Chapter 4 - The Price of a Smile
Three days later, Mia disappeared for seven minutes.
Seven minutes was enough to bring the Moretti estate to a halt.
Elena ran through the downstairs hall.
“Mia!”
Carlo appeared.
“We’re checking every room.”
“She was in the kitchen.”
“We know.”
“She doesn’t leave without telling me.”
Adrien came down the stairs.
“What happened?”
Elena turned on him.
“I can’t find her.”
His expression changed instantly.
“Lock the gates.”
Carlo nodded.
“They’re already locked.”
“Search every vehicle.”
“Yes.”
Elena grabbed Adrien’s sleeve.
“Someone took her.”
“We don’t know that.”
“You said you would keep her safe.”
“I will.”
“You said—”
“Mia!”
A cook’s voice came from the conservatory.
Everyone ran.
Mia sat beneath a grand piano.
Beside her was an elderly groundskeeper.
She held a cookie.
Elena dropped to her knees.
“Oh, my God.”
Mia smiled.
“Hi.”
Elena pulled her close.
“You cannot disappear!”
“I didn’t disappear.”
“Yes, you did!”
“I was feeding Mr. Thomas.”
The groundskeeper looked embarrassed.
“She noticed I skipped lunch.”
Adrien stopped several feet away.
His breathing slowed.
Mia looked at him.
“You’re mad.”
“No.”
“You look mad.”
“I was worried.”
“Why?”
Adrien stared at her.
“Because you matter.”
Mia thought about that.
Then walked over and hugged his leg.
Adrien froze.
Elena watched.
Slowly, awkwardly, he placed one hand on Mia’s back.
Carlo looked away.
So did half the staff.
Not because it was embarrassing.
Because it felt private.
That night Elena found Adrien alone in his study.
“You were terrified.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t hide it very well.”
“I wasn’t trying to.”
She sat opposite him.
“That scares me.”
“Mia being missing?”
“You caring.”
Adrien leaned back.
“Explain.”
“People can use what you care about.”
His expression hardened.
“You mean the Romanos.”
“I mean anyone.”
“You want me to stop caring?”
“No.”
She looked toward Mia’s drawing on the wall.
“I want to know what happens when your world notices.”
“It already has.”
“And?”
“And I remove people from my life who cannot accept it.”
“That simple?”
“No.”
He smiled faintly.
“But simple things and easy things aren’t the same.”
Elena studied him.
“Why me?”
Adrien was quiet.
Then he said, “Because you don’t perform.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re not impressed by my house.”
“It’s too big.”
“You don’t care about my cars.”
“They all look black.”
“You once told my chef his risotto was oversalted.”
“It was.”
“He trained in Milan.”
“Then Milan owes you an apology.”
Adrien laughed.
Elena stared.
“What?”
“You laughed.”
“I do that occasionally.”
“Not according to your employees.”
“They exaggerate.”
“They think you sleep in a coffin.”
“Only Wednesdays.”
Elena laughed again.
Adrien watched her.
The room changed.
He stood.
Elena did too.
Neither moved toward the other.
That mattered.
Adrien spoke quietly.
“I won’t touch you unless you ask me to.”
Her eyes searched his.
“You really think that far ahead?”
“With you? Yes.”
She swallowed.
“Why?”
“Because I know what power does to choices.”
The answer broke the tension differently than a kiss would have.
Elena picked up her clipboard.
“Good night, Adrien.”
“Good night, Elena.”
At the door, she stopped.
“Mia likes you.”
“I know.”
“That isn’t permission to spoil her.”
“I bought one doll.”
“You bought a dollhouse with electricity.”
“She needed infrastructure.”
Elena shook her head and left.
Adrien was smiling when Carlo entered.
“I hate to interrupt whatever this is.”
Adrien’s smile vanished.
“What happened?”
Carlo handed him an envelope.
“It came through Romano Shipping.”
Inside was a photograph.
Elena walking Mia to preschool.
Taken from across the street.
Adrien stared at it.
On the back, five words were written.
Families require sensible decisions, Adrien.
Carlo waited.
Adrien’s voice became flat.
“Get Salvatore Romano on the phone.”
Elena learned about the photograph ten minutes later.
“You should have told me immediately.”
“I did.”
“Immediately means before you called twelve security men.”
“It was nine.”
“That isn’t helping.”
Adrien placed the photograph on the desk.
Elena looked at it.
Her face changed.
“Someone was watching us.”
“Yes.”
“Yesterday?”
“Yes.”
She picked it up.
“Did Mia see them?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“I checked every camera near her school.”
Elena stared at him.
“You already had access?”
“I do now.”
“Adrien.”
“I did not install cameras.”
She exhaled.
“Thank you.”
Carlo entered.
“Salvatore won’t take the call.”
Adrien nodded.
“Then we go to him.”
Elena looked up.
“No.”
Adrien turned.
“You’re not going anywhere because of me.”
“Elena—”
“No. That is exactly how this becomes worse.”
“It is already worse.”
“Then call the police.”
Carlo and Adrien exchanged a glance.
Elena saw it.
“Oh, come on.”
Adrien said, “Salvatore Romano has spent thirty years making sure police calls become dinner invitations.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“Make him understand.”
“No threats.”
Adrien’s jaw tightened.
“No violence.”
“Elena.”
“You want us in your life?”
He stopped.
She pointed at the photograph.
“Then Mia does not grow up believing men solve every problem by hurting somebody.”
Silence.
Adrien looked at Carlo.
Carlo looked fascinated.
Finally Adrien said, “Fine.”
Elena blinked.
“Fine?”
“Financial pressure. Legal pressure. Contracts canceled. Evidence documented.”
“That sounds less terrifying.”
“It won’t be.”
She almost smiled.
“Good.”
Within forty-eight hours, Romano Shipping lost three major Moretti contracts.
Two lenders requested audits.
A customs investigation reopened.
And Salvatore Romano finally called.
Adrien put the phone on speaker.
Salvatore’s voice was furious.
“You threaten my family over a servant?”
Adrien’s expression turned cold.
“You photographed a three-year-old.”
“It was a message.”
“Yes.”
Adrien glanced at Elena.
“And this is mine.”
Salvatore laughed.
“You think the widow belongs in your world?”
Elena stiffened.
Adrien replied, “She belongs wherever she chooses.”
“Then make her choose carefully.”
The call ended.
Elena stared at the phone.
“That wasn’t finished.”
“No.”
Adrien looked at Mia’s drawing.
May you like
“It’s just beginning.”
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