Chapter 3 - The Maid Who Knew Too Much.
Salvatore Romano closed the library door behind him with the calm of a man entering a room he believed already belonged to him.
Lorenzo disliked that immediately.
The older man's suit was midnight blue.
His silver tie was perfectly centered.
Not one visible detail suggested that the engagement linking his daughter to the Duca family had just imploded in front of three hundred witnesses.
That was Salvatore's kind of discipline.
He considered panic a form of public confession.
"Leave us," Salvatore told Elena.
Elena did not move.
Lorenzo looked at her.
"Stay."
Salvatore's eyes hardened.
"This is family business."
"Then you should have no problem saying it in front of someone you just called a liar."
The older man looked at Elena again.
"She worked for us."
"I know."
"Did she tell you why she left?"
"Not yet."
"Of course not."
Elena's fingers tightened around the edge of her apron.
"I left because my husband disappeared."
Salvatore gave her a look almost gentle enough to pass for sympathy.
"Your husband stole from me."
"He did not."
"He stole documents."
"He brought nothing home."
"That does not mean he took nothing."
Lorenzo raised one hand.
Both stopped.
"What documents?"
Salvatore looked at him.
"Old shipping records."
"Why would a driver care about shipping records?"
"Because drivers hear conversations."
"And what did Tomas hear?"
Salvatore's expression became unreadable.
"Ask his widow."
Elena stepped forward.
"You know exactly what he heard."
Salvatore's gaze moved to her slowly.
"Be careful."
The warning was quiet.
Lorenzo disliked that even more.
"You don't warn people in my house."
Salvatore turned back to him.
"Your house nearly became my daughter's house tonight."
"Nearly."
One word.
That was enough.
For the first time, anger appeared in Salvatore's face.
"You think Serena would deliberately harm you?"
"I think a child saw her put something in my drink."
"Children misunderstand things."
"Adults do too."
Salvatore smiled without warmth.
"You have always been suspicious."
"It has kept me alive."
"It can also keep you alone."
Lorenzo looked at Elena.
"Go to Mia."
She hesitated.
"Take the drawing."
Elena accepted it.
"And lock the sitting room door."
Salvatore's eyes followed her until she disappeared.
The second the door closed, Lorenzo walked toward him.
"Now tell me why your driver disappeared after stealing documents."
"He disappeared because he was frightened."
"Of you?"
"Of consequences."
"Same answer in better tailoring."
Salvatore's mouth tightened.
"Tomas had gambling debts."
"Elena never mentioned them."
"Widows edit their husbands."
"And powerful men edit their histories."
Neither spoke for several seconds.
The fire shifted behind them.
A log cracked.
Lorenzo heard the sound strangely, louder in his right ear than his left.
The imbalance reminded him why they were standing there.
"Did Serena ever know about Tomas?"
"She knew he worked for us."
"Did she know his daughter stopped speaking?"
Salvatore paused.
It was tiny.
It was enough.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Elena came to Serena after Tomas vanished."
"For what?"
"Money."
The library door opened again before Lorenzo could reply.
Serena stepped inside.
She had removed her diamond earrings.
Without them, she looked younger.
Less armored.
More dangerous in a different way.
"That's not true," she said.
Her father turned.
"Go upstairs."
"No."
"Serena."
"She didn't come for money."
Lorenzo studied her.
"What did she come for?"
Serena looked at her father.
Salvatore said nothing.
"She came because Tomas had called me the night he disappeared."
Lorenzo's face became still.
"Why would your father's driver call you?"
Serena swallowed.
"Because he was scared."
"Of what?"
"I don't know."
"You just interrupted your father to correct him, Serena."
His voice remained soft.
"Don't stop correcting things now."
She looked away.
"Tomas said someone was using Romano vehicles to move private packages that were never entered in the family books."
"What packages?"
"He didn't say."
"Who was doing it?"
"He didn't say."
"You're asking me to believe he called you with nothing but vague fear."
"He trusted me."
Salvatore laughed once.
"He manipulated you."
Serena snapped toward him.
"He was terrified."
The emotional force in her voice surprised Lorenzo.
This was not the defensive woman from the dining room.
This sounded remembered.
Real.
"What happened after the call?" Lorenzo asked.
Serena took a breath.
"I told my father."
Salvatore looked at her sharply.
Lorenzo noticed.
"And?"
"He said he'd handle it."
Elena's words echoed in Lorenzo's mind.
Two men came to our apartment.
He left with them.
His car was found near the river.
Lorenzo turned toward Salvatore.
"Who did you send?"
"No one."
Serena stared at her father.
"You told me you sent someone to bring him in."
Salvatore's face hardened.
"I told you many things because you were twenty-five and emotional."
"I was twenty-nine."
"Then you should have known better."
The insult hit her harder than Lorenzo expected.
Serena blinked.
Then her expression closed.
"Get out," Lorenzo told Salvatore.
The older man looked at him as if he had misheard.
"Excuse me?"
"Leave my house."
"You are making a serious mistake."
"Add it to the list of things we can discuss when I know what's in that glass."
Salvatore took one step closer.
"If you embarrass my daughter publicly over the word of a traumatized child, there will be consequences beyond your engagement."
Lorenzo smiled faintly.
"That's the first honest thing anyone from your family has said tonight."
Salvatore left without another word.
Serena remained.
Her arms hung at her sides now.
"You believe her."
"I believe she saw something."
"And you believe I wanted to hurt you."
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to."
Lorenzo walked toward the drinks cabinet.
He stopped before touching anything.
Even water now felt like a question.
"Did you put something in my wine?"
Serena's face changed.
Not guilt.
Not exactly.
Recognition.
"Answer me."
She looked toward the door.
"Not here."
"This is my library."
"That's exactly why not here."
Lorenzo stared at her.
Serena stepped closer and lowered her voice.
"You think Mia saw me."
"She pointed at you."
"She did see me."
The admission landed without sound.
Lorenzo's jaw tightened.
"Go on."
"I put something in the glass."
His body became completely still.
Serena raised both hands slightly.
"But not what you think."
"You have no idea what I think."
"I was told it was safe."
"By whom?"
She shook her head.
"I can't tell you yet."
For the first time that night, Lorenzo felt something more dangerous than anger.
Disappointment.
"You don't get to control the timing anymore."
"If I say the name without proof, you'll start a war before sunrise."
"Maybe the war already started."
Serena's eyes filled with panic.
"Lorenzo, listen to me."
He almost laughed at the choice of words.
"I'm trying."
She flinched.
He moved closer.
"What did you put in my drink?"
"Drops."
"What kind?"
"I was told they would calm the pressure in your head and help you sleep."
"Who told you?"
"A doctor."
"Which doctor?"
Serena looked toward the hallway again.
Then she whispered a name.
It was not Dr. Vale.
It was Dr. Nathan Hart, the specialist who had examined Lorenzo's hearing three months earlier.
The same doctor who had insisted nothing external could explain the problem.
Before Lorenzo could respond, Marco burst through the door.
He never burst through doors.
That alone made Lorenzo turn.
"Boss."
Marco's face was pale.
"The blue sitting room is empty."
Serena stopped breathing.
Lorenzo moved toward him.
"Where are Elena and Mia?"
"Gone."
"The door was locked."
"From the inside."
Lorenzo stared at him.
Marco held up a folded yellow ribbon.
It was Mia's hair bow.
"We found this by the service elevator."
Lorenzo looked at Serena.
May you like
Her panic now looked completely real.
Then every light in the library went out.
