Chapter 3 - THE CONFESSION IN BLOOD
The bullet struck Derek beneath the ribs.
He collapsed near my feet.
Lorenzo fired back.
Enzo dropped behind a marble column.
The corridor exploded into shouting.
Dante’s men surrounded Camilla and her son.
Lorenzo’s gun remained steady.
“If Enzo moves again, kill him.”
Camilla stared at him.
“He was protecting us.”
“He shot an unarmed witness.”
Derek coughed.
Blood appeared on his lips.
I knelt beside him while keeping Leo against my chest.
Derek reached toward me.
I pulled away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“I know.”
His voice was thin.
“I know what I did.”
“You killed Lily.”
“I pushed you.”
“The doctors said the fall killed her.”
“That means you killed her.”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
There was no excuse large enough to hold what he had done.
Lorenzo took Derek’s phone and passed it to Dante.
“Copy everything before it locks.”
Derek opened his eyes again.
“The code is Lily’s birthday.”
My stomach twisted.
“You used my daughter’s birthday?”
“They told me to.”
“Who?”
Derek looked toward Camilla.
“She called herself Pearl.”
Camilla touched her necklace.
A small movement.
Almost instinctive.
Derek continued.
“I owed the Bellini crew two hundred thousand dollars.”
“They said they would cut off my hands.”
“Then Pearl contacted me.”
“She knew Maya was pregnant.”
“She offered to clear the debt if I caused an accident.”
My vision narrowed.
“You were supposed to kill both of us.”
He nodded.
“Why?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Not then.”
He looked at Leo.
“They needed a woman who had just lost a baby.”
The hallway became silent.
Camilla spoke first.
“This is madness.”
Derek ignored her.
“They needed Maya desperate.”
“Alone.”
“Still producing milk.”
“They arranged the job through the staffing agency.”
I thought about the telephone call two days after Lily’s funeral.
A woman from Elite Household Placement offered me work at the Rossi estate.
The pay was far higher than anything in my experience.
She said another maid had recommended me.
I had been too numb to question the luck.
“They brought me here on purpose,” I whispered.
Derek nodded.
“The plan was to drug Leo until everyone believed he was dying.”
“Then Maya would find him.”
“She would feed him.”
“Security would catch her.”
“It would look like a grieving mother had become obsessed with Mr. Rossi’s child.”
Lorenzo’s jaw tightened.
“What happened after that?”
Derek looked toward Enzo.
“The baby was supposed to disappear.”
“Maya would be blamed for kidnapping him.”
“Her history with me would make her look unstable.”
“If they found Leo’s body, it would be beside hers.”
I felt Leo’s heartbeat against my skin.
Fast.
Fragile.
Alive.
Enzo shouted from behind the column.
“He is lying to save himself.”
Derek laughed painfully.
“I’m not saving anything.”
Dante returned the phone.
“We have the messages.”
“Payments came through a company owned by Rossi Medical Holdings.”
Camilla answered calmly.
“I control dozens of medical companies.”
“That proves nothing.”
Derek’s hand tightened around my sleeve.
“There’s more.”
“The doctor who delivered Lily was paid too.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“She was already gone,” Derek said quickly.
“They did not kill her at the hospital.”
“But they delayed the ambulance.”
“I called the number Pearl gave me before I called emergency services.”
“They told me to wait.”
“How long?”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Twenty-two minutes.”
I remembered lying at the bottom of the stairs.
I remembered asking Derek for help.
He sat on the landing with his phone in his hand while I bled.
I had believed shock froze him.
It had been instruction.
Lorenzo crouched beside him.
“What is the final goal?”
Derek tried to answer.
His body convulsed.
A dark stain spread beneath him.
Dr. Adrian Vale entered the corridor carrying a medical case.
He pushed through the guards.
“Move.”
He injected Derek before anyone could stop him.
Derek’s eyes widened.
Then his body went still.
I looked at the syringe.
“What did you give him?”
Vale checked Derek’s neck.
“He was dying.”
Lorenzo grabbed the doctor by his collar.
“He was speaking.”
May you like
Vale met his eyes.
“Not anymore.”
