Chapter 13 - The Fractured Alliance
The air in the foyer was electric.
Celeste turned on Victor, her voice climbing into a terrified shriek. “You told me it was shallow! You swore to me the water was only two feet deep! You said the boy would just get his clothes soaked!”
“Celeste, shut your mouth,” Victor hissed between clenched teeth, his aristocratic veneer rapidly disintegrating.
“No! You told me it was just optics!” Celeste backed away, bumping into the foyer table and knocking over a crystal vase that shattered across the floor. “You said the platform was built into the concrete! You knew he could drown! You used me to stage a murder!”
“I said be quiet!” Victor roared, turning toward her with sudden, terrifying venom.
The two deputies reacted immediately, stepping between Victor and Celeste.
“Step back, sir!” the senior deputy ordered, his hand resting on his taser holster. “Keep your hands where we can see them!”
Agent Harris hastily slipped the protective custody order back into her folder, her hands shaking slightly. “This agency... we were clearly presented with fraudulent affidavits regarding the nature of this incident. The emergency petition is dismissed. We will be filing a formal notice of criminal referral to the State Attorney’s Office.”
“You are making a catastrophic mistake,” Victor whispered, his eyes dark, boring into Valentina with unbridled malice. “You have no idea what Matteo set in motion. You think keeping Owen here protects him? You are keeping him in the center of the blast zone.”
“Get out of my house,” Valentina said, her voice like honed steel. “Before I have my security team physically throw you past the gates.”
Victor adjusted the cuffs of his jacket, slowly regaining an icy, detached mask. He looked at Celeste with utter disgust, then cast a final, lingering glance at the staircase leading to Owen’s room.
“The board meets at noon tomorrow, Valentina,” Victor said quietly. “Enjoy your night with the boy. It will be the last one you spend as the head of the Morello estate.”
May you like
He turned and strode out the front doors into the fog, leaving Celeste sobbing hysterically on the floor as the deputies took down her preliminary statement.
***
