Chapter 17 - THE LONGEST MINUTE
I do not remember leaving the command vehicle.
I remember Gabriel grabbing my shoulders.
I remember shouting.
I remember blue lights reflected across wet pavement.
Then I remember an ambulance arriving.
The rear doors opened.
Alessandro was inside.
Blood covered the front of his white shirt.
My knees almost buckled.
A paramedic blocked me.
“Ma’am.”
“I’m family.”
The words came automatically.
I did not know whether they were legally true.
Emotionally, they were true enough.
Alessandro opened his eyes.
“Elizabeth.”
“I’m here.”
“The board?”
“Safe.”
“Matteo?”
“Alive.”
He closed his eyes.
“Good.”
I stared at him.
“Good?”
“He needs to stand trial.”
Even bleeding, he wanted truth more than revenge.
I climbed into the ambulance.
Nobody stopped me.
At the hospital, doctors rushed Alessandro into surgery.
The bullet had entered below his right shoulder.
It missed his heart.
It missed major arteries.
But until a surgeon told me that two hours later, none of those facts existed.
Only fear existed.
Liam arrived carrying two terrible coffees.
He sat beside me.
For a while, we said nothing.
Then he spoke.
“I was angry.”
“You had a right.”
“No.”
“I had a right to be hurt.”
“Not to punish you for being terrified at nineteen.”
I stared at him.
He looked exhausted.
“My dad would have understood.”
“I’m not sure.”
“I am.”
He handed me a coffee.
I immediately pushed it away.
“Still nauseated?”
“Yes.”
A tiny smile appeared.
“Good sign.”
I laughed despite myself.
Then cried.
Liam put an arm around me.
“We are almost done.”
“Are we?”
“Matteo confessed.”
“Daniel confessed.”
“North Shore records were seized.”
“Your father’s files are safe.”
I looked toward the surgical doors.
“And Alessandro?”
“He’ll be okay.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
“But he is annoyingly difficult to kill.”
Three hours later, Alessandro woke.
I stood beside his bed.
His eyes opened slowly.
“You stayed.”
“Yes.”
“You should rest.”
“You were shot.”
“You were kidnapped.”
“That does not make this a competition.”
“It might.”
I almost smiled.
Then his expression became serious.
“Matteo?”
“In custody.”
“Daniel?”
“In custody.”
“Board?”
“Safe.”
He exhaled.
I touched his hand.
It was the first time I initiated contact.
His fingers closed around mine.
“I need to tell you something.”
My chest tightened.
“That sounds ominous.”
“It is not.”
He looked at our joined hands.
“When I invited you upstairs at the Obsidian, I thought I wanted one night without expectations.”
“I know.”
“I was wrong.”
I said nothing.
“I searched for you the next morning.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted another morning.”
My throat tightened.
“Alessandro.”
“You do not have to answer.”
“I’m not asking you to move into my house.”
“I’m not asking you to marry me.”
“I am not asking for anything.”
He looked at me.
“I only need you to know that the child is not the reason I wanted to find you.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“That makes this harder.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted you to find me too.”
His expression softened.
Then the door opened.
Gabriel walked inside carrying a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was the forged ledger from the lake house.
Or what remained of it.
The fire had damaged the cover.
But several pages survived.
Gabriel placed another folder beside it.
“We recovered Matteo’s private backup.”
Alessandro frowned.
“What backup?”
“Everything.”
May you like
Gabriel looked at me.
“Including a recording made by Vittorio Vitali three days before he died.”
