Chapter 19 - A Family Name Isn't a Shield

Celeste had never held a gun well.

I could see it in her wrist.

The barrel shook.

Marco's wounded man groaned on the stairs. The bullet had caught his shoulder, not his chest.

"Put it down," I said.

Celeste looked at Bennett on the floor.

"He'll destroy all of us."

Bennett laughed.

"Celeste, we passed that point months ago."

"Shut up!"

Her gun moved toward him.

Luca's voice came from behind her.

"Mom."

She froze.

He stood at the top of the stairs, unarmed.

"Give me the gun."

"You don't understand."

"I understand enough."

"I did this for the family."

Luca looked broken.

"No. You did it because you wanted control and told yourself control was the same thing as protection."

She began to cry harder.

"Your uncle left chaos. Adrien was drowning after Bianca died. Someone had to keep the company stable."

I almost laughed at the word.

Stability.

The excuse behind every betrayal.

"You could have helped me," I said. "Instead you tried to take my children."

"They would have been returned."

"After you used them to remove me."

Celeste's shoulders dropped.

Luca walked down one step.

"Mom, please."

She looked at him.

Then slowly lowered the gun.

Marco took it.

Celeste did not resist when officers arrived.

Neither did Bennett.

By sunrise, St. Vincent's was surrounded by police, federal agents, and lawyers who looked like they had not slept in years.

I handed over the ledger.

The audio files.

Bianca's letter.

The trust forgeries.

Everything.

Marco stared at me after the agents carried the boxes away.

"You know what's in those records."

"Yes."

"Some of it points at Moretti businesses. At us."

"Yes."

"You could lose half the company."

"Maybe more."

He studied me.

"Your father would call this suicide."

I looked toward the church windows, where early light had begun turning the glass gold.

"My father is dead."

For the first time in my life, that sentence felt like freedom instead of grief.

My phone rang.

Elena.

"Adrien," she said, breathless. "Nora is crying again."

Every muscle in my body tightened.

"Where?"

"At the safe apartment."

"Get her out of the room."

"That's not it. Theo and Miles are fine."

"Then what?"

Elena laughed through tears.

"I think she's hungry."

In the background, Sophie shouted, "I told you she wasn't scared!"

I closed my eyes.

For the first time in two days, a baby's cry sounded ordinary.

Then Elena added quietly, "You should come home."

Home.

I looked at Luca.

He looked at the police car carrying his mother away.

Neither of us said anything.

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We had spent our whole lives protecting a family name.

Now we had to learn whether there was anything worth saving underneath it.