Chapter 15 - The Decoy

The decoy was simple enough to be believable.

A photocopy of Luca’s ledger page was placed in an evidence review packet Victor’s lawyer was legally entitled to inspect. Attached was a modern inventory slip indicating that “original supplemental materials” had been transferred to a secure records warehouse under a coded shelf number.

Nothing forged.

Nothing represented as Luca’s writing.

Just an administrative breadcrumb.

The warehouse was real.

The shelf was empty.

Police and federal financial investigators watched every entrance.

Mia wanted to be there.

Everyone said no.

So she stayed with the twins at Dot’s townhouse, where “no” had the advantage of being practical rather than controlling.

Adrian stayed too.

“You don’t need to babysit me,” Mia said.

“I’m not.”

“You have checked your phone forty times.”

“Thirty-seven.”

“Psychotic distinction.”

Wren climbed between them on the couch and shoved a picture book into Adrian’s chest.

“Read.”

He looked at Mia.

“Do I have a choice?”

“No,” Mia said. “This house is not a democracy.”

He read badly.

Not because he could not read, but because he treated a children’s book like a legal deposition.

Mia finally took it away.

“The bear is not negotiating access to the forest.”

“He should. There are obvious property concerns.”

Ronan giggled so hard he hiccuped.

For half an hour, danger receded.

Then Matteo called.

Someone had entered the warehouse.

Not Victor.

Salvatore.

Adrian stood so fast Wren complained.

“My father.”

Mia looked at him. He was using the word now, reluctantly.

“Why would Salvatore follow the decoy?”

“Because he saw the evidence packet?”

“Only Victor’s side had access.”

Adrian’s eyes narrowed.

“Unless Salvatore is working with him.”

Mia shook her head. “Or Victor wanted us to think that.”

Matteo called again ten minutes later.

Salvatore had been detained and was furious.

He claimed Victor sent him a message saying Adrian planned to destroy evidence that proved Salvatore’s biological paternity.

Mia laughed without humor.

“He baited both sides.”

Adrian rubbed his face.

“Victor wants us fighting each other.”

“Then don’t.”

“What do you propose? Family dinner?”

“Yes.”

He stared.

Mia folded her arms.

“You, Salvatore, Sofia. Same room.”

“That sounds less like dinner and more like a structural engineering test.”

“Good. We’ll learn what collapses.”

The meeting happened at Dot’s dining table because Mia refused any Castellano property.

Dot served lasagna with the expression of a woman hosting badly behaved royalty.

Salvatore arrived first.

When he saw Sofia, the color left his face.

“Sofia.”

She stared at him.

“You look old.”

“You look alive.”

“Disappointing?”

“Complicated.”

Adrian stood at the head of the table.

“No one leaves until we agree on Victor.”

Salvatore looked at him.

“You’re giving orders in a babysitter’s dining room.”

Dot appeared from the kitchen.

“My dining room.”

Salvatore inclined his head. “Apologies.”

Mia almost smiled.

The conversation was brutal.

Sofia accused Salvatore of turning Adrian’s birth into leverage.

Salvatore accused Sofia and Luca of erasing him from his son’s life.

Adrian accused all three of deciding what truths he could survive.

Mia finally slammed her palm on the table.

“Victor kidnapped my children while you people are still arguing about who loved Adrian correctly.”

Silence.

Ronan, coloring in the next room, shouted, “Mommy mad!”

Dot called back, “Mommy has reasons!”

Mia pointed at the adults.

“You can repair your family after we stop the man still attacking mine.”

Salvatore’s face changed.

“Victor contacted me directly last week.”

Adrian turned. “You didn’t mention that.”

“I didn’t trust you.”

“Excellent timing for honesty.”

Salvatore ignored the jab.

“He offered me the original ledger in exchange for one thing.”

“What?” Mia asked.

Salvatore looked at Ronan through the doorway.

“Proof that Adrian had no other children.”

Mia went cold.

“Why would he care about other children?”

Sofia answered.

“Because the trust doesn’t pass through Adrian alone.”

Everyone looked at her.

She whispered, “It passes to every biological descendant of Salvatore.”

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\nAfter Salvatore left the dining room, Mia found him alone by the front steps.\n\n“You really didn’t know Victor had the photograph?” she asked.\n\n“No.”\n\n“Why should I believe you?”\n\n“You shouldn’t because I ask.”\n\nThe answer sounded disturbingly like Adrian.\n\nSalvatore looked older under the porch light. “I spent years believing information was the only defense against betrayal. Eventually I collected so much information I became a betrayal myself.”\n\nMia did not absolve him.\n\n“You surveilled me.”\n\n“Yes.”\n\n“You treated my pregnancy like a corporate event.”\n\n“Yes.”\n\n“If you want any relationship with those children, you start by accepting that I can say no.”\n\nSalvatore nodded. “Understood.”\n\nMia went inside without offering comfort. Boundaries, she was learning, could be an act of mercy without being forgiveness.\n

Inside, Dot handed Salvatore a container of leftover lasagna. He stared at it as if no one had ever sent him home with food before. “Bring the container back,” she warned. “I don’t care who your family is.” He promised he would. Mia believed Dot more than any security system.