Chapter 7
Alessio did not feel triumphant.
He felt tired.
His wife had known something serious enough to threaten Claudia with evidence.
And she had died without telling him.
That hurt.
But another possibility hurt more.
Maybe Isabella had tried.
He began going through the last year of her life from memory.
Not paperwork.
Conversations.
Arguments he dismissed.
Changes in routine.
People she stopped inviting to dinner.
One moment returned clearly.
Isabella had once asked him:
“Do you know what Claudia does when you’re not in the room?”
Alessio had laughed.
“She complains about me.”
Isabella did not laugh.
He had been called away before she explained.
He never returned to the conversation.
Now he wished he had.
Samuel helped rebuild the garden timeline.
Around the same period Isabella planted the irises, she stopped allowing Claudia to organize estate events.
She also changed which staff members could access the greenhouse.
And she asked Samuel to replace the lock on the side service door.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Samuel looked uncomfortable.
“I thought you knew.”
Again.
Everyone thought Alessio knew.
That had become the story of his life.
Marco, meanwhile, tried to leave Chicago.
One of Alessio’s men informed him that Marco had packed two suitcases and sent a driver to the airport.
Alessio did not have him dragged back.
He simply called.
“You leave now, you never speak under my name again.”
Marco stayed.
Not out of loyalty.
Because without Alessio’s protection, many people Marco had disappointed would suddenly stop being patient.
That evening Marco finally offered part of the truth.
He and Claudia had used the estate during Isabella’s illness to meet people Alessio refused to work with.
Nothing happened openly.
No official Ventresca deal.
They offered introductions.
Access.
Information.
The suggestion of influence.
People paid because they believed Claudia and Marco spoke for Alessio.
“How much?”
Marco looked away.
“Enough.”
“Who started it?”
Marco hesitated.
Then:
“Claudia.”
Alessio was not surprised anymore.
“What did Isabella discover?”
“One meeting.”
“Which?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were there.”
Marco looked at him.
“That’s why I don’t want you finding the box.”
The honesty of that answer changed the room.
Marco continued.
“If Isabella recorded what I think she recorded, Claudia and I lose more than money.”
“What do you lose?”
May you like
Marco’s face tightened.
“Everyone who still believes we acted with your permission.”
