Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO BETRAYED HER
Brody stood beyond the gates wearing an explosive vest.
Nora saw him through the security monitor.
Her knees weakened.
He looked thinner.
Terrified.
A phone had been taped to his chest.
Lorenzo ordered everyone away from the windows.
Brody raised both hands.
“I need Nora!”
Lorenzo’s expression turned lethal.
“No.”
Nora grabbed his arm.
“He may know something.”
“He may explode.”
“He’s Lily’s father.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
That sentence hurt more than he expected.
He hated that it did.
Brody was brought into the outer security chamber after a bomb specialist determined the vest was remotely controlled.
If anyone tried to remove it, Elias could detonate it.
Nora stood behind reinforced glass.
Brody saw her belly.
His face crumpled.
“God, Nora.”
She felt nothing.
That frightened her.
“You said you needed me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don't.”
“I never wanted—”
“Don't apologize because you think you're dying. Tell me the truth.”
Brody lowered his head.
He had been hired two years earlier to find Margaret Hale’s missing evidence.
He met Nora deliberately.
But then something changed.
“I fell in love with you.”
Nora laughed bitterly.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
He looked at her belly.
“But I did.”
“Then why did you leave?”
“Because Elias told me if I stayed, he’d hurt you.”
“You could have told me.”
“I was a coward.”
That, at least, sounded true.
Brody revealed Elias’s plan.
He wanted Giovanni declared permanently incompetent before a scheduled legal review in four days.
If Giovanni passed the evaluation, the trust could be reopened.
Elias would lose everything.
Worse, Giovanni could testify through assisted communication.
“So he’s coming here,” Brody said.
“When?”
“He already has people inside.”
Lorenzo’s eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
Brody looked toward the mansion.
“I don't know all of them.”
The phone on his chest lit up.
A timer appeared.
00:60.
Nora screamed.
Lorenzo pulled her backward.
Brody began crying.
“Nora!”
00:47.
The bomb technician worked desperately.
00:32.
Brody pressed his palm against the glass.
“I’m sorry about Lily.”
Nora stared at him.
Then, despite everything, she placed her hand against the opposite side.
“You should have chosen better.”
“I know.”
00:15.
The technician cut one wire.
Nothing.
Another.
00:08.
Lorenzo pulled Nora against him.
00:03.
00:02.
00:01.
The screen went black.
No explosion.
Brody collapsed.
It had been psychological torture.
A message appeared on the phone.
Four days, Lorenzo. Give me the drive.
Brody was taken into custody.
Nora returned upstairs shaking.
Lorenzo followed.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
“Stop deciding what I am.”
“Then tell me.”
She turned.
“I hate him.”
Lorenzo waited.
“And I’m relieved he’s alive.”
“I know.”
“And that makes me feel stupid.”
“It makes you human.”
Nora began crying.
Lorenzo stepped closer.
She didn't move away.
He wrapped his arms around her.
For several minutes, the feared head of the Moretti family simply held a pregnant maid while she cried over the man who had betrayed her.
There was no jealousy.
Not then.
Only understanding.
Later, Giovanni watched Lorenzo walk Nora back to her room.
The old man smiled.
The following day, Celeste arrived with lawyers for Giovanni’s competency hearing.
She also arrived with news.
“I’m engaged.”
Lorenzo blinked.
“To whom?”
“Marcus.”
Silence.
Lorenzo looked at his security chief.
Marcus suddenly found the ceiling fascinating.
Nora burst out laughing.
“You’re kidding.”
Celeste held up a ring.
Lorenzo stared at Marcus.
“You’re marrying my ex-fiancée?”
Marcus cleared his throat.
“Yes.”
“And you didn't think this was information I needed?”
“You were busy.”
Nora laughed harder.
Even Giovanni’s shoulders shook.
For a few hours, the mansion felt almost like a family home.
Then Nora went to the bathroom.
And found blood again.
This time, much more.
“Lorenzo!”
He reached her before she hit the floor.
The hospital was impossible because of the storm.
A medical team was summoned by helicopter, but the weather prevented landing.
Dr. Hart examined Nora.
His expression became grim.
“Placental abruption.”
Lorenzo went pale.
“What does that mean?”
“It means if the bleeding worsens, we may have to deliver the baby tonight.”
Nora grabbed Lorenzo’s hand.
“She's only twenty-seven weeks.”
“I know.”
“Will she live?”
The doctor hesitated.
That hesitation terrified everyone.
Giovanni sat outside the room for hours.
At 3:12 a.m., Nora’s bleeding finally slowed.
Lily remained inside.
Safe.
For now.
Lorenzo sat beside Nora’s bed.
She woke to find his hand around hers.
“You stayed.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He looked at her.
There were a thousand safe answers.
He chose none of them.
“Because the idea of something happening to you scares me more than it should.”
Nora’s breath caught.
Lorenzo leaned closer.
But before either could cross the final inch between them, the bedroom door opened.
Marcus stood there.
His face was white.
“We have a problem.”
Lorenzo rose.
“What?”
Marcus held up the flash drive.
“This is a copy.”
Lorenzo stared.
“The original is gone.”
Only four people had known where it was hidden.
Lorenzo.
Marcus.
May you like
Nora.
And Giovanni.
