My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 792

Chapter 792

Gianna looked toward him, “Is it going to hurt today?”

Vance looked toward the monitor, he said nothing. The warning alarm sounded. Gianna shifted. The machine activated and her body jerked.

The Council went silent.

Another violent movement, the restraints pulled tight, the alarms grew louder.

Vance stood there, watching as young Gianna writhe in pain.

Leonardo’s face drained of color, “What the fuck…”

Silvio didn’t stop the video.

Gianna’s voice broke through the speakers, “Please…”

Valentino shoved his chair back and rose to his feet, “Turn that fucking thing off. I didn’t come here to sit here and watch children being tortured.”

Silvio kept playing until the video ended. The silence afterward was worse than the recording.

Nikolai stared at the blank screen, “That was Gianna Toricelli?”

Vincenzo answered, “Yes.”

Leonardo swallowed, “His daughter? The one he called an idiot?”

Vincenzo’s eyes moved toward him, “Yes.”

Nikolai shook his head, “Why?”

“For treatment…”

He continued staring at the screen, “Treatment for what?”

“Dyslexia, according to Giovanni Toricelli.”

Valentino rubbed a hand over his mouth.

Vincenzo breathed out a laugh under his breath, “You men sat in this room and questioned whether a traumatized girl could understand her own life,” his eyes moved from one man to another, “You questioned her memory, you questioned her judgment, you questioned her intelligence, you questioned whether she could even understand what had happened to her.”

His expression hardened.

“And you believed the man who caused it.”

That one landed, all the men looked uncomfortable.

Vincenzo smiled without warmth, “Congratulations. You managed to stain every oath you claim to live by in a single afternoon.”

Nikolai glared at him.

Vincenzo continued without caring, “You speak about family. She is my family. You speak about protecting

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children. They were children. You speak about honor,” His eyes moved across the room, “Where was yours?”

Vincenzo’s eyes became almost black.

He turned toward Luciano, “You asked whether her words came from her or somebody else’s influence. Perhaps you should ask yourself the same question.”

Luciano frowned.

His voice became colder, “Because when Giovanni stood here and told you what to think, you accepted it. You were influenced too.”

Luciano looked down.

Vincenzo finally turned toward Nikolai, “And you.”

The room went completely still as Nikolai held his stare.

“You were the one who spoke about order. You stood there and told me the Council existed to keep monsters from tearing this world apart,” he pointed toward the screen, “Then you protected one.”

Nikolai’s face hardened, “I made a ruling based on the information presented.”

“Exactly,” Vincenzo nodded, “And that is why every man in this room should be ashamed.”

Nikolai’s eyes narrowed.

Vincenzo lifted a shoulder, “Not because you were fooled but because you were so certain you couldn’t be.”

Silvio opened another document, “There’s more.”

Nikolai looked at him, completely off guard.

Silvio brought up the research review, “Twenty-five years of Dr. Vance’s research were independently examined. None of the major findings could be reproduced. Patient outcomes could not be verified. Diagnostic standards were inconsistent. Several reported recoveries were impossible to confirm.”

Leonardo stared, “So the treatment…”

“Was based on false claims,” Vincenzo finished his sentence.

Valentino’s face tightened, “And Giovanni knew?”

Vincenzo gave a slow nod, “He took a man named Elias Crowe off death row-a child killer-and handed him children to experiment on. His own children included, along with countless other innocent lives. And he’s still doing it. Right now.”

He glanced toward the empty Philadelphia seats.

“That’s why Giovanni Toricelli isn’t sitting in this room.”

Silvio opened the organ records, the screen filled with coded lists, “These are organ records.”

“From the children?”

Silvio nodded, “From the subjects.”

Vincenzo corrected him, “Children. Call them what they were.”

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