Chapter 4 - The Traitor at the Family Table
Ella woke to the sound of Lily laughing.
For one panicked second, she forgot where she was.
Then she saw the stone fireplace, the guarded windows, and the child sitting cross-legged on the rug.
Alessandro was on the floor beside her.
The feared head of the Vitale organization wore a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. His jacket and shoulder holster rested on a nearby chair.
Lily had placed three plastic hair clips in his hair.
One was shaped like a butterfly.
Another was bright pink.
The third had a glittering strawberry attached to it.
“You look pretty,” Lily declared.
Alessandro stared straight ahead. “I have survived worse.”
Ella sat up. “I’m not sure you have.”
He looked toward her.
For a moment, they were not an ex-wife, a mafia boss, and the child hidden between them.
They were simply three people in a quiet room.
Then Marco knocked and entered.
He stopped when he saw the hair clips.
His face remained professional with visible effort.
“Sir.”
Alessandro removed the strawberry clip. “Speak.”
“We identified the woman from the daycare.”
Ella stood immediately.
“Rebecca?”
“Her real name is Natalie Ross. She worked at Lily’s school for four months using false documents. She disappeared the day after the birthday party.”
“Who hired her?”
“We’re tracing the payments.”
“Is she connected to Enzo?”
Marco glanced at Alessandro.
Ella noticed.
“What?”
Alessandro rose. “Take Lily downstairs. Rosa has breakfast ready.”
“No.”
“Ella.”
“Every time you send me away, I learn later that the truth was worse.”
Lily looked between them. “Are you fighting?”
Ella softened her voice. “We’re talking.”
“You sound like fighting.”
Alessandro crouched. “Would you like pancakes?”
“With chocolate?”
“Yes.”
“And sprinkles?”
He glanced at Ella.
She shook her head.
“No sprinkles,” he said.
Lily sighed dramatically. “This house has too many rules.”
Rosa appeared at the doorway and held out her hand.
Lily followed reluctantly, taking Mr. Buttons with her.
When she was gone, Ella faced Alessandro.
“What did Costa say?”
Marco looked at his boss.
Alessandro buttoned his cuffs slowly.
“He claims someone paid him to interfere with our marriage.”
Ella stared at him. “Interfere how?”
“To make me appear more dangerous than I was.”
She gave a humorless laugh. “He would have needed very little help.”
“He arranged the attack on the house the night you left.”
The words emptied the room.
Ella’s face went pale.
“No.”
“The gunfire. The men at the west gate. The blood on my shirt.”
“You told me it was business.”
“It was.”
“You refused to tell me anything else.”
“Because I believed the attack came from a rival crew.”
Ella remembered that night too clearly.
She had been five months pregnant, though she had not yet told Alessandro. She planned to tell him at dinner.
Instead, armed men breached the property.
Security dragged her into the safe room while gunfire shook the walls.
Hours later, Alessandro entered with blood on his hands.
She had asked whether the violence would ever stop.
He had said nothing.
By dawn, she was gone.
“Costa knew I was pregnant?” she asked.
“No.”
“Then why destroy our marriage?”
“Someone wanted me isolated.”
“Who?”
“He mentioned a man from New York.”
Ella frowned. “I don’t know anyone from New York.”
“Think.”
“I am thinking.”
“An ex-boyfriend. A family friend. Someone who opposed the marriage.”
Her face hardened. “Do not interrogate me.”
“I’m asking.”
“You’re accusing.”
Alessandro stepped closer. “Someone tracked our daughter for six months. That person knew enough about your life to place an employee inside her preschool.”
“And you think I brought that person to us?”
“I think someone from your past did.”
Ella turned away, pacing toward the window.
Her mother had died when Ella was nineteen. Her father had left years earlier. She had few close relatives and almost no contact with anyone from before her marriage.
Then she remembered a name she had not spoken in years.
“Gabriel.”
Alessandro’s expression changed instantly.
“Who is Gabriel?”
“My mother’s cousin.”
“That is not how you said his name.”
Ella folded her arms tightly.
“He helped me after my mother died. Paid some of my college tuition. Found me an internship.”
“Where did he live?”
“New York.”
Marco pulled out his phone.
“What was his last name?”
“Vale.”
Alessandro and Marco exchanged a look.
Ella saw it.
“What?”
