Chapter 2 - THE BROTHER AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS
Nobody spoke.
Gabriel Moretti remained at the top of the staircase.
The emergency lights painted half his face red.
He looked down at Lily.
Then at Dante.
“Interesting afternoon.”
Dante’s hand moved beneath his jacket.
Gabriel raised both palms.
“Easy.”
The red crayon remained between two fingers.
Lily whispered:
“That’s mine.”
Gabriel looked at it.
“I know.”
Dante’s voice was almost inaudible.
“Where did you get that?”
“Rear motor court.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
Marco laughed from beside the pillar.
Dante turned toward him.
Gabriel started descending.
“Before you decide which family member to shoot, maybe ask the right question.”
Dante’s eyes remained locked on his brother.
“What question?”
“Why was Marco underneath the car?”
Marco shouted:
“Don’t.”
Gabriel smiled without humor.
“There it is.”
Dante looked between them.
“You knew?”
Gabriel reached the final step.
“I saw him at approximately 1:40 a.m.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because he wasn’t planting the device.”
Marco closed his eyes.
Claire felt completely lost.
Gabriel continued.
“He was removing it.”
Dante stared.
Marco said nothing.
“Explain.”
Marco slowly looked at him.
“I received an anonymous message telling me there was something under your car.”
“When?”
“1:28.”
“You didn’t call security.”
“I didn’t know which security team I could trust.”
Enzo bristled.
Marco ignored him.
“I checked the vehicle myself. Found the device. Before I could remove it, I heard someone near the servants’ wing.”
Lily.
Claire understood.
“You saw my daughter.”
Marco nodded reluctantly.
“She was standing by the window.”
Claire’s blood boiled.
“So you knew she saw you.”
“Yes.”
“And today you lied.”
“I panicked.”
Dante looked disgusted.
“Marco Bellini panicked?”
“I thought whoever planted it would realize Lily had witnessed something. I was trying to determine who knew.”
Dante looked toward Gabriel.
“And you?”
“I saw Marco leave. I found Lily’s crayon near the hedge.”
“Then why keep quiet?”
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“Because somebody accessed the security system eleven minutes before Marco entered the driveway.”
Enzo frowned.
“Impossible.”
“I checked the manual logs.”
Gabriel removed a small tablet.
“Cameras covering the eastern motor court were looped for nineteen minutes.”
Dante took the device.
One authorized credential appeared on-screen.
His own.
Claire watched his face.
“Someone used your security profile?” she asked.
Dante nodded once.
Gabriel continued.
“And whoever did it knew the vehicle schedule. They knew Claire and Lily were leaving at one.”
Claire looked at Dante.
“Why would anybody want us dead?”
Marco answered.
“Maybe they don’t.”
She turned.
“What?”
“If the bomb had detonated with you inside, everyone would assume Dante had been the target.”
Dante understood.
“A failed assassination blamed on an enemy family.”
Gabriel nodded.
“And while you retaliated against the wrong people, somebody here would benefit.”
Claire’s mouth went dry.
“This is about you.”
“Everything in this house eventually is.”
Dante looked toward Lily.
“Except her.”
Lily clung tighter to Claire.
Dante’s tone softened.
“You did very well today.”
She looked suspicious.
“Am I in trouble for the car?”
“No.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Even the flower?”
Dante glanced toward the ruined paint job.
“The flower stays.”
Claire almost laughed despite everything.
Then an alarm sounded upstairs.
Enzo touched his earpiece.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Vault access.”
Dante’s head snapped up.
“Who?”
“Unknown.”
Everyone moved at once.
Dante pointed toward Claire.
“Safe room.”
“I’m not leaving you—”
“You absolutely are.”
Claire stared.
“I’m not one of your soldiers.”
“No. Which is why you’re the person I’m most worried about.”
Something about the words stopped her.
Gabriel escorted Claire and Lily through a hidden corridor behind the library.
As they moved, Claire noticed Lily watching him.
“Baby?”
Lily frowned.
Gabriel glanced down.
“What?”
“You were in my picture too.”
Gabriel stopped walking.
Claire’s stomach dropped.
“What picture?”
Lily pointed toward his gray jacket.
“You had the shiny thing.”
Gabriel’s face changed.
Claire backed away from him.
“What shiny thing?”
Lily answered.
“A key.”
Gabriel slowly reached into his pocket.
Then froze.
The pocket was empty.
“Oh, hell.”
“What?”
“The vault key.”
Claire stepped away.
“You had it last night?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have it now?”
“No.”
A shot echoed somewhere upstairs.
Gabriel pulled his weapon.
“Get inside.”
“What’s happening?”
“Someone stole my key.”
Another shot.
Then another.
Gabriel pushed Claire and Lily into the safe room.
“Lock this door.”
“What about Dante?”
“He’ll find us.”
“You don’t know that.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“No.”
For the first time, his confidence disappeared.
“I don’t.”
He closed the door.
Claire locked it.
Lily sat on the small couch.
Her lower lip trembled.
Claire knelt.
“We’re okay.”
“No.”
Claire’s heart tightened.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
Lily shook her head.
“The lady is mad.”
Claire went still.
“What lady?”
“The pretty lady.”
“Who?”
“The one who came in our room.”
Claire’s hands turned cold.
“When?”
“Last night.”
Claire had slept through it.
She felt sick.
“What did she do?”
“She took my picture.”
“Your drawing?”
Lily nodded.
“What did she look like?”
“Yellow hair.”
Claire knew only one blond woman who regularly stayed on the Moretti estate.
Sophia Moretti.
Dante and Gabriel’s widowed sister-in-law.
The wife of their older brother, Luca, who had died three years earlier.
Claire stood.
No.
Sophia adored Lily.
She bought her birthday presents.
She brought Claire clothes when Lily outgrew hers.
She had been kind.
Then the safe-room monitor flickered.
Camera feeds appeared automatically.
Claire searched.
Dante.
Enzo.
Marco.
Gabriel.
Then she saw Sophia.
Standing inside Dante’s private vault.
Calmly loading documents into a black bag.
Beside her was a man Claire had never seen before.
Sophia looked toward the security camera.
Smiled.
Then raised Lily’s drawing.
Across the bottom, in a child’s red crayon, Lily had drawn three people.
Claire.
Lily.
Dante.
Holding hands.
Sophia tore it in half.
And Claire finally understood.
This had never been about a car.
It had never even been about killing Dante.
Somebody believed Claire and Lily were becoming part of his family.
May you like
And somebody wanted to make sure that never happened.
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