Chapter 4
Dario laughed at the accusation.
Too loudly.
“You think I want his chair?”
Nora did not answer.
Luciano did.
“Yes.”
Dario’s smile disappeared.
Luciano had spent years underestimating one thing about his brother: resentment could survive comfort. Dario had money, access, crews, and the Ferraro name. None of it mattered if the one thing he wanted was the thing he had never been allowed to become.
First son.
Heir.
Boss.
Augusto looked at Luciano with tired contempt. “This is exactly the problem. You think every challenge is treason.”
“No.”
Luciano glanced toward Celeste.
“I think pushing my pregnant wife down a staircase is treason.”
Augusto’s expression did not change.
That absence mattered.
Luciano saw it now.
His father was not shocked by what Dario had done.
He had calculated around it.
Celeste stood despite everyone telling her not to. One hand remained on her belly, but her voice was steady.
“You knew he was going to push me.”
Augusto looked at her.
“I knew he intended to provoke Luciano.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
He said nothing.
Celeste gave a bitter laugh.
“You knew.”
Dario interrupted. “You’re alive.”
Luciano turned.
Dario continued.
“The stairs are carpeted. I didn’t throw her from a balcony.”
The room went silent.
Dario heard himself too late.
Celeste’s face changed.
Not fear.
Recognition.
“You planned how dangerous it could be.”
Dario looked away.
Anthony swore under his breath.
Luciano’s expression emptied again.
He did not move toward his brother.
That scared Dario more than violence would have.
Nora checked the phone.
“There’s more before the push.”
She scrubbed backward.
At the far edge of the frame, Augusto could be seen speaking to someone just outside the council-room doors.
Only an arm and part of a dark jacket were visible.
Luciano leaned closer.
A ring flashed on the stranger’s hand.
Not Ferraro.
Anthony recognized it.
His face tightened.
“What?”
Anthony looked at Luciano.
“That crest belongs to the Bellandi family.”
May you like
The Bellandis had been Ferraro rivals for fifteen years.
And someone from their house had apparently been standing inside Luciano’s mansion minutes before his wife was thrown down the stairs.
