My Fiancée Claimed My Sister Ran Away Years Ago—Then I Found Her Bracelet Beside a Hidden Trapdoor in My Own Mansion.

Falcone didn't struggle against Victor’s grip. He was too old, too experienced, and knew that showing fear was an invitation to a bullet.

"Talk," Victor demanded, tightening his fist in the silk fabric until Falcone choked slightly.

"Celeste didn't act alone," Falcone wheezed. "She’s a pawn, Victor. A very pretty, very ambitious pawn. When Salvatore got sick five years ago, he realized he couldn't take his secret to the grave. He knew that if the other families found out you were a Vance by blood, the Bellandi name would be wiped off the map."

"So he conspired with you?"

"He begged me," Falcone said, his breath smelling of stale tobacco and cognac. "He asked the Commission to create a contingency. A blind trust that held fifty-one percent of the Bellandi empire’s shipping assets. The trust was designed to activate the moment Salvatore died, transferring control to someone who actually possessed the pure Bellandi bloodline."

Victor frowned, his mind racing. "Salvatore had no other children. Adriana was his only legitimate daughter, and you let Celeste lock her in a basement!"

Falcone let out a wheezing chuckle. "Who told you Adriana was his only child?"

Victor went completely still. "What did you say?"

"Salvatore had a son before he ever married Helena," Falcone whispered, his pale eyes gleaming with malice. "A boy born in New York, raised under an alias, kept far away from the blood and the gunfire. Salvatore left the entire empire to him. Celeste was hired as the boy's legal conservator until he came of age."

"You're lying," Victor said, though a cold dread began to seep into his chest. "If there was a son, he would have claimed the seat five years ago."

"He couldn't," Falcone said. "Because the boy vanished the day Salvatore died. And Celeste has spent the last five years using the company’s money to hunt him down. She didn't lock Adriana away to torture her, Victor. She locked her away because Adriana knew the boy's real identity!"

Victor shoved Falcone back into his leather armchair with enough force to slide the heavy furniture two feet across the polished floor.

"Where is the boy, Falcone?"

Falcone straightened his robe, gasping for air, but his smug grin remained. "I don't know his name. But I know where he works. He's been standing in your shadow for ten years, Victor. Salvatore placed him right beside you to watch how an empire is run."

Victor turned around slowly.

Standing in the doorway of the parlor, framed by the pouring rain outside, was Luca.