Chapter 2 - The Medicine in the Glass
Aldo recovered quickly.
He always did.
“What happened?” he asked.
I watched his eyes settle on the vial for half a second too long.
“A child found something beneath my bed.”
Aldo looked at Giulia.
“You brought a child into this house?”
Elena stiffened.
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
“Yes,” I said. “And I am making one now. You will leave.”
Aldo’s jaw tightened.
“Dario, we need to discuss the harbor accounts.”
“The harbor will survive an hour without you.”
His gaze returned to the vial.
“Should I call your physician?”
“He is already coming.”
“Perhaps I should stay.”
“Perhaps you did not hear me.”
The room went silent.
Aldo gave me the respectful nod he had perfected over two decades.
Then he left.
I turned to my guards.
“Follow him.”
One of them hesitated.
“Sir?”
“Discreetly. Tell me whom he calls, where he goes, and whether he speaks to Dr. Romano.”
The guard nodded and disappeared.
Elena pulled Giulia closer.
“Mr. Castellano, I should take her home.”
“No.”
Her eyes widened.
“You said we were protected.”
“You are. That is why you are not leaving until I know who placed that vial beneath my bed.”
“I had nothing to do with it.”
“I know.”
“You cannot know that.”
“You would not hide poison where your daughter could find it.”
Elena’s face drained of color.
“Poison?”
“We do not know yet.”
Giulia looked at the untouched water.
“Is someone trying to make you sick?”
Elena covered her daughter’s ears.
“Do not say things like that.”
Giulia pulled her hands away.
“But he is already sick.”
“I know.”
“No,” I said. “She may be right.”
Dr. Matteo Romano arrived thirty minutes later. He had treated my family for sixteen years, but the moment he saw the vial, sweat appeared along his forehead.
“Where did you find this?” he asked.
“Under my bed.”
“Someone may have dropped it.”
“Then you will have no difficulty telling me what it contains.”
Romano adjusted his glasses.
“I would need laboratory testing.”
“Take it.”
He did not move.
I leaned forward despite the pain in my spine.
“Take the vial, Matteo.”
His fingers shook as he accepted it.
Giulia watched him.
“He has scared eyebrows too.”
Elena whispered, “Giulia.”
Romano forced a smile.
“Children have vivid imaginations.”
“So do dying men,” I said. “That is what you told Aldo, isn’t it?”
His face tightened.
“I never said that.”
“You told him my confusion was increasing.”
“Your insomnia can cause disorientation.”
“And the shadows I see?”
“Hallucinations are possible.”
“And my weakness?”
“Consistent with your condition.”
“What condition?”
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
I had been given endless terminology but no confirmed diagnosis. Every test had produced uncertainty. Every second opinion had been arranged through Romano.
“You told me I was deteriorating,” I said. “You never told me why.”
“I have explained this.”
“Then explain it again in front of Elena.”
Romano glanced toward her as though a maid had no right to hear medical matters.
I noticed.
So did she.
“We suspect an atypical neurological disorder,” he said.
“Which disorder?”
“Further testing is necessary.”
“You told Aldo I had months.”
“I said your symptoms could progress quickly.”
I looked toward Giulia.
The child was staring at Romano’s coat pocket.
“What is it?” I asked.
She pointed.
“He has another bottle.”
Romano instinctively covered the pocket with his hand.
One of my guards moved behind him.
“Empty your pockets,” I ordered.
“This is absurd.”
“Empty them.”
Romano took out a wallet, a pen, two sealed syringes, and a small brown medicine bottle.
I held out my hand.
“What is that?”
“A sedative.”
“For whom?”
“For you.”
“I did not request one.”
“You have not slept.”
“You told me sedatives were dangerous with my medication.”
His breathing quickened.
Elena stepped between Giulia and the doctor.
Romano glanced toward the door.
My guard blocked it.
“Sit down,” I said.
“I have patients waiting.”
“Sit.”
He obeyed.
I pointed to the phone.
“Call a laboratory outside the city. One not connected to you, Aldo, or this family.”
Romano’s composure broke.
“You are making a serious mistake.”
“I have made many. Trusting people without checking their pockets may be the worst.”
The guard took the vial and medicine bottle to a private laboratory owned by a businessman who owed me his life.
While we waited, Elena sat near the fireplace with Giulia asleep against her shoulder.
“You should not have stayed,” I said.
“I need the job.”
“Not today. For the past six months.”
She looked at the flames.
“My husband died three years ago.”
“I know.”
“No, you know what the employment form says. You do not know what happened.”
I said nothing.
“He borrowed money from the wrong people,” Elena continued. “When he died, the debt did not disappear. I stayed because this house pays well and because no collector is foolish enough to approach an employee under your roof.”
“You used my name for protection.”
“I used your reputation.”
“Clever.”
“Necessary.”
Giulia stirred.
Elena lowered her voice.
“My daughter does not understand who you are.”
“That may be why she speaks honestly.”
“She thinks you are a sad man in a large bedroom.”
“I control half this city.”
“She is five. She does not care.”
For some reason, that answer pleased me.
The laboratory called shortly after sunset.
The technician’s voice came through the speaker.
“The clear liquid contains a combination of heavy-metal compounds and a powerful anticholinergic agent.”
Romano closed his eyes.
“What would repeated exposure cause?” I asked.
“Tremors, muscle weakness, confusion, sleep disruption, hallucinations, difficulty walking. Eventually organ failure.”
Elena held Giulia tighter.
“Can it be reversed?” I asked.
“If exposure stops early enough, much of the damage may be treatable.”
I stared at Romano.
“How long?”
He said nothing.
My guard placed a hand on his shoulder.
“How long have you been poisoning me?”
Romano’s voice cracked.
“Four months.”
Elena inhaled sharply.
“Who ordered it?” I asked.
Romano looked toward the floor.
I already knew the answer.
Still, I needed to hear it.
“Aldo Manfredi,” he whispered.
The betrayal should have surprised me.
It did not.
“How much did he pay you?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
“Was Camilla involved?”
Romano hesitated.
That hesitation answered me.
“She knew,” I said.
“He told her you would die peacefully. He promised her money and safe passage.”
The room blurred at the edges.
Not from poison.
From rage.
“Where is Aldo now?” I asked my guard.
The man checked his phone.
“He left the estate and went directly to Pier Nineteen.”
Pier Nineteen was where my captains met when they believed I could no longer lead them.
Aldo was not waiting for my death anymore.
He was taking my empire that night.
I pushed the blankets aside.
Elena rose.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting dressed.”
“You cannot stand.”
“Then I will sit while men remember who I am.”
Romano looked at me with desperation.
“Dario, if Aldo realizes you know—”
“He will realize.”
I reached for my cane.
My hand trembled violently.
Then a smaller hand wrapped around it.
Giulia had awakened.
She held the cane steady while I gripped the handle.
“Are you going to fight your ghost?” she asked.
I looked at the doorway Aldo had walked through.
“Yes.”
May you like
Giulia nodded solemnly.
“Then don’t go alone.”
