Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Red Dress
Lorenzo canceled the gala.
Or at least that was what he announced publicly.
Privately, he intended to use it as bait.
Evelyn hated the plan.
“You're inviting whoever kidnapped your son into the same building?”
“I'm making them believe they still control the game.”
“And Matteo?”
“Will be somewhere else.”
Matteo refused.
“I want Evelyn.”
Those three words settled the matter.
Evelyn would stay with him at a secured property while Lorenzo attended the gala.
Before they left, Lorenzo gave Evelyn something she had not expected.
A dress.
Dark red.
Simple, elegant.
“I don't need this.”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because Matteo chose it.”
From behind Lorenzo, Matteo grinned.
Evelyn laughed for the first time in months.
That evening she wore it to dinner inside the mansion.
Lorenzo stopped speaking when she entered.
For six months people had looked through Evelyn.
Now Lorenzo looked directly at her.
“You look…”
“Careful.”
A faint smile appeared.
“Dangerous.”
“Better.”
But the moment did not last.
A message arrived.
The safe house had been compromised before they even left.
Someone knew every Moretti security plan.
There was only one conclusion.
The traitor was still inside the mansion.
Lorenzo gathered his five most trusted people.
Vincent.
Dr. Bell.
Security lieutenant Daniel Russo.
House manager Teresa Romano.
And accountant Peter Vale.
Evelyn watched them.
One was lying.
She asked a seemingly meaningless question.
“Who decided Matteo would go to the Cambridge property?”
Peter answered immediately.
“Lorenzo did.”
Evelyn looked at Lorenzo.
He hadn't.
The location had been selected by Daniel.
Peter realized his mistake too late.
He ran.
Daniel tackled him before he reached the door.
Inside Peter's phone they discovered encrypted messages from Sebastian.
But Peter was not the mastermind.
He had been paid to provide schedules.
Sebastian had recruited him.
Marco had handled the kidnapping.
Someone else commanded both.
Then Peter said a name nobody expected.
“Vincent.”
Lorenzo looked at his brother.
Vincent went pale.
“That's a lie.”
Peter laughed.
“Tell him about Providence.”
Vincent lunged.
Lorenzo stopped him.
“What happened in Providence?”
Vincent's anger disappeared.
What remained was shame.
“I borrowed money.”
“How much?”
“Eight million.”
“From whom?”
Vincent looked toward Evelyn.
“Claire found out.”
Evelyn's blood went cold.
Vincent admitted he had secretly borrowed from criminal financiers to cover gambling losses. Sebastian discovered it and used Vincent's debt to move Moretti money.
But Vincent insisted he had never ordered Claire's death.
“Then who did?” Evelyn demanded.
“I don't know.”
A phone rang.
Not Lorenzo's.
Evelyn's.
Everyone stared.
She did not own a phone.
The ringing came from inside her coat.
Someone had slipped a burner phone into her pocket.
She answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“Ask Lorenzo why your sister called him the night she died.”
Evelyn slowly looked up.
Lorenzo's face changed.
The voice continued.
“He's been lying to you since the church.”
The call ended.
Evelyn stared at Lorenzo.
“Did Claire call you?”
Silence.
“Lorenzo.”
“Yes.”
Her heart cracked.
“What did she tell you?”
May you like
Lorenzo's answer came quietly.
“That someone inside my family was going to kill her.”
