Chapter 4 - The Traitor Inside the Russo House
That evening, Dominic doubled security.
Nobody entered or left without permission.
At dinner, he barely touched his food.
“You're doing it again,” I said.
“Doing what?”
“Trying to solve everything while pretending you don't need sleep.”
“I have a traitor inside my organization.”
“You'll still have one tomorrow.”
He stared at me.
“That was supposed to be comforting?”
“No.”
I slid a cup toward him.
“What is this?”
“Tea.”
Dominic smelled it suspiciously.
“You're telling a mafia boss to drink mystery tea after discovering somebody was poisoning him?”
I smiled.
“Fair point.”
I drank first.
He watched.
“Happy?”
“Moderately.”
He took the cup.
An hour later, I found him asleep on the library sofa.
For the first time since I'd met him, his face looked peaceful.
Luca entered quietly.
“He's asleep?”
“Yes.”
“That's unusual.”
“That's the idea.”
Luca studied me.
“You really care about him?”
“We've been married two days.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Before I could answer, Dominic spoke without opening his eyes.
“Careful, Luca.”
Luca almost jumped.
Dominic opened one eye.
“You're terrible at whispering.”
I laughed.
Dominic stared at me.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You laughed.”
“You scared him.”
“Nobody scares Luca.”
Luca muttered, “I'm leaving.”
After he disappeared, Dominic sat up.
“You should leave too.”
“Chicago?”
“My house.”
“Why?”
“Until this is finished.”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“Callie.”
“I've already explained how well orders work on me.”
“This isn't a joke.”
“I know.”
“If someone was willing to poison me, they'll come after anyone close to me.”
“Then maybe marrying me was poor planning.”
“I didn't expect you to become important.”
The words escaped before he could stop them.
Silence.
Dominic looked away.
I sat beside him.
“Important?”
“Forget it.”
“No.”
“Callie.”
“Say it again.”
He stood.
I caught his hand.
The tremor had almost disappeared.
Dominic looked down at our fingers.
Then his phone rang.
Luca.
Dominic answered.
“What?”
His face darkened.
“When?”
He disconnected.
“What happened?”
“Someone accessed the estate's security system last night.”
“From outside?”
“No.”
My stomach dropped.
“Inside?”
“Yes.”
“Who has access?”
“Me. Luca. Head of security.”
“And?”
Dominic looked toward the hallway.
“And Teresa.”
The house manager.
The woman who had welcomed me.
Minutes later, Teresa stood inside Dominic's office.
She looked furious rather than frightened.
“I've served this family twenty-two years.”
Dominic placed a security log before her.
“Then explain this.”
She looked at it.
“I can't.”
“Your access code was used.”
“Someone stole it.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Luca stepped closer.
Teresa looked at me.
“You brought her into this house, and everything changed.”
Dominic's voice dropped.
“Don't.”
“She appears, and suddenly your doctor betrays you? Warehouses disappear? Security gets breached?”
“She discovered the problem.”
“Or created it.”
Dominic slammed his hand onto the desk.
“Enough.”
Teresa went silent.
I studied her.
Then I noticed something.
“Dominic.”
“What?”
“Ask her when she last changed her access code.”
Teresa stared at me.
Dominic understood.
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“Who helped you?”
Nobody moved.
Teresa's face slowly changed.
“Anthony.”
Luca swore.
Anthony Russo.
Dominic's cousin.
One of the few surviving members of his family.
Dominic immediately grabbed his phone.
No answer.
Luca called security.
“Find Anthony.”
A guard responded through the radio.
Then came the words none of us wanted to hear.
“Mr. Anthony Russo left the estate twenty minutes ago.”
Dominic looked toward me.
“Where?”
The radio crackled.
“He took Mrs. Russo's car.”
My car.
But that wasn't the problem.
My cloth pouch of herbs was inside it.
Along with the notebook containing the address of Dr. Helen Carter's laboratory.
Dominic's face drained of color.
“Callie.”
I already understood.
Anthony didn't need me.
He needed the woman who had proven Dominic was being poisoned.
May you like
Helen.
---
