Chapter 2 - The Secret Behind My Dead HusbandThe next morning, I learned that the bullet had been fired from across the garden.
The shooter had left behind a rifle.
No fingerprints.
No useful DNA.
No license plate.
Nothing.
Except a silver wolf symbol scratched into the rifle stock.
Alessandro stared at it for a long time.
Then he ordered everyone out of the room.
Only he, his security chief Gabriel Costa, Emma and I remained.
“What does the wolf mean?” I asked.
Alessandro didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked at Emma.
Then at me.
“Who was your husband?”
I frowned.
“You know his name.”
“Tell me.”
“Thomas Rinaldi.”
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
“Thomas Rinaldi was not his real name.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“His real name was Matteo Moretti.”
The room seemed to disappear.
“No.”
“He was my younger brother.”
I laughed once.
Not because anything was funny.
Because my mind could not find another response.
“My husband wasn't your brother.”
“He was.”
“Thomas was a mechanic.”
“He worked at the docks.”
“He hated rich people.”
“He hated this life.”
I stared at him.
Seven years of marriage flashed through my mind.
Thomas singing while cooking.
Thomas holding newborn Emma.
Thomas waking suddenly at night.
Thomas checking the windows.
Thomas telling me never to trust anyone who knew too much about our family.
I had always thought those things were quirks.
Now they looked like warnings.
“What happened to him?”
Alessandro's face hardened.
“He was killed.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He looked directly at me.
“You were told he died in an accident.”
My hands went cold.
“He was murdered.”
I could barely hear my own voice.
“By whom?”
“We believe someone inside my organization gave his location to our enemies.”
“Who?”
“We didn't know.”
“Then why did you bring us here?”
“To protect you.”
I stood.
“You knew?”
“I discovered your identity after his death.”
“And you watched me work in your mansion?”
“You refused financial assistance.”
“I didn't know it was from you.”
“I know.”
“You let me clean your house while knowing my husband was your brother.”
His eyes lowered.
“I believed proximity was safer than distance.”
I shook my head.
“That isn't protection.”
“No.”
His answer came quietly.
“It was a mistake.”
Before I could respond, Emma woke.
She rubbed her eyes.
“Mama?”
I immediately went to her.
Alessandro stepped back.
Emma looked at him.
“Uncle Sandro?”
He froze.
She had never called him that before.
But something about the word changed his expression.
I looked between them.
“You heard that?”
Alessandro nodded.
He crouched beside her.
“Where did you learn my name?”
Emma shrugged.
“Men say it.”
Then she frowned.
“The shiny wolf man said Papa was bad.”
Alessandro became very still.
“What else did he say?”
“He said Mama must work.”
“Did he have white hair?”
Emma nodded.
“Old hands.”
Alessandro looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel's expression changed.
“Vittorio.”
I didn't know the name.
But I knew the fear it created.
Vittorio Santoro was not merely an employee.
He had raised Alessandro after their father died.
He had served the Moretti family for more than thirty years.
And he controlled household staffing.
Which meant he could have selected me.
He could have entered the mansion.
He could have disabled cameras.
And he could have placed Emma in the laundry room.
Alessandro ordered everyone wearing the silver wolf into the ballroom.
Eleven men arrived.
Vittorio stood among them.
White hair.
Perfect suit.
Silver wolf ring.
Emma's description was exact.
Alessandro placed the laundry receipt on the table.
“Explain this.”
Vittorio smiled.
“You suspect me?”
“I asked you to explain it.”
“The receipt proves nothing.”
“It has payments totaling two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
“Money can be moved by anyone.”
“The payments came from a company registered to your sister.”
Vittorio's smile vanished.
I watched Alessandro carefully.
He wasn't shouting.
That made him more frightening.
“Who hired you?” Alessandro asked.
Vittorio looked at me.
Then Emma.
Then back at Alessandro.
“The Orsinis.”
The room became silent.
“The Orsinis wanted access to the girl,” Vittorio continued.
Alessandro's hand tightened.
“Why?”
“Because she is Matteo's daughter.”
“She is three.”
“Blood does not care about age.”
Vittorio stepped closer.
“You had become untouchable.”
“No wife.”
“No children.”
“No obvious weakness.”
His eyes shifted toward me.
“Then she appeared.”
Alessandro's voice dropped.
“Don't look at her.”
Vittorio smiled.
“Now everyone knows where your heart lives.”
Alessandro grabbed him by the collar.
“You put my niece in freezing water.”
“I put a shirt there.”
“You frightened her.”
“I needed you to come home.”
“You fired a warning shot at my house.”
“No.”
Vittorio's smile disappeared.
“I didn't.”
The room fell silent.
Alessandro released him.
“You're saying someone else fired the shot?”
Vittorio looked almost amused.
“I'm saying you don't know who is playing you.”
Then every security monitor in the ballroom went black.
A gunshot echoed from somewhere inside the mansion.
Alessandro turned toward the hallway.
“Emma.”
He ran.
I followed.
May you like
And when we reached the underground safe room, the door was open.
Emma was gone.
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