Chapter 6 - Blood Before LoyaltyDominic Marchetti arrived at the Lake Geneva house twenty minutes before police did.
By the time firefighters brought the blaze under control, half the old restaurant had collapsed.
The kitchen was gone.
The storage rooms were gone.
Office records were probably ash.
Television helicopters circled overhead.
The official statement called the fire suspicious.
Nobody needed an official statement.
Someone was destroying evidence.
Enzo watched the footage from his office.
Adeline stood near the window.
She should have gone home.
She should have stayed with her family.
Instead, after hours at the police station, she had somehow ended up inside the Marchetti corporate headquarters overlooking the Chicago River.
She hated how quickly danger had rewritten normal life.
Yesterday she worried about rent.
Today she was discussing murder with a billionaire whose dead brother had appeared in a video hidden on her old phone.
Marco entered.
“We found Luca’s private storage account.”
Enzo turned.
“What?”
“You asked me to recheck everything under his old aliases.”
“And?”
“One safe-deposit box was never closed.”
“Where?”
“Wisconsin.”
Adeline frowned.
“Why Wisconsin?”
Marco handed Enzo a sheet of paper.
“Bank branch outside Lake Geneva.”
Enzo stared.
Luca had died on Lake Michigan.
Why hide something in Wisconsin?
“When was the box last accessed?”
“Twelve years ago.”
“When?”
Marco’s expression shifted.
“Three days before Luca died.”
Enzo grabbed his coat.
Marco blocked him.
“No.”
“Move.”
“You’re the target of an attempted assassination.”
“My brother left something.”
“Which means whoever killed him may know.”
Enzo looked at Adeline.
“You’re staying here.”
She crossed her arms.
“No.”
“This isn’t your problem.”
“It became my problem when someone broke into my mother’s apartment.”
“That’s why you stay protected.”
“I’m going.”
“No.”
Adeline stepped closer.
“You don’t get to order me around because you’re rich.”
Marco looked down, possibly hiding a smile.
Enzo did not.
“I’m not ordering you because I’m rich.”
“Then why?”
“Because someone tried to kill me twelve hours ago.”
“That was technically my point.”
“And somebody threatened you.”
“Also my point.”
They stared at each other.
Marco finally intervened.
“We take two vehicles.”
Enzo gave him an irritated look.
Marco shrugged.
“She’s going.”
Adeline liked him more by the minute.
The drive north took nearly two hours.
Rain had stopped, leaving gray clouds over the highway.
They traveled with security in front and behind.
Adeline sat beside Enzo in the back seat.
For most of the trip, he studied old photographs on his phone.
Luca laughing.
Luca skiing.
Luca holding a birthday cake.
Finally Adeline asked, “Were you close?”
Enzo locked the screen.
“Yes.”
“What happened after he died?”
“My father changed.”
“How?”
“He became quieter.”
“Guilty?”
“Maybe.”
“You think he knew Luca was murdered?”
“I think he knew more than he admitted.”
“Did you ask him?”
“Every year until he died.”
“And?”
“Same answer. Accident.”
Enzo looked out the window.
“Last thing Luca said to me was that he’d found something that could destroy the family.”
“Did he say what?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“We were fighting.”
“About what?”
“Camilla.”
Adeline blinked.
“You knew her twelve years ago?”
“Our families knew each other.”
“What did Luca say?”
“He told me never to trust an Ashford.”
The words hung between them.
At the bank, legal complications delayed them nearly an hour.
Eventually the manager admitted Enzo as next of kin, accompanied by a court-authorized detective who had driven separately.
The safe-deposit room was small.
Quiet.
Ordinary.
Enzo placed the narrow metal box on the table.
His hands shook slightly.
Adeline pretended not to notice.
Inside were three things.
A flash drive.
A sealed envelope.
And a photograph.
Enzo picked up the picture.
It showed Luca standing outside Bellavita.
Beside him was a woman Adeline recognized.
Young.
Red-haired.
