His father had been a stranger to his own history.
And the man who had betrayed him had spent eleven years hiding behind a funeral.
"Why did you keep this secret?"
"Because your father asked me to."
"Why?"
"Because he believed the truth would destroy the family."
Alessandro looked toward the staircase.
"What does this have to do with my child?"
Elena's answer came slowly.
"Your uncle believes that if your child is born, the family line will become impossible to challenge. He wants the child removed from the succession before the birth."
Alessandro stood.
"Then he will have to come through me."
Elena shook her head.
"He has already found a way around you."
***
At eight in the morning, Isabella woke to the sound of someone speaking in the hallway.
She recognized Alessandro's voice.
It was low, controlled, and unusually cold.
She sat up.
Her phone was on the bedside table.
There was a message from Sophie.
I'M SORRY. PLEASE DON'T TRUST ANYONE IN THE HOUSE.
Isabella read it again.
Then she called.
No answer.
She called a second time.
The phone rang until the connection ended.
A few seconds later, another message appeared.
THE PERSON WHO GAVE YOU YOUR MEDICATION IS NOT WHO YOU THINK.
Isabella looked toward the small tray beside her bed.
Her prenatal vitamins were there.
So was the bottle of medication prescribed by her doctor for nausea.
She had taken one the previous night.
She picked up the bottle.
The label carried her name.
But the pharmacy number was unfamiliar.
Her heart began beating faster.
She opened the bedroom door.
Alessandro stood at the end of the hallway with Marco.
"Isabella?"
He noticed her expression.
"What happened?"
She held out her phone.
He read the messages.
His face changed.
"Where is Sophie?"
"I don't know."
Marco immediately took out his phone.
"Lock down the building."
Alessandro looked at Isabella.
"Did you take anything?"
"Only the medication."
"When?"
"Last night."
He turned toward Marco.
"Call the doctor."
"Already doing it."
Isabella gripped the doorframe.
"Alessandro, what is happening?"
He took her shoulders gently.
"We're going to the hospital."
"Is the baby in danger?"
He looked into her eyes.
"I won't let anything happen to either of you."
She wanted to believe him.
But when he looked away to make another call, she saw something in his expression that she had never seen before.
Fear.
***
The hospital was secured before they arrived.
Alessandro's men controlled the private entrance, while the medical team examined Isabella.
The doctor confirmed that the baby was healthy.
There was no immediate sign of harm.
But the medication bottle contained a substance that had not been prescribed.
The doctor explained that Isabella would need observation.
Alessandro listened without interrupting.
When the examination ended, he remained beside her bed.
She looked at him.
"Who gave me the medication?"
"We're investigating."
"Who?"
He hesitated.
"Your assistant."
Isabella closed her eyes.
"Sophie?"
"She disappeared this morning."
She turned toward him.
"She was with me yesterday."
"I know."
"She helped me get dressed. She brought me water. She checked the invitations."
Alessandro took her hand.
"We'll find her."
Isabella looked at the ceiling.
"How many people in our house are lying to us?"
He did not answer.
She turned toward him.
"Do you understand what this means?"
"Yes."
"No, Alessandro. I don't think you do."
Her voice trembled.
"I've spent three years trying to believe that the life you built was separate from the life we wanted. I thought that if I stayed away from your business, it couldn't touch me."
He lowered his head.
"But it has."
He closed his eyes.
"You're right."
She stared at him.
It was not an apology.
But it was the first time he had admitted that his world had reached her.
***
By noon, Marco had discovered that Sophie had been receiving payments from a company registered in Delaware.
The company had no employees.
Its director was a man named Victor Hale.
Victoria's brother.
The same man who had supposedly disappeared five years earlier.
Alessandro read the report in the hospital's private waiting room.
"Victoria's brother is alive?"
Marco nodded.
"According to the records, he has been using a different identity."
"Where is he?"
"We don't know."
Alessandro looked at the financial documents.
"Who transferred the money?"
"An account connected to Vincent."
He leaned back.
Everything was connected.
Victoria had not come to the gala simply to accuse him.
She had come because she was trying to reach her brother.
And someone had used her investigation to bring Elena into the open.
Marco placed another photograph on the table.
It showed Victoria leaving a restaurant two days earlier.
A man stood across the street.
Alessandro recognized him as one of Vincent's former associates.
"She's being watched."
"Yes."
"Find her."
"Alive?"
Alessandro looked at him.
"Everyone involved stays alive until I know the truth."
***
Victoria was in her apartment when Alessandro arrived.
She opened the door and immediately reached for the security chain.
"What do you want?"
"To talk."
"I've already told you everything."
"No, you haven't."
She looked past him.
Two men stood at the end of the corridor.
Victoria slowly opened the door.
Alessandro entered alone.
Her apartment was small, with books stacked beside the sofa and photographs covering one wall.
Most of them showed her brother.
She crossed her arms.
"Did you bring your army?"
"I brought two men."
"How reassuring."
"Your brother is alive."
Victoria stopped.
For a moment, she looked as though she had not understood him.
"What?"
"Victor Hale. He's alive."
She sat down.