Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO LIED ABOUT HIS DEATH
Vittorio Vulpe was not dead.
Aleandro learned that three days later.
The information came from an old financial contact in Switzerland.
A dormant account connected to Vittorio had been accessed.
Funds had moved.
And the authorization used a biometric record that should have belonged to a dead man.
Aleandro stared at the report.
His father had supposedly died of a heart attack six years earlier.
Aleandro had attended the funeral.
He had stood beside the coffin.
He had buried the man who raised him.
Now he wondered whose body had been inside.
Irene sat across from him.
“You believe he's alive?”
Aleandro looked down.
“I don't know what I believe.”
She watched him.
He continued.
“My father was cruel.”
Irene said nothing.
“He taught me that trust was weakness.”
Aleandro looked toward the window.
“And I spent years trying to prove him wrong.”
Irene hesitated.
“Maybe you still can.”
Aleandro looked at her.
She continued.
“By finding the truth.”
That evening, Rocco entered the office.
“Boss.”
Aleandro looked up.
“What?”
“We found Tomas Bellini.”
Irene stood immediately.
“Where?”
Rocco hesitated.
“In a hospital.”
Her face changed.
“What happened?”
“Someone attacked him outside his apartment.”
Irene felt the room tilt.
They reached the hospital twenty minutes later.
Tomas lay unconscious.
His injuries were serious.
A detective stood outside the room.
Irene approached the bed.
She took Tomas's hand.
“I'm sorry.”
Her voice broke.
“I shouldn't have let you come.”
Aleandro stood behind her.
For once, he had no command to give.
No threat that could undo what happened.
Then Tomas opened his eyes.
Barely.
He looked at Irene.
“Bella.”
She leaned closer.
“I'm here.”
He struggled to speak.
“Your mother.”
Irene began crying.
“Where is she?”
Tomas swallowed.
Then whispered:
“Don't trust the woman in red.”
His eyes closed.
The monitor continued beeping.
Irene stared.
May you like
“What woman?”
No answer came.
