THE MAFIA BOSS'S SON WAS ONE BITE FROM DISASTER—THEN THE MAID EXPOSED HIS FIANCÉE'S SECRET

Thursday evening, one day before the wedding rehearsal that would never happen, Luca invited everyone who mattered to dinner.

Not twenty-eight wealthy guests.

Not business associates.

Just Julia, Ethan, Mrs. Carter, Daniel, Rachel, and me.

The dining room felt different without Vanessa.

The long table had been replaced by a smaller round one.

Ethan's food was prepared separately and checked according to his medical plan.

There were no dramatic centerpieces.

No champagne towers.

No photographers.

For dessert, Mrs. Carter made vanilla cupcakes with blue frosting.

Three little white stars decorated Ethan's.

Exactly like the cake he'd been supposed to eat the previous Saturday.

When Mrs. Carter brought the plate out, Ethan stared at it.

Nobody spoke.

Then he looked at his father.

"Is it safe?"

Luca nodded.

"Mrs. Carter checked every ingredient. Your mom and I checked the information too."

Ethan looked at me.

I smiled.

"You're allowed to ask, sweetheart."

He took a cupcake.

Then he smiled.

"Can I have two?"

Julia laughed.

"After dinner, maybe."

Luca leaned back.

"That's my boy."

For the first time in nearly a week, the evening felt ordinary.

Then Ethan looked at his father.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sad there's no wedding?"

Luca considered the question.

"A little."

Ethan looked worried.

"Because of me?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Really."

Luca put down his fork.

"I was sad because I thought I was marrying someone who wanted to build a family with us."

Ethan nodded.

"But she didn't."

"No."

Ethan looked down at his plate.

"Did she ever love you?"

Luca was quiet for a moment.

"I don't know exactly what Vanessa felt. But I know the way she treated you was wrong."

Ethan nodded slowly.

Then he asked something none of us expected.

"Do you still love me when you're mad?"

Luca's expression changed.

"Buddy."

Ethan looked at him.

"Do you?"

Luca stood and walked around the table.

He knelt beside his son.

"Yes."

"Even if I make a big mistake?"

"Yes."

"Even if I don't like something you want?"

"Yes."

Ethan's eyes filled.

"Even if I don't want you to get married?"

Luca took a breath.

"Yes."

Ethan started crying.

Luca pulled him close.

I looked away.

Julia wiped her cheeks.

Mrs. Carter reached for a tissue.

For a long moment, nobody said anything.

Then Luca whispered, "You never had to compete with anybody for my love."

Ethan held him tighter.

"I thought I did."

"I know."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize."

Luca kissed his son's hair.

"I'm the one who's sorry I didn't understand sooner."

Later, after Ethan went upstairs with Julia, Daniel and Rachel remained behind.

There was still business to discuss.

They had completed a preliminary review of the documents.

The findings were troubling.

Multiple payment authorizations appeared to contain reused signatures.

Vendor invoices described services that had not been performed.

And internal communications suggested Richard Bellini had been personally involved in planning the financial arrangements.

Rachel leaned forward.

"We have enough information to make formal reports and cooperate with investigators. But we need to avoid treating every suspicious document as proof of every possible crime."

Luca nodded.

"I understand."

Daniel continued.

"Vanessa's lawyer has contacted us."

"What does she want?"

"A meeting."

"No."

"She says she has information about her father."

Luca looked up.

"Then she can give it to the authorities."

"That's what I told him."

Daniel hesitated.

"But she also sent something."

He opened his briefcase.

Inside was a small white envelope.

Luca stared.

"What is it?"

"A copy of a letter Vanessa claims she wrote before the engagement."

"To whom?"

"Her father."

Daniel handed it to him.

Luca read.

His face changed.

I watched him reach the bottom.

Then he set the paper down.

"She knew."

Daniel nodded.

"She claims she knew Richard was using the marriage to pursue financing."

Luca looked at the letter again.

"She says she wanted to stop him."

Rachel spoke.

"That's her account. We have to compare it with the records."

Luca looked furious.

"She wanted to stop him by sending my son away?"

The question hung in the air.

Daniel looked down.

"The letter says Richard threatened to expose certain financial problems Vanessa had concealed from you."

Luca stared.

"What problems?"

Daniel opened another folder.

"Before her relationship with you, Vanessa guaranteed business debts for one of her father's companies."

"How much?"

"Several million dollars."

Luca's eyes widened.

"And she never told me."

"No."

He laughed bitterly.

"I was going to marry her."

Daniel nodded.

Luca looked at the letter again.

"So her father was pressuring her."

"Possibly."

"And she decided my son was the price."

Rachel spoke carefully.

"Financial pressure may explain some of her choices. It doesn't excuse endangering Ethan or deceiving either parent."

Luca nodded.

"Agreed."

He put the letter down.

"I don't care what arrangement she had with her father. She could have told me the truth."

Daniel closed his briefcase.

"There's one more development."

Luca looked exhausted.

"What now?"

"Dr. Ward has agreed to provide a formal statement."

"About Ethan?"

"Yes."

Daniel took out another page.

"She says Vanessa misrepresented her relationship to Ethan and the extent of her authority. Dr. Ward stopped the process when she learned the parents hadn't consented."

Julia's voice came from the doorway.

"Thank God."

We turned.

She'd returned from upstairs.

"Is Ethan asleep?" Luca asked.

"Almost."

She sat.

Daniel continued.

"Dr. Ward also documented concerns about the information Vanessa supplied."

Julia leaned forward.

"What concerns?"

"She described repeated efforts to influence the assessment before any direct clinical evaluation."