Marco typed quickly. “Gabriel Vale was a financial adviser tied to several East Coast shipping companies.”
“Was?”
“He disappeared five years ago.”
Ella shook her head. “No. He sent me a letter after I married Alessandro.”
“What did it say?” Alessandro asked.
“That I had made a mistake.”
“Where is the letter?”
“I destroyed it.”
“Why?”
“Because he hated you.”
Alessandro’s voice became very still. “Did he threaten you?”
“No.”
“Did he ask you to leave me?”
“He said I would eventually understand what you were.”
“And did he contact you after you ran?”
Ella hesitated.
That was enough.
Alessandro took one step closer. “Ella.”
“He sent money.”
The room went silent.
Marco lowered his phone.
Alessandro’s face became unreadable.
“You accepted money from a man who hated me?”
“I had a newborn and no job.”
“You could have called me.”
“I was hiding from you.”
“How much?”
“Five thousand dollars.”
“When?”
“A week after Lily was born.”
“How did he know where you were?”
“I don’t know.”
Alessandro laughed once, without humor.
“He knew because he helped arrange it.”
“That’s not possible.”
“You changed apartments through an agency?”
“Yes.”
“Who recommended it?”
Ella’s certainty began to fracture.
“A woman from a support group.”
“Name?”
“Caroline.”
Marco was already searching.
After less than a minute, he looked up.
“No verified identity under that name matching the description.”
Ella sat down slowly.
“No.”
Alessandro moved to the table across from her.
“Gabriel found you before I did.”
“You said you found me after three days.”
“I did.”
“Then why didn’t you know?”
“Because I was watching for enemies connected to me.”
His eyes darkened.
“I never considered that the greatest threat might be connected to you.”
By evening, the estate had become unnaturally quiet.
Alessandro ordered every member of his inner circle to attend dinner.
Ella objected.
“You’re gathering all your suspects in the same room as Lily?”
“I’m gathering them in a room with controlled access.”
“That is not reassuring.”
“She will eat in the kitchen with Rosa.”
Lily overheard and objected loudly.
“I want to eat with Daddy.”
Ella and Alessandro both went still.
Lily did not notice the effect of the word.
She was busy trying to make Mr. Buttons sit upright on a chair.
“Daddy?” Alessandro repeated.
Lily looked at him. “Mommy said you’re my daddy.”
Ella expected him to smile.
He did not.
His face softened, but fear passed through it too—fear that the title could be taken away as quickly as it had been given.
“Yes,” he said quietly. “I am.”
“Then I eat with you.”
Alessandro looked at Ella.
She sighed. “She sits beside me. Rosa stays in the room. At the first sign of trouble, Lily leaves.”
“Agreed.”
The dining room table seated twenty, but only seven places had been prepared.
Marco sat to Alessandro’s right.
Across from him were Victor Santoro, head of transportation; Peter Rizzi, operations manager; and Sofia Bellini, Alessandro’s longtime legal adviser.
Sofia had known Alessandro since childhood.
She was elegant, sharp, and nearly impossible to surprise.
When Ella entered with Lily, Sofia’s wineglass stopped halfway to her mouth.
“So it’s true,” she said.
Alessandro pulled out a chair for Lily.
“What is true?” he asked.
“That you have a daughter.”
Lily climbed into the chair.
“I’m Lily.”
Sofia smiled. “I can see that.”
Lily frowned. “How?”
Sofia glanced at Alessandro’s eyes. “Family resemblance.”
Dinner began with unbearable politeness.
Silverware touched porcelain. Guards stood beside every door. No one discussed the attack directly.
Then Alessandro placed a photograph in the center of the table.
Natalie Ross.
The false daycare employee.
“Does anyone recognize her?” he asked.
Victor shook his head.
Peter leaned closer. “No.”
Sofia studied the picture for several seconds.
“I’ve seen her.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Where?” Alessandro asked.
“At a fundraiser last winter. She was working with the catering staff.”
“Which fundraiser?”
“The Vale Children’s Foundation.”
Ella’s fork slipped from her fingers.
It struck the plate with a sharp clink.
Sofia looked at her. “Do you know the name?”
Ella’s mouth went dry. “Gabriel Vale.”
Sofia’s expression shifted.
Alessandro noticed. “What?”
“Gabriel Vale is dead.”
Ella stared at her. “How do you know?”
