Chapter 2 - The Traitor Behind the Walls
Alejandro picked up Barnaby from the marble floor.
The rabbit was warm.
Emma had been holding it only moments earlier.
“Lock every gate,” he ordered. “Nobody leaves.”
Bruno spoke into his radio.
“Seal the property. Search all vehicles, tunnels and service exits.”
Marco laughed softly.
“You can search until sunrise.”
Alejandro turned.
“Where is she?”
“You still don’t understand,” Marco replied. “Your mansion doesn’t belong to you anymore.”
Alejandro struck him once across the face.
Marco fell against the staircase rail.
“Where is Emma?”
Marco wiped blood from his lip.
“You were always impatient.”
Alejandro grabbed his coat.
Bruno stepped between them.
“Boss, he wants you angry. We need him conscious.”
Alejandro released Marco.
“Take him to the library. Separate his men. Search every room.”
Bruno nodded toward two guards.
As Marco was dragged away, he called back, “You have twenty minutes before everything changes.”
Alejandro looked at the nearest security officer.
“Get me the house plans.”
“The current plans or the original construction plans?”
“Both.”
The officer hesitated.
“The original plans are stored in the basement archive.”
Alejandro’s gaze sharpened.
“Who has access?”
“Bruno, Mr. Rossi and Mrs. Bellini.”
Mrs. Bellini had managed the Moretti household for twenty-seven years.
She had cared for Alejandro after his mother died. She had organized his wedding, stayed beside Kiara during her illness and supervised every employee in the mansion.
Alejandro looked toward Bruno.
“Where is she?”
Bruno touched his radio.
“Find Mrs. Bellini.”
No response came.
Alejandro climbed the staircase.
“Search her room.”
The third-floor corridor showed signs of struggle. A decorative table had been overturned. A lamp lay broken against the wall.
Two guards stood outside the family suite.
Alejandro shoved past them.
The room was empty.
A cup of warm milk sat on the nightstand. Sarah’s coat remained on a chair. Emma’s pink backpack lay open on the floor.
Alejandro searched it.
There was no second EpiPen.
He turned to the guards.
“What happened?”
The younger guard swallowed.
“We heard Mrs. Bellini’s voice through the door. She said you had ordered Sarah and Emma moved to the east wing.”
“And you opened the door?”
“She entered the security code.”
“Which code?”
“Bruno’s emergency code.”
Bruno stared at the guard.
“My code was changed last week.”
“Someone knew the new one,” Alejandro said.
He examined the broken lamp, then the marks near the wall.
Sarah had fought.
A thin line of blood crossed the carpet.
Alejandro followed it to a wooden panel beside the wardrobe.
He pressed the panel.
Nothing happened.
Emma’s voice returned to him.
A red light. It blinks like my lamp.
He searched for anything unusual and found a small brass rose carved into the molding. When he pressed it, the wall moved inward.
Behind it was a narrow service corridor.
Bruno raised his weapon.
“I didn’t know this was here.”
“I did,” Alejandro said. “My grandfather used it during Prohibition. I was told the passage had been sealed.”
He entered.
The corridor smelled of dust and damp stone. Small footprints marked the floor beside a set of adult shoe prints.
Emma had walked through the passage.
Sarah’s footprints dragged behind them, suggesting she had been injured or forced forward.
Alejandro followed the trail down a narrow staircase.
Bruno stayed close behind him.
“Mrs. Bellini couldn’t have done this alone,” Bruno whispered.
“She didn’t.”
“Do you think Victor is involved?”
“I think everyone is involved until they prove otherwise.”
They reached a junction.
Three passages extended in different directions.
One led toward the kitchen.
One descended toward the old wine cellar.
The third ran beneath the garden toward the carriage house.
The footprints disappeared on the stone.
Bruno crouched.
“They cleaned the floor.”
Alejandro held up Barnaby.
A tiny silver thread clung to the rabbit’s damaged ear.
He recognized the material.
It came from the thermal blankets stored in the estate’s medical room.
“The old infirmary,” he said.
“That room was closed after Kiara died.”
“Which means no one checks it.”
They followed the underground passage toward the west wing.
Alejandro’s phone rang.
The screen displayed his own number.
He answered.
Emma’s frightened breathing filled the line.
“Mr. Moretti?”
“Emma.”
He stopped walking.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Is your mother with you?”
“Yes, but she’s sleeping.”
Alejandro’s hand tightened around the phone.
“What do you mean sleeping?”
“The lady gave her medicine. Mommy tried to bite her.”
In the background, a woman said, “Enough.”
Mrs. Bellini’s voice.
Alejandro’s face hardened.
“Teresa.”
“Good evening, Alejandro.”
“You have ten seconds to tell me where they are.”
“You always did count time as if it belonged to you.”
