Chapter 12 - The Night Rafael Finally Told Me Everything
Inside were Antonio Moretti's private archives.
Not criminal ledgers.
Evidence.
Recordings.
Photographs.
Letters.
Antonio had been building a case against Dominic for years.
He had also known Laura.
One letter was addressed to Rafael.
He read it silently.
Then handed it to me.
Rafael,
If anything happens to me, Dominic will tell you strength means taking what you want. Don't believe him. Strength is having the power to take and choosing not to.
There is a girl named June Callow. Her mother is helping me expose Victor and Dominic. If June ever crosses your path, don't involve her unless she chooses it herself.
Rafael sat down.
“You knew there was a letter?”
“No.”
“Then why did you paint me?”
“Because I couldn't forget you.”
Simple.
No manipulation.
No prophecy.
Just memory.
I sat beside him.
“When did you realize I was Laura's daughter?”
“After the fundraiser.”
“And you stayed away.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because my father apparently asked me to before I even knew he had.”
I smiled faintly.
Antonio's archive contained enough evidence to destroy what remained of Dominic's network.
But it also contained something for me.
A video.
My mother and Antonio.
Twelve years younger.
Laura spoke first.
“If our children ever find this, we failed.”
Antonio smiled sadly.
“Or survived long enough for them to finish it.”
Laura looked into the camera.
“June, none of this belongs on your shoulders.”
I cried.
Not elegantly.
Not quietly.
Rafael sat beside me while I cried until my face hurt.
Then he handed me a tissue.
“Very romantic,” I muttered.
“I can find champagne.”
“That would improve things.”
He actually did.
We drank expensive champagne on the floor of a hidden evidence room.
Then I asked him the question I'd been avoiding.
“Who are you really, Rafael?”
He understood.
Not the businessman.
Not the Moretti heir.
Not the terrifying man people whispered about.
Him.
“My father raised me around violence,” he said. “I spent years believing control was the same as strength.”
“And now?”
“Now I think control is what you refuse to do.”
I looked at him.
“Did you ever kill anyone?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
I appreciated that he didn't lie.
“Should I be afraid of you?”
“No.”
“That's convenient.”
“You should decide that yourself.”
Again.
Choice.
Always choice.
I leaned closer.
“I already have.”
He kissed me.
This time I kissed him back before he could ask.
His surprise made me laugh against his mouth.
Then every light in the hidden room went out.
A generator hummed.
A monitor activated by itself.
One live camera feed appeared.
My father's jail transport.
The vehicle had stopped.
Two guards lay on the road.
Victor was stepping into another car.
Someone had freed him.
Then the camera changed.
A second feed.
Our mansion.
Serena was standing in the foyer.
A gun pressed against her back.
May you like
And my father's voice came through the speaker.
“Bring me June...”
