Chapter 2: The Brother at the Table
Marco pulled up the trace report on his tablet and handed it to Lorenzo without a word.
Lorenzo read the number twice.
Then he went very still.
The message had been sent from inside the estate.
Not from Valentina's suite.
From the east guest room.
The one currently occupied by his younger brother, Nico.
Lorenzo handed the tablet back slowly.
"Where is he now?"
"Dining room," Marco said.
"He arrived this morning.
Said you invited him."
Lorenzo hadn't invited anyone.
He walked toward the dining room without another word.
Nico was seated at the long table, a glass of wine in his hand, looking entirely relaxed.
He smiled when Lorenzo entered.
"You're home early."
"I am."
Lorenzo sat across from him.
"Tell me about the south gate."
Nico's smile didn't move.
But his hand tightened around the glass.
"I don't know what you mean."
"Seven fifteen tomorrow morning."
Silence.
"Nico."
"Lorenzo—"
"How long have you been working with her?"
The glass came down hard on the table.
"You don't understand what she promised me."
Lorenzo felt something break quietly inside his chest.
Not shock.
Something worse.
Recognition.
"What did she promise you?"
Nico looked away.
"Everything you were never going to give me."
---
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What Nico said next — and what Lorenzo found hidden in that guest room — will change everything you think you know about this family.
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