Chapter 7

One week later, Bianca released an edited video from The Red Chapel.

The clip made me appear to be a regular guest at the private club. It suggested that I had married Luca because Vincent rejected me during a sexual game.

Public opinion changed within hours.

Reporters gathered outside the Caruso estate. They asked about the collar and the private room. Few of them asked why Vincent had planned the scene or why he had used my money for a secret arms deal.

Several Caruso directors wanted me to step away from my position until the attention passed.

They called silence the respectable choice.

Their request was simple. They wanted the injured woman to protect the people who had planned the injury.

My father offered to shut down the story through his contacts.

"One reporter will be replaced by another," I said. "I want the full truth released."

Luca sat across from me.

"Do you want the recording erased, or do you want every screen to show what happened?"

"I want every screen to show the truth."

I had hired the server company through a Caruso-owned fund years earlier. The contract gave me legal access to the archived security files.

The technical team recovered the original files.

The full video showed Vincent ordering the club manager to send me the red key card. Bianca asked if I had reached the door. Vincent told her to make sure I understood what would happen after the wedding.

He also explained his plan in clear terms. He wanted the public ceremony to calm casino shareholders. He wanted Bianca's legal marriage to secure the Falcone arms routes. He expected me to keep managing the business after both ceremonies.

The recording also captured a more serious crime.

Vincent had used a Caruso backed fund as collateral for an illegal weapons payment without my approval.

When Vincent learned that we had recovered the full file, he called me for the first time since the wedding.

"Do not release it. The Commission will remove the Russos."

"Did you care about my dignity when you sent the key card?"

He had no answer.

I sealed the video and the financial records in evidence bags.

Luca closed the safe for me.

"A lot of people will hate you after tomorrow."

"They already hated me. They were polite because they needed my money."

A brief smile crossed his face.

"Then they can learn to fear your decisions too."

The Western Family Summit would begin in three days.

It was Vincent's last chance to replace the Caruso money.

It was also my chance to end ten years of silence.