Elena studied him.
"Do you know him?"
"Professionally."
"Are you friends?"
"No."
"Enemies?"
Lorenzo considered the question.
"That depends on what he does next."
She looked at the entrance to the ballroom.
"I think you should stay away from me."
"Why?"
"Because I think he knows something about my father."
Lorenzo's expression changed.
"What was your father's name?"
"Daniel Marin."
The name landed between them.
Lorenzo did not move.
But something behind his eyes became suddenly distant.
"Daniel Marin?"
Elena nodded.
"You knew him?"
Lorenzo looked at the untouched soup.
"I knew of him."
"What does that mean?"
"It means your father was a difficult man to forget."
Elena's throat tightened.
"Was he alive?"
Lorenzo did not answer immediately.
"Eleven years ago, he disappeared."
"Did he work for Adrian?"
Lorenzo looked toward the other end of the ballroom.
Adrian Voss was standing beside a group of investors.
He was laughing.
The sight seemed to irritate Lorenzo more than any insult could have.
"Your father worked for several people," he said. "Some of them were respectable. Others were not."
"And you?"
"I was one of the people he dealt with."
Elena's eyes widened.
"You're involved in this?"
"I was."
She pushed her chair backward.
Lorenzo did not reach for her.
"Elena."
"Don't."
"I haven't finished."
"I don't want anything to do with criminals."
His expression remained still.
"Then you should be careful who you trust."
She stared at him.
"Are you threatening me?"
"No."
He leaned back.
"I'm telling you that the man who invited you here has a longer history with your family than he wants you to know."
Elena stood.
For a moment, she seemed ready to leave.
Then Lorenzo said something that made her stop.
"Your father saved my life."
She slowly turned.
"What?"
Lorenzo looked directly at her.
"Eleven years ago. A warehouse near the East River. Your father pulled me out before the building caught fire."
Elena's lips parted.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Because the people responsible wanted him forgotten."
"Who was responsible?"
Lorenzo looked across the ballroom again.
"Adrian Voss."
***
Lorenzo remembered the warehouse.
He remembered the smell of burning insulation.
He remembered the sound of metal collapsing overhead.
Most of all, he remembered Daniel Marin shouting his name.
At the time, Lorenzo had been thirty years old.
His father, Vittorio Moretti, was still alive, although the old man's health had begun to deteriorate. Lorenzo was managing several shipping operations and trying to prevent a conflict between two factions that had spent years stealing from each other.
Daniel had been an accountant.
Not a soldier.
Not an enforcer.
He was a quiet man who believed that numbers could expose almost anything if someone had the patience to read them.
He discovered that Adrian Voss was moving money through construction contracts.
The money belonged to several criminal organizations.
Voss had been stealing from all of them.
When Daniel brought the records to Lorenzo, he did not ask for protection.
He asked for a meeting.
"I want my name removed from these transactions," Daniel had said.
Lorenzo remembered the way the older man sat across from him.
He had looked exhausted.
But his voice was steady.
"Your name is already there."
"Then help me remove it."
"Why should I?"
Daniel had looked at him for a long moment.
"Because one day, someone will use these records to destroy people who had nothing to do with them."
Lorenzo had been young enough to think that was an unusual reason.
He was older now.
He understood it.
Before the meeting could continue, Daniel received a telephone call.
He listened.
Then he stood.
"Something is wrong."
"What?"
"My daughter."
Lorenzo remembered the sudden change in his face.
Daniel had never mentioned his family before.
"Go home," Lorenzo said.
Daniel shook his head.
"Not yet."
He handed Lorenzo a small notebook.
"Keep this somewhere safe."
"What is it?"
"The truth."
Then he left.
Two nights later, the warehouse burned.
Lorenzo survived.
Daniel disappeared.
Adrian Voss told everyone that the accountant had stolen money and fled the country.
The story was convenient.
And Lorenzo, who had just taken over a criminal organization weakened by years of internal betrayal, had chosen to believe the simplest explanation.
It was a decision he had regretted ever since.
***
Back at the gala, Elena sat down again.
"Why didn't you look for him?"
Lorenzo accepted the question without defending himself.
"I did."
"Not hard enough."
"No."
She stared at him.
For the first time, Lorenzo looked uncomfortable.
"You're right."
The answer surprised her.
He continued.
"I had a war to prevent, a family to protect, and men waiting for me to make a mistake. I searched for your father, but I allowed other problems to become more important."
"That's a convenient excuse."
"It is."
She looked at the envelope.
"Then why should I trust you now?"
"You shouldn't."
Lorenzo reached into his jacket and placed a business card on the table.
"Trust the evidence. Not me."
Elena looked at the card.
It carried only his name and a telephone number.
"Take it," he said. "If you decide you want answers, call."
He stood.
"But don't leave through the main entrance."
"Why?"
"Because Adrian is watching."
Elena looked across the room.
Adrian was no longer smiling.
He was speaking to a tall man near the staircase.
The tall man was looking directly at her.