Chapter 15 - A Song in the Rain
Isabella refused to believe it.
“Aunt Celeste practically raised me.”
“That doesn’t clear her.”
“She loved Santino.”
“Maybe.”
“Landon.”
“She saw Leo the day before he was taken.”
“So did twelve people.”
“She owns the villa near where Santino disappeared.”
“You don’t know that’s where he went.”
“Not yet.”
Isabella went quiet.
Then:
“Be careful.”
Landon heard something beneath her words.
Not defense.
Fear.
“You’ve suspected something.”
“No.”
“Isabella.”
Another pause.
“Celeste called me the night Santino died.”
Landon closed his eyes.
“Why did nobody tell me anything in this family?”
“She said Santino had asked about an old family account.”
“What account?”
“One my grandfather created.”
“Connected to Vale?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did she ask?”
“Whether Santino had mentioned documents.”
Landon looked at Serena.
There it was.
“What did you tell her?”
“Nothing.”
“Why?”
“Because Santino told me not to.”
Of course.
Every road.
Every silence.
Santino.
They flew to Milan and drove north.
Rain began near Como.
The lake disappeared beneath gray mist.
Celeste Romano’s villa stood above the water behind iron gates.
Security opened them after Landon gave his name.
That bothered him.
Too easy.
Celeste waited beneath the covered entrance.
Sixty-two.
Silver-blonde hair.
Elegant navy dress.
She looked exactly as Landon remembered.
She kissed his cheek.
“You look tired.”
“My brother does that to me.”
Her face changed.
Only slightly.
“You found out.”
“Enough.”
She looked at Serena.
“You must be Serena.”
Serena froze.
They had never met.
“How do you know?”
Celeste gave a small smile.
“Santino had photographs.”
Landon did not like the answer.
“Where is he?”
Celeste sighed.
“Come inside.”
“No.”
Rain fell harder behind them.
“I’ve traveled far enough.”
“Landon.”
“Where is my brother?”
Celeste studied him.
Then looked toward the garden.
“He left this morning.”
Landon stared.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“He was here.”
“Yes.”
Serena inhaled.
Alive.
Here.
Hours ago.
“Why did he leave?”
“Because I told him you were coming.”
Landon’s anger exploded.
“You spoke to him?”
“Every day.”
“You knew he was alive for two years?”
“Yes.”
“Isabella buried him.”
“I know.”
“Leo cried for him.”
“I know.”
“And you said nothing?”
Celeste’s eyes filled.
“I kept him alive.”
The rain hammered the stone.
Landon stepped closer.
“You’d better explain.”
She led them inside.
Santino had arrived eighteen months earlier.
Still recovering.
Unable to trust hospitals.
Unable to return home.
Celeste hid him.
Not because she worked for Vale.
Because she had once worked against him.
Isabella’s maternal family had investment connections across Europe.
Celeste discovered irregular accounts decades earlier.
She quietly helped Santino trace them.
“Why did he believe someone inside the family was compromised?”
“Because somebody gave Vale Leo’s school information.”
“Who?”
“I didn’t know then.”
“And now?”
Celeste looked toward him.
“Isabella’s cousin Jonathan.”
Landon knew him.
Jonathan Pierce.
A financial adviser.
Family friend.
Frequent visitor.
He had access through Isabella’s side, not Moretti operations.
“Proof?”
Celeste handed Dominic a drive.
“Transfers from Vale.”
“What about Leo’s kidnapping?”
“Jonathan provided routine details. Matteo and Victor executed it.”
“Where is Jonathan?”
“London.”
Cross could handle him.
Landon returned to the question that mattered.
“Where is Santino?”
Celeste looked toward Serena.
“He saw Vale arrested on television.”
“And?”
“He wanted to come home.”
“Then why leave today?”
“Because he received a message.”
Landon went still.
“From whom?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did it say?”
Celeste handed him a printed copy.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THE ORIGINAL LEDGER.
Serena stared.
“My father’s ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Celeste looked toward the lake.
“An old chapel above Bellagio.”
Landon turned immediately.
Celeste grabbed his arm.
“He made me promise not to tell you.”
Landon looked at her.
“With respect, I am finished respecting my brother’s terrible decisions.”
Serena almost laughed despite herself.
They drove through rain.
The chapel road was narrow.
Fog covered the hills.
Dominic called Cross.
Italian authorities were notified discreetly.
Twenty minutes from the chapel, Landon ordered the convoy to stop.
“I’m going ahead.”
Serena stared.
“You learned nothing.”
“I learned obvious vehicles scare people.”
“You’re not going alone.”
“You’re staying here.”
“No.”
“Serena.”
“No.”
Dominic looked between them.
“I recommend surrendering now, Boss.”
Landon glared.
Dominic shrugged.
“She argues better.”
They took one vehicle.
The chapel stood abandoned among cypress trees.
No lights.
No cars.
The door was open.
Landon entered.
“Santino?”
Nothing.
Then footsteps.
A man emerged from behind the altar.
Thin.
Beard.
Scar along one side of his face.
He walked with a slight limp.
But Landon recognized his eyes.
For two years, Landon had imagined this moment in impossible dreams.
Sometimes Santino walked through the front door.
Sometimes Landon found him in a crowded street.
Sometimes he woke before they spoke.
Now there he was.
Real.
Older.
Alive.
Neither brother moved.
Santino smiled first.
“You got slow.”
Landon crossed the room.
Then punched him.
Not hard.
Enough.
Santino staggered.
Serena gasped.
Dominic muttered, “Expected.”
Santino touched his jaw.
“I probably deserved that.”
Landon grabbed him.
For one second it looked like another punch.
Then he pulled his brother into an embrace.
Santino froze.
Then held him back.
Landon’s face disappeared against his shoulder.
No words.
No control.
Two years of grief collapsed at once.
Serena looked away to give them privacy.
When Landon finally stepped back, tears were visible on his face.
He did not care.
“You idiot.”
“Yes.”
“You absolute idiot.”
“Yes.”
“Isabella buried you.”
“I know.”
“Leo thinks you’re dead.”
Santino’s smile vanished.
“I know.”
Landon hit him lightly again.
“That one was for Leo.”
“Fair.”
Then Santino saw Serena.
Everything changed.
“Sera.”
She crossed the chapel.
He hugged her.
“You’re alive.”
“So are you.”
“You look different.”
“You look terrible.”
He laughed.
The sound broke something inside Landon.
His brother’s laugh.
Real.
Not memory.
Then Dominic entered fully.
Santino looked at him.
“You figured out Victor?”
“Eventually.”
“Sorry.”
“You owe me several years of therapy.”
“I owe everyone therapy.”
For a moment, despite the rain and danger, it felt almost normal.
Then Landon remembered.
“The message.”
Santino’s expression hardened.
“I didn’t send it.”
“We know.”
“Who did?”
A sound came from outside.
A car.
Santino looked toward the door.
“That might answer the question.”
Headlights cut through chapel windows.
Someone stepped from the vehicle.
Not Vale.
Not Matteo.
Not Jonathan.
An older woman.
Serena stopped breathing.
Because although the woman had aged, she recognized her from childhood photographs.
Her mother.
The mother Serena had been told died when she was twelve.
May you like
And she was carrying the original Bellandi ledger.
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