Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Really Left Lorenzo
Lorenzo reached the door first.
Marco checked the alley.
Nobody.
A black sedan disappeared at the far end of the street.
Ethan had known where I was.
More disturbing, he had known what we found.
Lorenzo took the ledger.
“You’re coming back to Lake Forest.”
“I’m not a package.”
“No.”
“Then stop shipping me.”
His eyes flashed.
“Someone entered your bedroom. Someone accessed your bakery. Your ex is connected to records hidden by your dead father.”
“And?”
“And I’m trying very hard not to put you in an armored vehicle against your will.”
I stepped closer.
“You don’t get to become Ethan because you’re scared.”
That hit him.
Immediately.
He backed away.
“You’re right.”
No argument.
No excuse.
Just that.
I hadn’t realized how rare an apology could feel until somebody gave me one without demanding forgiveness.
“I’ll go,” I said. “Because I choose to.”
He nodded.
That night Bianca finally told us about Elena.
Elena Vescari had been Lorenzo’s first intended bride.
She disappeared seven years earlier.
Police assumed she fled.
Lorenzo believed she had been murdered.
Why?
Because Elena discovered someone inside Duca Shipping had been laundering money through legitimate cargo contracts.
Lorenzo had spent years dismantling the operation.
Quietly.
But the mastermind remained hidden.
My father’s ledger might identify that person.
The conspiracy predated Lorenzo.
It predated Elena.
It even predated Ethan.
Ethan was a piece.
Not the architect.
“Why my father?” I asked.
Rosa answered.
“Because Thomas Carter was Lorenzo’s father’s accountant.”
Everything tilted.
My father had lied about his work.
My childhood.
His business trips.
His death.
Maybe all of it.
Then Marco found another clue.
A fingerprint on the envelope.
It belonged to Elena Vescari.
A dead woman had delivered my photographs.
Or someone wanted us to think she had.
That evening I found Lorenzo alone in the kitchen.
I leaned against the island.
Missed.
He caught me.
Of course.
Then he laughed.
Really laughed.
Deep and rough and completely unguarded.
I stared.
His hands remained around my waist.
My palms rested against his chest.
The laughter faded.
Neither of us moved.
His gaze lowered.
So did mine.
He leaned closer.
Stopped.
Waited.
Permission.
The most powerful man I had ever met was waiting for permission.
I closed half the distance.
He closed the rest.
Almost.
Rosa entered.
She froze.
Then backed out.
“Marco!” she shouted. “Stay away from the kitchen. Something useful is finally happening.”
I covered my face.
Lorenzo actually groaned.
But the moment was gone.
Later, I returned to my room.
A package waited on the bed.
Inside was my old engagement ring.
The one I had returned to Ethan.
Beneath it lay a handwritten note.
COME HOME BEFORE LORENZO TELLS YOU WHAT YOUR FATHER DID.
May you like
Then I noticed the bathroom door.
It was slowly opening...
