Chapter 4 - WHAT LUCIA LEFT BEHIND
Janevra had spent twelve years grieving the wrong story.
Victoriao told them the truth inside an abandoned aircraft hangar while Elio's men guarded every entrance.
Lucia Moretti had discovered records proving someone close to both families was secretly redirecting shipments, buying judges, and feeding private information to the Santoros.
She wanted out.
More importantly, she wanted Janevra out.
"She planned to take you to Florence," Victoriao said.
Janevra's throat tightened.
Florence.
The city she had dreamed about since childhood.
The life her father later told her was impossible.
"You knew?"
"I knew."
"And you still forced me into this marriage?"
Victoriao lowered his eyes.
Janevra nearly struck him.
Elio moved beside her but didn't touch her.
He understood she didn't need restraint.
She needed answers.
Victoriao claimed Lucia hid copies of the evidence before she died.
Only one clue remained.
A painting.
Janevra instantly knew which one.
A small nineteenth-century Madonna that had hung in her mother's bedroom.
Lucia had left it specifically to her.
It now hung in Janevra's east-wing sitting room.
They raced back to the Vieira estate.
The hallway was empty.
Janevra reached her room first.
The wall above the fireplace was bare.
The painting was gone.
Security footage had been erased for exactly eleven minutes.
But one camera outside the service corridor had survived.
Bruno pulled up the recording.
A hooded figure entered Janevra's rooms carrying nothing.
Nine minutes later, the person emerged holding a wrapped rectangle.
Janevra leaned toward the monitor.
The face remained hidden.
But the figure lifted one hand to open the service door.
A gold family ring flashed beneath the light.
Elio's jaw tightened.
Janevra recognized the crest.
Vieira.
Only six living men were allowed to wear it.
One of them was Elio.
One was Bruno.
May you like
And one was the man who had mocked her on her wedding day.
Daario.