“Emma needs her medication.”
“The child appears healthy.”
“She used her only EpiPen.”
“I know. I watched her use it.”
Alejandro exchanged a look with Bruno.
Mrs. Bellini had been receiving the camera signal.
“Why?”
“That is not the correct question.”
“Then give me the correct one.”
“You should ask why Kiara died.”
Alejandro stopped breathing for a second.
“My wife died from leukemia.”
“That is what Dr. Vance told you.”
“What are you saying?”
“I am saying that Marco’s betrayal began long before tonight. So did yours.”
“You have nothing to do with Kiara.”
“I held her hand while she begged me not to leave her alone. I listened while she tried to tell you the truth.”
“What truth?”
“You did not come.”
Alejandro’s voice dropped.
“I was in Sicily negotiating the ceasefire that kept this family alive.”
“You chose the empire.”
“She told me to go.”
“She told you what you needed to hear.”
Alejandro closed his eyes.
“Do not use my wife to justify harming a child.”
“I have not harmed Emma.”
“You drugged her mother.”
“Sarah interfered.”
“If she dies—”
“She will wake up. The dose was measured carefully.”
Alejandro continued down the passage while keeping his voice calm.
“What do you want?”
“Bring Marco to the old conservatory.”
“Why?”
“Because I want both Moretti heirs in the same room when the truth is revealed.”
“Marco is not an heir.”
“He became one when you failed to produce a child.”
Alejandro’s eyes moved to the darkness ahead.
“Why the conservatory?”
“You have fifteen minutes.”
The call ended.
Bruno lowered his voice.
“She wants you to bring Marco into a glass room with limited exits.”
“It’s a trap.”
“Obviously.”
Alejandro looked at Barnaby.
“It is also where Emma is waiting.”
They returned to the foyer.
Victor Rossi stood near the entrance, shouting at two guards.
Alejandro raised his pistol.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Victor turned.
“What is happening?”
“You arrived quickly.”
“I was called because Marco invaded the estate.”
“Who called you?”
Victor looked toward Bruno.
“Mrs. Bellini.”
Alejandro’s weapon remained steady.
“When?”
“Twenty-five minutes ago.”
“That was before we knew Marco had entered.”
Victor’s face changed.
“I can explain.”
“Start.”
“She told me you were dead.”
Bruno moved behind Victor and removed his weapon.
Victor lifted both hands.
“She said Marco had killed you and planned to seize the mansion. She ordered me to bring loyal men through the east gate.”
“How did she know about the attack?”
“I assumed you had told her.”
Alejandro studied him.
Victor looked frightened, but not surprised enough.
“Search him.”
Bruno found a wireless receiver inside Victor’s coat.
The screen displayed the study.
The camera feed had frozen at the moment Alejandro collapsed.
Victor stared at the device.
“That isn’t mine.”
“It was in your pocket,” Bruno said.
“Mrs. Bellini gave me this coat.”
Alejandro stepped closer.
“Convenient.”
“She said mine was soaked.”
Alejandro removed the receiver.
A message glowed beneath the frozen video.
PHASE ONE FAILED. PREPARE THE CONSERVATORY.
Victor read it and went pale.
“I swear I have never seen that.”
“Then prove it,” Alejandro said. “Tell me everything you know about Teresa Bellini.”
Victor looked around.
“She has accounts.”
“What accounts?”
“Offshore accounts connected to a charitable foundation. I discovered them during an audit three months ago.”
“Why didn’t you report them?”
“She said the money funded Kiara’s cancer clinics.”
“Did you verify that?”
“I saw hospital transfers.”
“Did Marco know?”
Victor hesitated.
Alejandro raised the pistol.
“Yes,” Victor admitted. “Marco ordered me to ignore the accounts.”
Bruno cursed under his breath.
Alejandro looked toward the library where Marco was being held.
“Bring him.”
Two guards dragged Marco into the foyer.
His hands were bound.
Alejandro held the receiver in front of his face.
“Explain this.”
Marco read the message.
For the first time, his confidence vanished.
“She wasn’t supposed to take the child.”
“So you did work with her.”
“I worked with Vance. Teresa provided access codes and cellar schedules.”
“What did she want?”
“Revenge.”
“For what?”
Marco looked at Alejandro.
“For Kiara.”
Alejandro grabbed him.
“What did you do to my wife?”
“Nothing.”
“What did Vance do?”
Marco’s silence answered the question.
Alejandro slammed him against the wall.
“Tell me.”
“Vance altered her treatment.”
Bruno stared at Marco.
“You’re saying he killed Mrs. Moretti?”
“It wasn’t supposed to kill her. It was supposed to keep her sick.”
Alejandro’s face became expressionless.
“Why?”
