Beatrice signed again.

Because Carlo isn’t the person you should be afraid of asking.

She paused, her hands trembling.

Then she delivered the words that made Roman’s blood run cold.

He’s the person who already knows the answer.

And somewhere inside the enormous Moretti mansion, a security monitor suddenly went black.

The security monitor went black.

Roman noticed it before anyone else.

He crossed the room, grabbed the security phone, and called his head of security.

“Check the cameras. Every entrance. Nobody leaves this property.”

A voice answered immediately.

“Already on it, boss. But there’s something you need to know.”

Roman’s expression hardened.

“What?”

“The system wasn’t hacked from outside.”

A pause.

“Someone disabled it from inside the mansion.”

Harper looked at Beatrice.

The older woman had gone completely still.

Roman slowly lowered the phone.

“Who has access to my security system?”

“Six people,” his security chief replied. “You, your mother, me, and three members of your family.”

Roman’s eyes narrowed.

“Send me the names.”

He ended the call.

Harper watched him carefully.

“You think someone in your family is behind this?”

“I think someone wants me looking in the wrong direction.”

“And your uncle?”

Roman didn’t answer.

Beatrice suddenly reached for Harper’s hand.

Her fingers trembled as she signed.

The blue room.

Harper frowned.

“What blue room?”

Roman turned toward his mother.

“Mom?”

Beatrice looked at him, then signed again.

Your father’s study. The room he never allowed you to enter.

Roman’s face changed.

His father had died twelve years earlier. Since then, the study had remained locked, untouched, and forbidden.

“Why are you telling me this now?”

Beatrice looked at her son with tears in her eyes.

Because I should have told you years ago.

Roman took a long breath.

Then he turned to Harper.

“Stay with my mother.”

Harper folded her arms.

“You really need to stop giving me orders.”

“Harper, someone just threatened my mother.”

“And she trusted me enough to tell me the truth. I’m not leaving her alone.”

For a moment, Roman looked as though he wanted to argue.

Then he nodded.

“Stay behind me.”

“That sounds more like a request.”

“It wasn’t.”

Despite everything, Harper almost smiled.

They made their way down the corridor toward the old study.

Two guards stood outside the door.

Roman dismissed them with a gesture and pulled a key from the inside pocket of his jacket.

The lock clicked.

The door opened.

Dust covered the desk, the shelves, and the dark leather chairs. Everything appeared exactly as Roman remembered it from childhood.

Except for one thing.

A drawer stood open.

Roman approached the desk.

Inside lay a thick envelope, a small silver key, and a photograph.

He picked up the photograph.

It showed his father standing beside his uncle Carlo.

Between them stood a third man.

Roman stared at the unfamiliar face.

Then Harper noticed the date written on the back.

Nineteen years earlier.

The same year Beatrice lost her hearing.

Roman opened the envelope.

Inside were copies of old financial records, handwritten notes, and a letter bearing his father’s signature.

He began reading.

The more he read, the colder his expression became.

“What is it?” Harper asked.

Roman handed her the letter.

She read the final paragraph.

If anything happens to me, Beatrice must never learn what we discovered. Carlo believes he can control the situation, but he doesn’t understand what he’s started. The accident was no accident.

Harper looked up.

“Your father knew.”

Roman’s jaw tightened.

“And he kept it from me.”

A floorboard creaked behind them.

Roman spun around.

Carlo stood in the doorway.

His expensive gray suit was immaculate. His expression was calm, almost disappointed.

“I wondered how long it would take you to find that room.”

Roman slipped the letter into his jacket.

“You knew about the accident.”

Carlo sighed.

“Your mother should have left the past alone.”

“She lost her hearing because of what happened that night.”

“Your father made choices.”

“And Matteo?”

For the first time, Carlo’s composure faltered.

Roman stepped closer.

“Was my brother’s death another one of your choices?”

Carlo’s eyes hardened.

“You have no idea what your father put this family through.”

“Then explain it.”

Instead, Carlo looked at Harper.

“And who is this? Another person you’ve decided to trust?”

Harper raised her chin.

“Someone who knows the difference between protecting a person and controlling them.”

Carlo gave a humorless laugh.

“You should be careful, young woman. You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

“Neither did your family, apparently.”

Roman almost smiled.

Almost.

Then Carlo reached inside his jacket.

The guards outside rushed into the room.

“Hands where we can see them!” one shouted.

Carlo froze.

He slowly withdrew a phone instead of a weapon.

Roman’s security chief stepped forward.

“Sir, we’ve recovered deleted messages from the internal security system. They connect to Mr. Moretti’s private account.”

Carlo looked at Roman.

For several seconds, neither man spoke.

Then Roman understood.

The threatening message, the disabled cameras, the attempt to frighten Beatrice—it had all been designed to keep the family secrets buried.

“You sent the threat,” Roman said.

Carlo’s silence was answer enough.

Roman turned to his security chief.

“Preserve everything. Call the authorities. No one touches a single document.”

Carlo’s face twisted with anger.

“You would destroy your own family over a woman you met tonight?”

“No,” Roman replied coldly. “I would stop someone from hurting my family again.”

Carlo was escorted from the room.

For the first time in nineteen years, the truth was no longer locked behind a door.

But one question remained.

Why had Beatrice stayed silent for so long?

An hour later, Roman found his mother sitting beside the library window.

Harper sat with her, holding both of Beatrice’s hands.

Roman approached slowly.

“Mom, I need to understand.”

Beatrice looked at her son.

Her hands moved.

Your father discovered that Carlo was using the family business to hide illegal transactions. He threatened to expose him.

Roman listened as Harper translated.

That night, Carlo arranged for your father’s car to be tampered with. I was in the passenger seat. We survived the crash, but I suffered permanent hearing damage.

Roman closed his eyes.

“And Matteo?”

Beatrice’s hands trembled.

He discovered the truth years later. He was going to the police.

She stopped.

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Carlo’s men followed him. They caused the accident that killed him.

Roman stood perfectly still.

His brother’s death had haunted him for fourteen years. He had blamed himself for not answering Matteo’s last phone call that night.

Now he finally understood.

Harper translated the last of Beatrice’s words.

I was afraid of losing you too. Carlo threatened to destroy everyone I loved if I spoke. So I stayed silent.

Roman knelt in front of his mother.

For a long moment, the feared mafia boss looked like nothing more than a grieving son.

“You should never have carried this alone.”

Beatrice touched his face.

I was trying to protect you.

Roman covered her hand with his.

“I know.”

Then he looked at Harper.

“Thank you.”

She shook her head gently.

“Your mother was the brave one. She finally told the truth.”

Beatrice signed something else.

Harper smiled through her tears.

Roman looked between them.

“What now?”

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