Chapter 8 - THE COAT OF LIES
The ride back to the mansion was suffocatingly quiet. Leo had fallen asleep in Vincent's arms, exhausted from the terror.
I sat in the front seat, staring at the text message on my phone.
Check Bianca's coat pocket.
Who sent this?
When we pulled into the long driveway of the estate, the police were just finishing taking statements from the remaining guests. Bianca and Arthur had been escorted off the property hours ago, but in her haste, Bianca had left her belongings behind in the coatroom.
Vincent carried Leo upstairs. "Emily, please make some warm milk for him. I'll be down in a minute."
"Yes, sir," I said.
But instead of going to the kitchen, I slipped into the dark cloakroom near the foyer.
The air smelled of expensive perfume and leather. I found Bianca's white cashmere coat hanging on a brass hook.
My hands shook as I reached into the left pocket. Empty.
I reached into the right pocket.
My fingers brushed against a thick, folded envelope.
I pulled it out. It was sealed with a wax stamp. I broke it open and pulled out a stack of documents.
My breath caught in my throat.
They were wire transfer receipts. Millions of dollars moving from Bianca's personal accounts to offshore banks.
But it wasn't the money that made my blood run cold. It was the name on the receiving accounts.
Thomas Vance.
I flipped to the next page. It was a contract, signed by both Bianca and Thomas, dated six months ago.
They had planned this. All of this.
Thomas hadn't miraculously discovered his true identity a month ago. He and Bianca had been working together for half a year to dismantle the Romano empire from the inside out.
"Find something interesting, Emily?"
I spun around.
Thomas was standing in the doorway of the cloakroom. He had slipped back onto the property completely unnoticed.
"You..." I whispered, clutching the papers. "You and Bianca. You set Paulie up. You set Arthur up."
Thomas stepped into the small room, closing the door behind him. "I eliminated the tumors feeding on this family. Arthur was a parasite. Paulie was a monster. I just gave them the rope to hang themselves."
"You put Leo in danger!" I hissed.
"Leo was never in danger," Thomas said calmly. "The men guarding him at the warehouse? They worked for me. Not Paulie. If Paulie had pulled that trigger, the gun would have misfired. I swapped his magazine hours ago."
I stared at him, horrified by the sheer calculation in his eyes. "Why? Why put your mother through this? Why put Vincent through this?"
Thomas’s face softened slightly. "Because Vincent was too soft to cut out the rot. He trusted Bianca. He trusted Arthur. They would have bled him dry and killed him eventually. I had to show him who they really were."
"And what about you?" I asked. "Are you going to take over the empire now?"
Thomas looked at the ground. "No. I'm leaving. Forever."
He reached out and gently took the documents from my trembling hands.
"Vincent can't know about this, Emily," Thomas said softly. "He needs to believe he saved his son. He needs to believe his family is finally safe. If he knows I orchestrated this... it will break whatever is left of his heart."
Suddenly, the cloakroom door swung open.
May you like
Vincent stood there, his dark eyes fixed on the documents in Thomas's hands.
"Too late," Vincent said.
