Chapter 6
Marcus wanted a deal.
Rachel stopped Vittorio from agreeing immediately.
“He tells us what Dominic wants, and in exchange?”
“He walks out of here.”
“No.”
Marcus smiled.
“Then enjoy guessing.”
Vittorio said nothing.
Marcus leaned back.
“You think this is about money.”
“It usually is with you.”
“That’s why you’re missing it.”
He looked toward a framed photograph on the wall.
Vittorio’s father.
Antonio Romano.
Founder of the family business.
Dead eleven years.
Marcus continued.
“Your father took something from Dominic.”
“What?”
“Something Dominic believes belongs to him.”
“Another company?”
“No.”
“Property?”
“No.”
Marcus smiled.
“History.”
Rachel looked irritated.
“Stop speaking in riddles.”
Marcus’s smile disappeared.
“There was a file.”
Vittorio stared at him.
“Where?”
“In Antonio’s private archive.”
Vittorio knew the archive.
A locked room beneath the old administrative building.
He had not opened it in years.
His father kept everything.
Contracts.
Old correspondence.
Settlement documents.
Personal records.
“Why does Dominic want it?”
“Because your father used it against him.”
“What’s in it?”
Marcus looked toward Bianca.
She looked away.
“I never saw it.”
Vittorio did not believe him.
Marcus shrugged.
“Believe what you want.”
Rachel asked, “Why now?”
Marcus answered quickly.
“Because Vittorio is selling the old building.”
That was true.
The property was scheduled to close in six weeks.
Everything inside would be relocated or destroyed.
Dominic had a deadline.
“So he sends you into my records?”
Marcus remained silent.
Vittorio understood.
“You were looking for it.”
“For months.”
Bianca whispered his name.
Marcus ignored her.
“I couldn’t find it.”
“And Lucy?”
Marcus’s eyes changed.
There it was.
The connection.
Vittorio leaned forward.
“What did she see?”
Marcus said nothing.
Vittorio did not raise his voice.
“Marcus.”
“She followed me.”
“When?”
“Two nights ago.”
“To where?”
“The basement.”
Vittorio felt cold.
“At my house?”
Marcus nodded.
The estate had a small records room beneath the east wing.
Mostly household archives.
Old maps.
Property surveys.
Personal boxes transferred from Vittorio’s father after his death.
The antique map rack in the breakfast room had come from the same collection.
“What did Lucy see?”
Marcus rubbed his jaw.
“I had one of Antonio’s boxes.”
“Which box?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
Marcus smiled weakly.
“Probably.”
Rachel leaned toward him.
“Why did Dominic return last night?”
“To collect what I found.”
Vittorio stared.
“You found the file.”
Marcus said nothing.
“But Lucy saw you take it.”
Still nothing.
Bianca began crying quietly.
Vittorio looked at her.
“What happened after Lucy saw him?”
Bianca whispered, “Marcus said she wouldn’t remember.”
Vittorio’s face went completely still.
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Then why was she locked outside?”
Bianca looked at her brother.
Marcus looked away.
Vittorio finally understood.
The torn clothes.
The east garden.
The missing blanket.
The cup.
Someone had tried to keep Lucy away from everyone long enough for Dominic to leave.
May you like
The dog bowl at breakfast had not been the beginning.
It had been the continuation.
