Chapter 7 - THE NIGHT SOMEONE CAME BACK
The first threatening message arrived on New Year's Eve.
My phone buzzed while I was sitting in the staff kitchen.
An unknown number.
YOU SHOULD HAVE KEPT YOUR MOUTH SHUT.
I stared at the screen.
A second message followed.
THE GRIMALDI FAMILY WON'T PROTECT YOU FOREVER.
My hands began shaking.
I showed Maria.
She immediately called Luca.
Within minutes, security reviewed the message and helped me document it for the police.
Nicholas arrived shortly afterward.
His expression was colder than I'd ever seen it.
“Has anyone approached you?”
“No.”
“Have you received anything else?”
I shook my head.
He looked at Luca.
“Find out who sent it.”
Luca nodded.
Nicholas turned back to me.
“Would you feel safer staying somewhere else temporarily?”
I hesitated.
“Would I have to pay?”
His expression softened.
“No.”
I looked down.
“I don't want to become dependent on you.”
He was quiet for a moment.
“Then let's make arrangements through the employee assistance program, with independent oversight.”
I looked up.
He continued.
“You should be able to accept protection without owing me personally.”
The words surprised me.
I nodded.
That evening, Daniel and I moved into a furnished apartment arranged through the estate's newly established employee support fund.
It was modest.
Warm.
And had a kitchen where the cabinets actually closed.
Daniel walked from room to room.
“Em.”
“What?”
“We have two bathrooms.”
I laughed.
“I noticed.”
“Two!”
He opened the refrigerator.
“There's food.”
I smiled.
“Also noticed.”
Then he turned toward me.
“Are we safe?”
I wanted to promise him that nothing bad would ever happen again.
But I'd learned that promises like that could become lies.
“We're safer,” I said.
“And we're going to keep making good decisions.”
He nodded.
That night, I lay awake listening to the heating system.
For the first time in months, I wasn't worried about the rent.
But I was thinking about Nicholas.
About the way he'd listened.
May you like
About the way he'd admitted responsibility.
And about how strange it felt to be treated as though my safety mattered.