Camilla.
Adeline stared.
“She was there.”
Enzo turned the photograph over.
On the back, Luca had written four words.
SHE KNOWS ABOUT VICTOR.
Enzo closed his eyes.
The detective opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
Not addressed to Enzo.
Addressed to their father.
Ramirez had arrived minutes earlier and read it aloud.
Dad,
If you protect Victor after this, then everything people say about our family is true.
Four employees are sick because Victor’s company used Bellavita as a transfer location for restricted chemicals.
Dennis helped him.
Camilla knows because she came looking for her father.
She heard us arguing.
I gave copies to someone I trust.
If anything happens to me, Enzo needs to know.
He’ll do what you won’t.
Luca
Enzo stared at the final sentence.
He’ll do what you won’t.
Adeline watched grief settle over him like physical weight.
Ramirez examined the flash drive.
“We’ll need to process this.”
Enzo nodded.
Nobody argued.
They were leaving the bank when Marco’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression sharpened.
“Say again.”
He turned to Enzo.
“Camilla just used a credit card.”
“Where?”
“Gas station near Lake Geneva.”
Everyone stopped.
Adeline looked around.
Lake Geneva.
Here.
“She’s close,” Ramirez said.
Marco nodded.
“Very.”
Enzo looked toward the parking lot.
“Why would she come here?”
Adeline looked at the photograph.
Camilla knew about Luca.
She knew about the storage box?
Maybe.
Then Adeline remembered something.
“The photograph.”
“What?”
“She’s standing outside Bellavita.”
“Yes.”
“Look behind her.”
Enzo lifted it.
In the background was part of a car.
A dark convertible.
License plate visible.
Ramirez took the photograph.
“Could be Victor’s.”
Enzo shook his head.
“No.”
“Whose?”
“Luca’s.”
Adeline felt a chill.
“Then Camilla may have been with him the day he died.”
Before anyone could respond, a black car screeched into the bank parking lot.
Marco shoved Adeline behind a concrete pillar.
Security drew weapons.
The car stopped.
The rear door flew open.
A woman stumbled out.
Barefoot.
Hair tangled.
Blue dress replaced by jeans and an oversized sweatshirt.
Camilla Ashford.
She ran toward them.
“Enzo!”
He stared.
Marco blocked her.
“Stay there.”
Camilla raised both hands.
“I didn’t poison anyone.”
Enzo’s face became stone.
“You knew about Luca.”
Camilla stopped.
For the first time since Adeline had met her, arrogance disappeared.
What remained was terror.
“Yes.”
Enzo’s voice cracked.
“You knew for twelve years.”
Tears filled Camilla’s eyes.
“My father made me lie.”
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“Did your father kill my brother?”
Camilla looked around.
Then she whispered.
“No.”
Enzo stepped forward.
“Who did?”
Camilla began trembling.
“My father helped cover it up.”
“Who killed him?”
She looked directly at Enzo.
“Your father.”
Silence.
Enzo seemed unable to process the words.
Camilla reached inside her sweatshirt pocket.
Security moved.
She froze.
“It’s just a key.”
She slowly removed a small brass key.
“Luca gave me this the night he died.”
Enzo stared.
“What does it open?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why are you giving it to me now?”
“Because my father is looking for Adeline.”
Adeline’s stomach dropped.
Camilla looked at her.
“He thinks Luca gave your old restaurant manager something before he died.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Camilla swallowed.
“But if he believes you have it, he will not stop.”
Enzo took one step toward her.
“Where is Victor?”
Camilla shook her head.
“I ran.”
“From where?”
“A house outside town.”
“Take us there.”
Her face drained.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because he isn’t alone.”
“Who’s with him?”
Camilla whispered a name.
One that made Marco’s expression change completely.
“Dominic Marchetti.”
Enzo stared.
“My uncle?”
Camilla nodded.
May you like
And suddenly the conspiracy was no longer between two families.
It was inside Enzo’s own.
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