“I handled litigation involving his estate.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
“That can’t be true. He sent me money two years ago.”
“Then someone used his name.”
A servant entered carrying a bottle of red wine.
Alessandro watched the man approach.
“Who authorized that bottle?”
The servant stopped.
“Mr. Rizzi, sir.”
Peter’s head snapped up. “I did not.”
The servant looked confused. “It was sent from your office.”
“I never sent wine.”
Alessandro’s gaze lowered to the bottle.
The seal looked intact.
Marco stood.
“Put it down.”
The servant obeyed.
Lily reached for her water glass, knocking her spoon onto the floor.
“I’ll get it,” Ella said.
Before she could move, Lily slid from her chair.
Her elbow struck Alessandro’s wineglass.
Red liquid spilled across the white tablecloth.
A thin line of smoke rose where it touched the silver serving tray.
Everyone froze.
Marco drew his weapon.
The servant tried to run.
Victor tackled him before he reached the door.
Alessandro grabbed Lily and lifted her away from the table.
Ella stared at the smoking wine.
“Poison?”
Sofia stepped back from her chair.
Marco pressed his gun against the servant’s neck.
“Who gave you the bottle?”
The man shook violently. “I don’t know. It was outside the service entrance with instructions.”
“From whom?”
“I swear, I don’t know.”
Lily stared at the stain.
“I made a mess.”
Alessandro held her tightly against his chest.
“No,” he said. “You saved my life.”
She looked at him. “Because I’m careless?”
A breathless laugh escaped Ella.
Even Marco smiled faintly.
Alessandro kissed Lily’s forehead.
“For once, yes.”
Then Sofia suddenly collapsed.
Her chair overturned behind her.
Ella rushed around the table.
Sofia clutched her throat, struggling to breathe.
“There was nothing in her glass,” Ella said.
Marco checked the place setting.
Then he saw the small puncture in Sofia’s wrist.
“A needle.”
Sofia’s eyes rolled back.
Alessandro handed Lily to Ella and knelt beside her.
“Get the doctor!”
The dining room erupted into motion.
As guards carried Sofia out, Peter Rizzi backed toward the wall.
“No one leaves,” Alessandro ordered.
Peter raised both hands. “You can’t believe I did this.”
“The wine came from your office.”
“I was set up.”
“By whom?”
Peter looked toward Ella.
“I saw a man near the service entrance yesterday.”
“What man?” Marco demanded.
Peter swallowed.
“He asked where Ella was sleeping.”
Alessandro crossed the room and seized him by the shirt.
“You let him leave?”
“I thought he was one of your security people.”
“Describe him.”
“Older. Gray coat. Burn scar on the left side of his neck.”
Ella’s face drained of color.
Alessandro looked at her.
“You know him.”
She nodded slowly.
“Gabriel had that scar.”
No one spoke.
Ella’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“But Sofia said he died four years ago.”
A phone began ringing on the table.
Not Alessandro’s.
Not Marco’s.
Ella looked down.
The sound came from Lily’s small yellow raincoat, draped over the back of her chair.
Marco reached inside the pocket and removed a black phone Ella had never seen before.
The screen showed one incoming call.
GABRIEL VALE
Alessandro answered and placed it on speaker.
A man’s voice filled the dining room.
“Hello, Ella.”
She gripped the edge of the table.
“Gabriel?”
“I warned you that marrying Alessandro Vitale would destroy your life.”
Alessandro’s hand closed into a fist.
Ella forced herself to speak. “You tracked Lily.”
“I protected her.”
“You put a device in her toy.”
“I needed to know where she was.”
“You sent men into this house.”
A pause.
Then Gabriel said, “Those men were not sent for the child.”
Alessandro stepped toward the phone.
“They entered her bedroom.”
“They were sent for evidence Alessandro has hidden for years.”
“What evidence?” Ella asked.
Gabriel’s voice softened.
“Proof that your mother did not die from an illness.”
Ella stopped breathing.
“She was murdered.”
Alessandro stared at the phone.
Gabriel continued.
“And the man who ordered it was Alessandro’s father.”
The call ended.
The screen went black.
Ella slowly turned toward Alessandro.
His expression told her the worst part before he spoke.
He had heard that accusation before.
May you like
“You knew,” she whispered.
Alessandro’s silence shattered what little trust remained between them.
