Page 58 of Vows Made in Silence
“Yes.”
Her voice shakes, and it nearly kills me. Not because she’s scared of me—but because whatever she read in that box is worth killing for.
For ten years she carried this, alone, while I cursed her name and plotted vengeance against ghosts. Hating the memories and her with each passing day.
“Whose name?” I demand, stepping in close.
Giuliana looks up at me, tears glinting but unshed. “It was fast. I never even meant to look. But one stood out… Adriano Vescari. And below it… your brother’s name. Crossed out in red.”
My vision blurs. Not from grief—but fury.
Tommaso. Crossed out like he was some casualty on a kill list.
And Vescari? That greasy bastard always claimed loyalty to my father. Always sat two seats down from me at family dinners.
Now I know why he always looked at me with that damn smug smile. He thought I was too green to dig up the truth.
He underestimated me.
I move to the window, looking out over the safehouse grounds. It looks calm—guards on rotation, lights glowing, the illusion of control. But I know better. Safety is a mask, and behind it, the betrayal is already blooming. The real war isn’t out there—it’s inside these walls., over the soldiers I trained, the dynasty I helped built, the blood I bled to hold this empire together. And all this time, the rot was inside the walls.
Behind me, Giuliana whispers, “You were never supposed to find out.”
I turn slowly. “So, he lied to me. Your father. Mine. They all swore Tommaso’s death was a hit gone bad.”
She nods. “That’s what I was told too. Until I saw the list. Until I saw what they did to make sure you’d never know the truth.”
I cross the room in three strides and drop to my knees in front of her. My hand finds her waist, grounding us both.
“Giuliana, I need you to trust me now. This doesn’t end with us running. Or hiding. It ends with death.”
She shudders beneath my touch. “You’re going to kill them.”
“Yes.”
I call Turk.
“Get Sal, Leo, and Frankie. Quietly. No open channels. I want to meet in the war room. Lock it down—no eyes, no ears, not even our own unless I say so.”
Turk doesn’t ask questions. He knows that tone. It’s the same one I used before I leveled the Genovese compound back in ’21.
I hang up and face Giuliana. She’s paler than I’ve ever seen her. She clutches Daniel’s blanket against her chest like it’s armor.
I walk over and pull her against me, hand sliding into her hair, breathing in the scent I memorized when I was too young to understand what obsession was.
“I’m going to find out who helped Vescari. Who crossed Tommaso out like he was nothing. And when I do?”
“I know,” she whispers. “You won’t stop.”
“No,” I rasp, “because I can only stop when the threat is gone.”
She doesn’t flinch.
And tomorrow?
We'll be ready to attack.
Luca’s expression darkens, something ancient and dangerous simmering beneath the surface. His jaw clenches, the muscle ticking like a silent countdown.
