Chapter 13 - THE BASEMENT OF VILLA ROSSI
Villa Rossi stood silent beneath a gray morning sky.
Julian had grown up there.
He had learned to swim in the pool.
Celebrated birthdays beneath the olive trees.
Buried his first dog behind the eastern garden.
Kissed Elena for the first time beside the old fountain.
Now the house looked like a crime scene waiting to be discovered.
Gabriel arrived with investigators.
Claudia came too.
Julian walked toward the front door.
Unlocked.
That frightened him.
“Father?”
Nothing.
They entered.
The house was empty.
Julian led them toward the basement.
He had passed the door thousands of times.
Never questioned it.
Never wondered what was beneath his own home.
The key was already in the lock.
Julian opened it.
Cold air rose from below.
They descended.
Elena had remembered correctly.
Boxes.
Shelves.
Files.
Old computers.
Banking records.
Photographs.
Decades of secrets.
Gabriel whispered,
“My God.”
Julian saw a desk lamp glowing in the corner.
Vittorio sat beside it.
A glass of whiskey stood untouched before him.
He looked at Julian.
“I expected you sooner.”
Julian stopped.
“Did you kill Lucia?”
No greeting.
No hesitation.
Vittorio looked toward Gabriel.
“Is this an interrogation?”
Julian stepped closer.
“Did you kill her?”
Vittorio looked tired.
“No.”
Julian pulled out the photograph.
“Then explain this.”
Vittorio studied it.
“The mechanic.”
“You paid him.”
“Yes.”
Claudia raised her gun slightly.
Gabriel motioned for her to lower it.
Julian stared at his father.
“You paid a mechanic to sabotage Lucia’s brakes.”
“No.”
“Then what did you pay him for?”
“To repair them.”
Silence.
Julian frowned.
“What?”
Vittorio stood slowly.
“Lucia called me.”
“When?”
“The afternoon she died.”
“Why?”
“She knew Isabella was following her.”
Julian stared.
“She trusted you?”
“No.”
Vittorio almost smiled.
“She hated me.”
“But she was desperate.”
“What did she say?”
“That someone had been near her car.”
“That the brakes felt wrong.”
“I sent the mechanic.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“He says you paid him to alter the brake line.”
Vittorio laughed bitterly.
“Then someone paid him more to change his story.”
Julian did not know what to believe.
Vittorio opened a drawer.
Gabriel’s hand moved toward his weapon.
“Slowly.”
Vittorio removed an old receipt.
He placed it on the desk.
“Read.”
Gabriel examined it.
Emergency brake inspection.
Replacement hydraulic line.
Paid by V. Rossi.
Time stamped 4:12 p.m.
Lucia crashed at 11:38 p.m.
Julian looked at his father.
“You repaired her brakes.”
“Yes.”
“Then how did they fail?”
“Someone tampered with them afterward.”
“Who?”
Vittorio looked toward the shelves.
“I spent ten years trying to prove it.”
Julian stared.
“You investigated?”
“Quietly.”
“Why quietly?”
“Because Isabella threatened Adrian.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“What?”
“She told me if I exposed anything, the boy would disappear.”
“And you believed her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vittorio looked at him.
“Because she had already found him.”
Julian felt sick.
“She knew where Adrian was.”
“Yes.”
“Before Lucia died?”
“Yes.”
Vittorio opened another drawer.
He removed photographs.
Isabella outside Lucia’s apartment.
Isabella near Adrian’s nursery.
Isabella speaking to a man beside Lucia’s car.
Gabriel took them.
“Who is this man?”
Vittorio looked at Claudia.
She recognized him.
“No.”
Julian turned.
“Who?”
Claudia’s face had gone pale.
“Sergio Valmont.”
Luca’s biological father.
Julian stared.
Vittorio nodded.
“Isabella followed Lucia.”
“Valmont arranged the sabotage.”
Julian whispered,
“Why?”
“Because Lucia had discovered Luca’s true parentage.”
Another secret.
Julian almost laughed.
“Of course she had.”
Vittorio continued.
