved in his jaw.
“Much.”
She almost smiled.
They arranged a safer version.
Police nearby.
Dante nowhere visible.
Valentina entered the abandoned wine office at the address alone.
Celeste was there.
Alive.
Bruised.
Terrified.
Valentina stopped.
“What happened?”
Celeste laughed weakly.
“My father.”
Marco Vescari.
The man living quietly in Switzerland.
Apparently not so quiet.
Celeste admitted she had targeted Luca.
She admitted the affair.
The money.
The attempt to stop the wedding.
But the plan changed.
Her father wanted control over the logistics route and vineyard leverage.
Celeste wanted something else.
“What?”
“Proof.”
“Of what?”
“That my mother was cheated.”
Valentina exhaled.
“She was.”
Celeste looked stunned.
“What?”
“My mother admitted it.”
Silence.
Years of inherited fury collided with one sentence.
Celeste sat down.
“My father told me the Morettis stole everything.”
“They underpaid Elena when she was desperate.”
“That’s stealing.”
“Maybe morally.”
Celeste’s eyes filled.
Valentina continued.
“But your father used you too.”
Celeste laughed bitterly.
“I know.”
Marco had discovered the affair and turned it into leverage.
He ordered Celeste to obtain Luca’s access credentials.
She complied at first.
Then realized her father was moving far beyond recovering anything.
He wanted Bellini assets.
Moretti land.
And Dante removed.
Valentina went still.
“Removed how?”
Celeste looked toward the door.
“He’s been feeding information to someone inside Dante’s organization.”
Valentina’s pulse changed.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Celeste handed her a flash drive.
“I copied his messages.”
Valentina took it.
“What’s on this?”
“The reason Luca’s affair was allowed to continue for six months.”
“What do you mean allowed?”
Celeste looked ashamed.
“Someone close to Dante knew about us before Dante did.”
Valentina stared.
“And they made sure he didn’t find out.”
Back at the villa, Dante opened the files.
The first message contained only initials.
A.B.
Dante’s face changed.
Valentina noticed.
“Who is A.B.?”
May you like
He answered quietly.
“My brother.”
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