Chapter 4 - THE HOUSE WITH NO NAME
Elena chose a modest rental in Montclair owned by an elderly friend of Rosie's, the estate's longtime housekeeper before Elena's employment. Dante had no ownership interest in the property. Carlo arranged security at a distance, and Elena retained the right to dismiss it.
Sophia thought they were taking a holiday. She packed three dresses, two picture books, and Mr. Whiskers. Before leaving, she insisted on saying goodbye to the yellow rosebush.
Dante found her crouched beside it. "Are the roses coming with us?" she asked.
"They'll be here when you return."
"Promise?"
He hesitated. He had made promises to his brother that he could not keep. "I'll do everything I can," he said instead.
Sophia considered this and nodded, apparently satisfied by the honest answer.
Elena's absence changed the mansion. The replacement cook was capable, but breakfast arrived with too much salt, and nobody reminded the kitchen porter to bring the gardeners hot tea during the rain. Dante began noticing how much of the household's kindness had depended on a woman he had barely spoken to.
Meanwhile, Carlo found Marco's old notebook in a locked cabinet. Several pages had been torn out, but one remaining entry named Bellwether Maritime and described a meeting between Salvatore Costa and a senior adviser to Lorenzo Moretti. The adviser's name had been reduced to two initials: V.S.
Victor Serno.
Dante felt the blood drain from his face. Victor had taught him to read men's hands, to hold his temper, to survive the death of his father. He had stood beside Marco's grave.
Dante took the notebook to an attorney outside the organization, Rebecca Sloan, whose work was criminal defense but whose loyalty was to evidence rather than family mythology. She told him not to confront Victor.
"If this is a conspiracy, you need records that will survive cross-examination," she said. "And you need to stop thinking of it as a family quarrel."
"Someone threatened a three-year-old."
"Then it stopped being a family quarrel the moment they did."
That night Elena called. Sophia had asked why Dante lived in such a large house if he always ate alone.
He almost smiled. "What did you tell her?"
"That grown-ups make strange choices."
"She's not wrong."
May you like
Elena was silent a moment. "Be careful, Mr. Moretti."
He looked at Marco's notebook. "You too."