“She discovered Isabella was transferring Rossi money into Valmont companies.”
“She realized Luca was Valmont’s son.”
“She planned to tell you.”
Gabriel asked,
“Why would that matter?”
“Because Julian was about to join the controlling trust.”
“If he knew Isabella was blackmailing the company to enrich Valmont, she would lose everything.”
Julian looked at his father.
“So Valmont killed Lucia.”
“I believe so.”
“Believe?”
“I never proved it.”
Gabriel examined the photographs.
“This may.”
Vittorio shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Valmont is dead.”
Julian frowned.
“When?”
“Three hours ago.”
Silence.
Gabriel immediately pulled out his phone.
“How?”
Vittorio answered,
“His car went into Lake Como.”
Julian stared.
“How do you know?”
Vittorio looked at him.
“Because Isabella called me from detention.”
Gabriel froze.
“She contacted you?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She still has people.”
“What did she say?”
Vittorio’s eyes met Julian’s.
“She said she was cleaning up.”
Julian’s blood ran cold.
Even under arrest, Isabella was moving pieces.
Gabriel stepped away to make calls.
Julian looked around the basement.
“Why are you here?”
Vittorio pointed toward the files.
“To give you everything.”
“Why now?”
“Because Sofia was born.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“That changed you?”
“No.”
Vittorio looked toward the ceiling.
“It ended me.”
Julian said nothing.
Vittorio continued.
“When I saw Elena being carried out of that warehouse…”
“I remembered Lucia.”
“I remembered every time I said the company came first.”
“I remembered Sofia telling me before she died that one day the family would pay for my cowardice.”
He looked at Julian.
“She was right.”
Julian felt no sympathy.
But he listened.
Vittorio handed him a folder.
“What is this?”
“My confession.”
Julian stared.
“Everything?”
“Everything I did.”
“The accounts.”
“The cover-ups.”
“Elena’s clinic.”
“Adrian.”
“Lucia.”
“All of it.”
“You’ll go to prison.”
“Yes.”
Julian studied his father.
“You could run.”
“Yes.”
“Why aren’t you?”
Vittorio looked at him.
“Because I have spent thirty-eight years teaching you that a Rossi never pays for his mistakes.”
He pushed the confession toward Julian.
“Maybe I can teach you one useful thing before I’m gone.”
“What?”
“That I was wrong.”
Julian took the folder.
Gabriel returned.
“We confirmed Valmont’s death.”
Julian looked at him.
“And Isabella?”
“Still in custody.”
“She made a call.”
“We’re investigating.”
Vittorio said,
“You won’t find it through official logs.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Why?”
“She has a second network.”
“What network?”
Vittorio pointed toward a black ledger.
“Names.”
Gabriel opened it.
Judges.
Executives.
Police officials.
Doctors.
Politicians.
Julian stared.
This was bigger than his family.
Much bigger.
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“We need to secure this room.”
Then Julian’s phone rang.
Hospital.
His heart stopped.
He answered.
“Elena?”
A nurse spoke.
“Mr. Rossi, your wife is safe.”
Julian exhaled.
“But there’s been an incident.”
“What incident?”
“A woman attempted to enter the neonatal unit using a forged physician credential.”
Julian’s blood froze.
“Did she reach Sofia?”
“No.”
“Where is she?”
“Security detained her.”
Julian looked at Gabriel.
“Who is she?”
The nurse hesitated.
“She says her name is Camille Moreau.”
Julian stared at Claudia.
Camille was supposed to be in protective custody.
If she was at the hospital, either she had escaped.
Or someone wanted them to think she had.
Julian whispered,
“Do not let her near Elena.”
He ended the call.
Claudia was already moving.
“We go now.”
Julian looked at Vittorio.
His father remained beside the desk.
“You coming?”
Vittorio shook his head.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“You are coming with us.”
Vittorio smiled faintly.
“I assumed so.”
May you like
He held out his hands.
For the first time in Julian’s life, Vittorio Rossi willingly allowed someone else to put him in handcuffs.
