Chapter 6 - Gerald Breaks
Valentina drove Gerald’s chair backward until it struck the wall.
“You are going to tell me everything.”
Gerald’s breath came fast.
Marco started to stand.
Nico put a hand on his shoulder.
“Sit.”
Gerald looked older without his arrogance.
Small, even.
“I removed the bottle.”
“Why?”
“Because Marco said Domenico had been poisoned by an outsider and the bottle would start a war.”
Marco laughed.
“Convenient.”
Gerald turned on him.
“You told me to burn it.”
“And you didn’t.”
“No.”
“Because you thought it might be worth something.”
Gerald looked away.
There was the greed again.
Valentina leaned closer.
“What did you do with it?”
“Storage unit in Yonkers. False name.”
Tomas left immediately with two men.
Gerald rubbed his wrists.
“Years later I found out Marco had been moving things through the garden tunnels.”
“What things?”
“Copies. Records. Cash. I don’t know.”
“You never asked?”
“I was stealing from the charities. He knew. That was enough.”
Evelyn made a sound at the doorway.
Gerald looked at her.
Valentina followed his gaze.
“What else?”
Gerald stared at his wife.
“She found out about Domenico.”
Evelyn’s mouth opened.
Gerald kept going.
“Marco threatened our son.”
Valentina’s eyes moved to Marco.
He did not react.
“Where is your son?”
“Zurich,” Evelyn said. “School.”
“Not anymore,” Gerald whispered.
Evelyn turned white.
Marco finally spoke.
“This is becoming theater.”
Gerald snapped.
“You called her the temporary daughter.”
Nobody moved.
Valentina looked at Marco.
“What did he say?”
Gerald pointed at him with a shaking hand.
“Every time he talked about succession. Every time somebody asked what happened if you died. ‘Temporary daughter.’ That’s what he called you.”
Marco shook his head.
“He’s trying to live through the hour.”
Valentina ignored him.
“Why temporary?”
Gerald swallowed.
“I thought it meant you were weak.”
“And now?”
“Now I think it meant Domenico never planned for the family to end with you.”
Valentina’s pulse kicked once.
“Who then?”
Gerald looked toward the ceiling.
Toward the second floor.
Toward Lily.
Valentina’s hand tightened around her pistol.
“Say it.”
Gerald whispered:
May you like
“He planned for Lily.”
