Chapter 4 - The Discovery and the Ambush
When Matteo entered Lorenzo’s study carrying a printed still frame from the clinic security system, Lorenzo stopped breathing.
He grabbed the page.
His hands trembled.
The image was blurry and shot from above.
But he recognized the sweep of Vivian’s hair.
The curve of her neck.
Then his gaze dropped.
Beneath her coat was the unmistakable swell of pregnancy.
“She’s in Maine.”
His voice cracked.
Relief and horror struck him simultaneously.
“A baby.”
Lorenzo stared at the photograph.
He had driven Vivian away while she carried his child.
“Get the jet ready.”
His expression hardened into black ice.
“Just you and me, Matteo. No one else knows.”
The private flight took them to Portland.
From the airstrip, they drove toward Camden.
Rain hammered the rented SUV throughout the journey.
The storm outside matched the violence inside Lorenzo.
His hand remained around the loaded pistol in his coat pocket.
Not because he intended to hurt Vivian.
Because years in the syndicate had trained him to believe an enemy could always be waiting.
Matteo stopped the SUV approximately 0.5 mile from the location the tracker had identified.
The cedar-shingle cottage stood alone on a rocky bluff beyond thick trees.
“I go alone.”
Matteo nodded.
He remained behind the wheel with the engine running.
Lorenzo moved silently through the pines.
At the edge of the property, he stopped.
Through the cottage’s large bay window, warm firelight illuminated the room.
Vivian stood inside.
Laughing.
It was a bright, beautiful sound Lorenzo had not heard in years.
Then he saw the man beside her.
Dark hair.
Familiar body.
Familiar face.
A brother Lorenzo had mourned for 5 years.
Leonardo.
The shock hit him physically.
He stepped backward into a pine tree.
His dead brother.
His missing wife.
In Lorenzo’s wounded mind, betrayal and jealousy fused together.
He drew his pistol.
Then marched toward the cottage.
He did not knock.
The front door exploded inward beneath his kick, splintering the frame.
Vivian screamed and dropped a plate.
It shattered across the hardwood.
Leonardo spun.
He immediately stepped between Vivian and the gun.
His hands rose.
“Lorenzo.”
His voice remained unnervingly calm.
“Put the gun down.”
“You’re dead.”
Lorenzo aimed at his brother’s chest.
“You burned on that boat.”
Then he looked at Vivian.
“And now you’re here with my wife.”
His expression twisted.
“Is this why you left?”
Vivian stepped out from behind Leonardo.
She was afraid.
She refused to cower.
“Don’t you dare.”
Her voice cut through the room.
“Don’t you dare put your sins on me.”
She looked directly at Lorenzo.
“Leonardo saved my life. He gave me sanctuary when you gave me a prison.”
“I am your husband!”
The anguish behind Lorenzo’s anger finally broke through.
Tears blurred his eyes.
“I searched for you. I tore the city apart.”
“After you broke me!”
Vivian shouted back.
Tears were running down her own face.
“After you looked me in the eyes and told me I meant nothing to you.”
She took a breath.
“That you never loved me.”
Lorenzo lowered the gun slightly.
His shoulders sagged.
“I was wrong.”
The admission seemed to tear through him.
“I was drowning, Vivian. The syndicate. The Feds. The Morettis. Everything was eating me alive.”
He struggled for breath.
“I pushed you because I thought it would protect you.”
Vivian watched him.
“I thought if I didn’t care, they couldn’t use you against me.”
His voice cracked.
“I lied.”
He looked at her.
“I have always loved you.”
Silence filled the cottage.
“It’s too late, Lorenzo.”
Vivian shook her head.
“You destroyed us.”
Then she placed 1 hand on her stomach.
“And you almost destroyed him.”
Lorenzo’s eyes followed the movement.
They stopped at her swollen belly.
A sob tore from him.
He dropped the pistol.
The ruthless Falcone underboss collapsed to his knees amid pieces of broken porcelain.
He covered his face with both hands.
He wept like a child.
“Please.”
His words were barely audible.
May you like
“Please, Vivian. Let me fix it.”
Before Vivian could answer, the front window exploded.