“Your marriage was changing you. Kiara wanted you out of the organization. She convinced you to move assets into legal companies.”
“She wanted a life.”
“And your captains were preparing to abandon you. I needed time to stabilize the family.”
“So you prolonged her illness.”
“I told Vance to weaken the treatment. I never ordered him to kill her.”
Alejandro released him as though touching him had become unbearable.
Marco continued quickly.
“When she died, Teresa discovered the falsified records. She approached me last year. She wanted Vance punished.”
“And you recruited her.”
“I told her we could destroy Vance after you were gone.”
“You used her grief.”
“She used mine.”
“You have never grieved for anyone.”
Marco’s eyes hardened.
“You think you are the only person who lost something? My father died building your empire. My brother was killed defending your shipment. Every Moretti funeral ended with you becoming more powerful.”
Alejandro turned toward the west wing.
“The conservatory,” he said.
Bruno blocked him.
“You cannot walk into that trap.”
“I will not leave Emma there.”
“Then we make a plan.”
Alejandro looked at Marco.
“We already have one.”
Ten minutes later, the old conservatory glowed beneath the rain.
Alejandro approached through the garden with Marco beside him. Marco’s hands were hidden beneath his coat, still cuffed.
“Do exactly what I say,” Alejandro warned.
“And then?”
“If Emma and Sarah survive, you may survive the night.”
Marco smiled bitterly.
“You’ve become sentimental.”
Alejandro looked toward the glass building.
“A child saved my life while men I called family tried to take it. Sentiment is no longer my greatest weakness.”
They entered.
Emma sat on a wooden chair near the center of the room. Her wrists were tied loosely in front of her.
Sarah lay on a couch nearby, breathing but unconscious.
Mrs. Bellini stood behind Emma with a pistol.
Her gray hair was pinned neatly, and her black dress looked as immaculate as it had every day for twenty-seven years.
“Release the child,” Alejandro said.
Teresa shook her head.
“Place your weapons on the floor.”
Alejandro lowered his pistol.
Marco did the same.
“Kick them away.”
They obeyed.
Teresa looked at Marco.
“You promised Alejandro would die quickly.”
Marco’s voice turned sharp.
“You brought a child into this.”
“She saw my face.”
“She is four.”
“She is also the reason he is alive.”
Emma looked at Alejandro.
“I’m sorry about Barnaby.”
Alejandro held up the rabbit.
“He is safe.”
Emma’s eyes filled with relief.
Teresa’s hand trembled.
“You were not supposed to comfort her.”
“She is frightened.”
“She should be frightened. Fear is the only language this family understands.”
Alejandro looked at Sarah.
“What did you give her?”
“A sedative. She will wake soon.”
“Then release them.”
“Not until you hear the recording Kiara left behind.”
Teresa pressed a button on a small device.
Kiara’s voice filled the conservatory.
“Alejandro, if you are hearing this, Julian lied to you. My treatment is being changed. Marco visits him after every appointment. Teresa found the records. I don’t know how much time I have.”
Alejandro stood motionless.
Kiara continued.
“I know you believe the empire protects us, but it is killing everything we love. Please do not answer this with more blood. End it. Walk away.”
The recording stopped.
Rain struck the glass roof.
Teresa’s eyes filled with tears.
“She trusted me to deliver that message.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because Marco found me first. He threatened my son.”
Alejandro stared at her.
“You told me your son died years ago.”
“He lives in Boston under another name. Marco knew where.”
Marco turned toward Teresa.
“You should not have said that.”
Teresa aimed the pistol at him.
“You destroyed Kiara. You used me. Tonight, both of you will answer for it.”
Emma suddenly coughed.
Then she touched her throat.
“Mommy,” she whispered.
Alejandro looked at her.
“What is wrong?”
“My tongue feels funny.”
Teresa glanced down.
Emma’s face was beginning to swell.
A plate containing cookies sat on a nearby table.
Alejandro’s voice became deadly calm.
“What did she eat?”
Teresa’s eyes widened.
“Nothing. I gave her one plain biscuit.”
“Was it made in this house?”
“Yes.”
“Which kitchen?”
“The main kitchen.”
Alejandro looked at Marco.
Marco smiled.
“Vance prepared more than wine.”
Emma began to wheeze.
Alejandro stepped forward.
Teresa raised the gun.
“Stay back.”
“She is going into anaphylaxis.”
“I don’t have an injector.”
“I do.”
Teresa stared at him.
Alejandro slowly reached into his jacket.
But the object over his heart was the empty EpiPen Emma had used on him.
The new pediatric injectors were still inside Dr. Vance’s medical case in the basement.
Emma’s breathing became weaker.
Alejandro looked at Teresa.
“Your revenge can wait.”
May you like
Teresa’s eyes moved between him and the child.
“Let me save her.”
