Chapter 10 - The House Turns Against Her
Valentina entered the main house through the front doors carrying Lily on one hip and the duplicate card in her free hand.
Every man in the foyer looked at the child first.
Then at Valentina.
That mattered.
Marco stood near the fireplace.
Nico was alive, hands tied behind him.
Gerald sat under guard on the far side of the room.
Three capos Valentina had known since childhood stood between them.
Marco opened his hands.
“You came.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I’m relieved.”
“Don’t insult me.”
Valentina handed Lily to Rosa, who had been brought down under guard.
“Upstairs. Locked room. Two men I choose.”
Marco lifted a finger.
“No one leaves.”
Valentina looked at the capos.
“Whose order are you following?”
Nobody answered.
Marco smiled.
“That is the problem, Valentina. They no longer know.”
He spread documents across the dining table.
Transfers into Lily’s trust.
Draft resolutions.
Ownership changes.
“You hid these.”
“I did not create them.”
“Your signature is on three.”
“Forged.”
Marco looked around the room.
“Convenient.”
Valentina picked up one page.
Domenico’s signature appeared at the bottom.
She stared at it for two seconds.
Then tore the page in half.
One capo flinched.
Marco’s smile thinned.
“You destroy evidence now?”
“No. I destroy bad forgery.”
She held up the signature.
“My father crossed the second stroke of the C when signing private directives. Always. This one doesn’t.”
Nico looked at the page.
Marco’s face stayed smooth.
Then he nodded to a guard.
A television came on.
Old video.
Domenico sat in the study, thinner than Valentina remembered.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Valentina must never control the family.”
The room went silent.
Valentina felt every eye move to her.
Marco turned off the screen.
“That is not handwriting.”
He leaned toward her.
May you like
“That is your father’s voice.”
