"Where is he?"
"Deceased."
Lorenzo closed his eyes briefly.
"How?"
"His death was ruled an overdose."
"Was it?"
The attorney shook his head.
"We don't believe so."
He opened the briefcase.
"There's another issue. The accident file contains a witness statement that was never included in the final police report."
Lorenzo looked up.
"What witness?"
"A woman who saw Elena speaking to someone near her vehicle less than an hour before the crash."
"Who?"
The attorney looked at Isabella.
"Adrian Voss."
The room fell silent.
Isabella stepped backward.
"That's impossible."
The investigator placed another photograph on the desk.
It showed Adrian standing beside Elena's car.
This time, the image was clearer.
His face was unmistakable.
But there was something else.
A second person stood beside him.
A woman.
The photograph was grainy, taken from a distance, but the shape of her face and the dark hair were recognizable.
Lorenzo looked at Isabella.
She did not look away.
"Who took that photograph?" she asked.
"Someone who wanted the truth to survive," the investigator replied.
Lorenzo turned toward his attorney.
"Where is Adrian?"
"We're still looking."
"Find him."
The attorney nodded.
Isabella suddenly laughed.
Not the polite laugh she used at charity dinners.
A harsh, broken sound.
"You still don't understand."
Lorenzo looked at her.
"What?"
She reached into her handbag.
Marco immediately moved.
But she only removed a folded medical document.
She placed it on the desk.
"Perhaps this will help."
Lorenzo glanced at it.
It was a laboratory report.
A pregnancy confirmation.
He looked at Isabella.
"You're pregnant?"
She nodded.
"Six weeks."
The attorney lowered his eyes.
Marco said nothing.
Isabella's expression became almost triumphant.
"Now perhaps you'll think before you destroy your family."
Lorenzo examined the document.
Then he placed it back on the desk.
"Have it verified."
Her smile vanished.
"Excuse me?"
"Have it verified."
"You don't believe me?"
"I believe documents."
She stared at him.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then she picked up her handbag.
"You're going to regret this."
Lorenzo looked at her.
"I already do."
She turned and walked out.
Nobody stopped her.
For now.
Later that afternoon, Lorenzo visited Daniel's room.
The boy was sitting on the carpet, drawing a picture.
There were three figures.
A tall man.
A small boy.
And a woman with long brown hair.
Lorenzo crouched beside him.
"Who's that?"
Daniel pointed.
"Mommy."
"And this?"
"Daddy."
Lorenzo smiled faintly.
"And the little one?"
Daniel looked at him.
"Me."
Lorenzo studied the picture.
"Why are we all standing together?"
"Because Mommy used to say that families should stay together."
Lorenzo swallowed.
"She was right."
Daniel continued drawing.
Then he stopped.
"Is Mrs. Moretti going to hurt you?"
Lorenzo looked at him.
"No."
"Are you going to hurt her?"
The question was so direct that Lorenzo could not immediately answer.
He sat on the floor beside his son.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because you look angry."
Lorenzo looked at his hands.
There were scars across his knuckles.
A thin white line near his thumb.
The marks of a life he had never managed to hide from his child.
"Sometimes," he said, "being angry makes people do things they cannot take back."
Daniel nodded.
"Mommy said that too."
Lorenzo turned toward him.
"She did?"
"She said you had a good heart, but sometimes you let bad people tell you what to do."
Lorenzo lowered his head.
For years, he had believed Elena wanted him to become someone else.
Now he wondered whether she had simply wanted him to become the man he had promised her he would be.
He kissed Daniel's forehead.
"Your mother was wiser than I was."
Daniel leaned against him.
"Can we visit her?"
Lorenzo looked at the drawing.
"Tomorrow."
"Will you bring flowers?"
"Yes."
"White ones?"
"White ones."
Daniel smiled.
It was the first genuine smile Lorenzo had seen from him in weeks.
That night, the Moretti organization began to unravel.
Marco's men discovered that Adrian Voss had withdrawn money from several accounts and disappeared from his apartment.
His office had been emptied.
His car was found abandoned near a private airfield in New Jersey.
The investigators traced his last known movements to a hotel outside Philadelphia.
But he was gone before they arrived.
Then another discovery emerged.
Adrian had not acted alone.
Someone inside the Moretti organization had been protecting him.
Someone with access to the security system.
Someone who had helped erase the footage from the night Elena died.
Marco brought the information to Lorenzo at two in the morning.
"There's a name."
Lorenzo looked up.
"Who?"
"Dominic Rizzo."
Lorenzo remained still.
Dominic had been his father's closest adviser.
He had helped Lorenzo take control after Vittorio's death and had served as the family's chief operations director for nearly twenty years.
He had also been present at Elena's funeral.
He had carried the coffin's final arrangement.
He had stood beside Lorenzo when Daniel asked why his mother would not wake up.
"Are you certain?" Lorenzo asked.
Marco nodded.
"The payments went through one of his companies."
"Why?"
"I don't know."