Chapter 9 - THE SECRET RECORDING
The attack exposed the person behind the threats.
One of Lorenzo’s men recovered a hidden recording device from the ballroom service corridor.
The recording revealed Senator Whitmore’s wife ordering someone to provoke Elena.
Then came the voice of Senator Whitmore himself.
“If Elena talks, destroy her credibility first.”
My hands shook.
Daniel looked at Lorenzo.
“We can take this to federal investigators.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“We will.”
I stared at him.
“You're turning evidence over?”
“Yes.”
“But your reputation—”
“Means nothing compared to protecting my mother.”
He looked at me.
“And protecting you.”
My heart skipped.
That night, Elena called me into her room.
She opened an old wooden box.
Inside was a photograph of Lorenzo as a little boy.
“He used to cry whenever his father left for work,” she said.
I smiled.
“He looks terrified.”
“He was.”
She closed the box.
“People think my son was born without a heart.”
She looked at me.
“But you have seen the truth.”
I knew exactly what she meant.
The man I feared was not heartless.
May you like
He was wounded.
And somehow, without intending to, I had become the person he trusted enough to show it to.
