Chapter 10 - THE TRUTH BEFORE THE WEDDING
The safe house was an old lakeside property owned by one of Dante's legitimate companies. It had a security system, a private entrance, and enough distance from the city to make an unannounced visit difficult.
Elena hated it immediately.
The house reminded her of the places Dante used to take her when he wanted to disappear from Chicago for a weekend. It had the same wide windows, the same stone fireplace, and the same view of dark water.
Leo liked it.
He ran from room to room, asking whether the house had a secret passage.
Mia promised to invent one.
Dante remained in the study with Marco and the forensic specialist. Elena could hear their voices through the partly closed door.
She wanted to know everything.
She also wanted to know why Dante had not told her the truth eight years earlier.
When he finally came out, he carried a folder.
“Can we talk?” he asked.
Elena stood near the window.
“Tell me the whole story. No more edited version.”
Dante placed the folder on the table.
“Eight years ago, my father was killed in what was reported as a robbery. I took over the organization and spent two years trying to identify who had arranged it. Adrian Vale was one of the people I suspected.”
“Your uncle's partner.”
“Yes. He had access to the shipping companies and knew how to hide money. Your father discovered that Adrian was moving funds through several accounts. He copied the records.”
“And Victoria found out.”
“Victoria had been working for a company Adrian controlled. At first, she believed it was legitimate consulting. Later, she understood that the company was being used to move money and collect information about the Moretti family.”
Elena frowned.
“Why would she help him?”
“Because he promised her influence. She wanted a place in the organization. She wanted the life she thought you had taken from her.”
Elena looked away.
Dante continued.
“Before our wedding, Victoria came to me with the false evidence against you. She said she could make my captains believe you were an informant. She also said Adrian had people watching you. If I married her, she would keep the evidence hidden and stop Adrian from targeting you.”
“You believed her?”
“I believed she had the ability to make the threat real.”
“You could have taken me away.”
“I thought about it. But Adrian had already placed people around your father's house. I couldn't move you without revealing that I knew about the threat. I thought marrying Victoria would give me time to find the people working for him.”
“And you never told me.”
“I was afraid you would refuse to leave. I was afraid you would confront her. I was afraid I would lose you.”
Elena stared at him.
“So you decided to lose me yourself.”
Dante lowered his head.
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt more than another excuse would have.
He opened the folder and showed her a photograph.
It was taken the night before his wedding. Victoria stood beside Adrian Vale outside a private restaurant. The date was visible in the corner.
“She wasn't just threatening to expose me,” Elena said. “She was working with him.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know?”
“I suspected. I didn't have proof.”
Elena looked at the photograph.
“Why did you let me believe you chose her?”
“Because I thought if you hated me, you would stay away from the Morettis. I thought that would keep you safe.”
She laughed softly.
“You know what I did after the wedding?”
Dante looked at her.
“I went home and packed. I left the country. I had your child alone. I learned how to be a mother without you. I sat in hospital rooms without you. I buried my father without you.”
His eyes filled.
“I know.”
“No. You know the facts. You don't know what it felt like.”
“I can't pretend I do.”
Elena looked toward the hall, where Leo was laughing with Mia.
“He deserves to know his father. But he deserves a safe life more.”
“I want to give him both.”
“Wanting isn't enough.”
“I know.”
The forensic specialist knocked and entered.
“We recovered the audio file from the drive. It appears to be a conversation between Victoria and Adrian Vale, recorded two days before the wedding.”
Dante nodded.
“Play it.”
The recording began with the sound of a door closing.
Then Victoria's voice.
“He believes the marriage will protect her.”
Adrian laughed.
“Let him believe whatever he wants. Once he marries you, the voting shares transfer. The board will be divided, and he'll be too busy keeping Elena alive to notice what we're taking.”
Victoria hesitated.
“And the child?”
Dante went completely still.
Adrian answered.
“There is no child.”
Victoria's voice dropped.
“Not yet.”
The recording ended.
Elena looked at Dante.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Dante turned to Marco.
“Find Adrian. Secure every company connected to Northstar. Get the board records to the investigators. And nobody approaches Victoria until the police are involved.”
Marco nodded and left.
Elena remained beside the window.
“What did she mean by the child?”
Dante looked at the dark screen.
“I don't know.”
“You have to find out.”
“I will.”
Elena folded her arms.
“And Dante?”
He met her eyes.
“If you want to be in Leo's life, you will do it on my terms. No threats. No guards following us without permission. No using him to get close to me. You show up when you say you will. You tell the truth, even when it costs you.”
Dante nodded.
“I agree.”
“And we are not getting back together because you finally have an explanation.”
“I understand.”
Elena looked at him for a long moment.
“I loved you for eight years. I don't know what I feel now.”
“You don't owe me an answer.”
For the first time, she believed he understood that.
A small voice called from the hall.
“Mommy! Daddy! Come see!”
Leo stood in the doorway, holding a drawing. It showed three figures beside a blue house. One was small, one had long hair, and one was tall with dark hair.
“That's us,” Leo announced.
Elena's heart tightened.
Dante crouched beside him.
“It's a beautiful picture.”
Leo handed it to him.
“You can keep it.”
Dante accepted the drawing with both hands, as if it were something fragile and priceless.
“Thank you, Leo.”
The boy smiled.
Elena watched them.
She did not know whether the family in the drawing could ever exist in real life. She did not know whether Dante could become the man she needed, or whether Victoria and Adrian would finally face the consequences of what they had done.
But she knew one thing.
She would never again let someone else decide what was best for her.
Outside, the lake moved beneath the moonlight.
Inside, the first honest conversation of their future had finally begun.
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END OF CHAPTERS 1–10
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