Chapter 5 - The Man Who Killed Antonio
The ballroom doors were locked.
Leonardo ordered every guest to leave through the east corridor.
No phones.
No photographs.
No gossip.
Only family remained.
Maria.
Mrs. Miller.
Cassandra.
Victor.
And me.
Anna Scott.
The maid who had been told to remove Mrs. Miller through the kitchen.
Leonardo looked at Victor.
“How did my father die?”
Victor sat in a chair.
For the first time that night, he looked frightened.
“Poison.”
Cassandra stared.
“Who poisoned him?”
Victor looked at Leonardo.
“Marcus.”
Leonardo said nothing.
Victor continued.
“Antonio became dangerous after Maria disappeared.”
Leonardo’s eyes narrowed.
“He was already dangerous.”
“Yes.”
“But afterward he became suspicious of everyone.”
Maria whispered:
“Because he knew I had hidden evidence.”
Victor nodded.
“He thought Marcus had it.”
Leonardo looked at the ledger.
“So Marcus killed him.”
“Not only because of the evidence.”
“Then why?”
Victor swallowed.
“Because Antonio planned to kill you.”
Silence.
Leonardo’s head turned slowly.
“Me?”
Maria covered her mouth.
Victor nodded.
“You were sixteen.”
Leonardo stepped forward.
“Why would my father kill me?”
“Because someone sent him proof that Maria was still alive.”
Leonardo looked at his mother.
Maria began crying.
“He thought I had contacted you.”
“Had you?”
“No.”
Victor said:
“Antonio believed Leonardo would eventually learn the truth.”
“And expose him?”
“No.”
Victor looked at Leonardo.
“Replace him.”
Leonardo laughed once.
Without humor.
“At sixteen?”
“Antonio feared his own blood.”
Maria whispered:
“He always did.”
Leonardo looked at Victor.
“So Marcus saved me.”
Victor’s expression twisted.
“In a way.”
Cassandra asked:
“What does that mean?”
Victor looked at his daughter.
“Marcus did not save Leonardo out of kindness.”
Leonardo already knew.
“He wanted my father’s empire.”
“Yes.”
“And me?”
Victor hesitated.
Leonardo’s voice hardened.
“What did Marcus want from me?”
“A successor he could control.”
Cassandra stared at Leonardo.
Victor continued.
“After Antonio died, Marcus kept you alive.”
“He introduced you to people.”
“He helped secure contracts.”
“He removed rivals.”
Leonardo remembered.
A family friend.
A mentor.
A smiling uncle at dinners.
A man who always seemed to appear after tragedy.
Leonardo looked at Cassandra.
“Did you know?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Victor said:
“She didn’t.”
Leonardo looked at him.
“But you did.”
Victor nodded.
“Some of it.”
Leonardo walked to the window.
Outside, several vehicles had arrived.
His security team.
He turned.
“Where is Marcus now?”
Cassandra answered.
“He left the party an hour ago.”
Leonardo’s eyes narrowed.
“Before Mrs. Miller spoke?”
“Yes.”
Victor stood.
“That means he knew she was here.”
Mrs. Miller nodded.
“He did.”
Everyone looked at her.
Leonardo stepped closer.
“How?”
Mrs. Miller opened her handbag again.
She removed a small phone.
“One call came this afternoon.”
“From whom?”
“I didn’t recognize the number.”
“What did they say?”
Mrs. Miller looked at Leonardo.
“Do not let Rose Miller reach the anniversary party.”
Leonardo stared.
“And you came anyway.”
Mrs. Miller smiled faintly.
“I am seventy-eight.”
“I have spent half my life being afraid of younger men.”
“I decided they could have one evening being afraid of me.”
Leonardo almost smiled.
Almost.
Then the phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Mrs. Miller looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
Leonardo held out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
She did.
He answered.
Silence.
Then a man’s voice.
Calm.
Familiar.
“Leonardo.”
Cassandra whispered:
“Marcus.”
Leonardo said:
“You killed my father.”
Marcus laughed softly.
“Your father deserved worse.”
“Where are you?”
“That is not the question.”
Leonardo’s jaw tightened.
“What is?”
Marcus answered:
“Ask Maria what happened to the baby born the same night Elena died.”
Leonardo stopped breathing.
Maria’s face collapsed.
He looked at her.
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