Chapter 2
Vivienne recovered first.
She laughed.
“A hidden door inside a cooler?”
Her voice dripped contempt.
“She's three.”
She looked around the garden.
“Should we ask her whether dragons were serving lunch too?”
Lily pressed closer to Alessandro.
Nora’s face hardened.
“Don't talk to her like that.”
Vivienne turned slowly.
The smile disappeared.
“What did you say?”
Nora stood despite the pain in her shoulder.
“You heard me.”
Vivienne took one step toward her.
Alessandro stepped between them.
Vivienne stopped.
Then smiled at him.
“You see?”
She pointed toward Nora.
“This is what happens when staff forget who signs their wages.”
Alessandro’s voice was quiet.
“I do.”
Vivienne’s smile weakened.
He turned toward two bodyguards.
“Move the cooler.”
Gerald stepped forward.
“That’s unnecessary.”
Alessandro looked at him.
Gerald lifted both hands.
Still smug.
“Unless your daughter has suddenly become your security chief.”
One of the older capos frowned.
Gerald noticed and laughed.
“What?”
His eyes moved around the garden.
“Everyone is terrified to say it, so I will.”
He pointed toward Lily.
“She's spoiled.”
Alessandro’s face became still.
Gerald continued.
“You've spent three years teaching every person in this estate that a toddler outranks adults.”
Lily’s eyes filled.
Gerald saw it.
And kept going.
“Now she points at a cooler and twenty grown men jump.”
Alessandro took one step toward him.
Gerald smiled.
“Exactly.”
He wanted the reaction.
Alessandro stopped.
Then looked toward the bodyguards.
“Move it.”
The cooler rolled aside.
Behind it sat a narrow wooden panel nearly invisible beneath decorative ivy.
Nora whispered:
“That.”
Vivienne’s breathing changed.
Gerald looked toward her.
The panel had no visible handle.
Alessandro pressed along the edge.
Nothing.
Lily tugged his trouser leg.
“Bottom.”
He looked down.
A small black latch sat near the paving stones.
Hidden behind a flower pot.
Alessandro opened it.
A narrow old service passage appeared behind the wall.
Dark.
Cool.
Empty.
Vivienne folded her arms.
“There.”
She smiled.
“An old servant corridor.”
Her gaze slid toward Nora.
“How appropriate.”
Nora’s jaw tightened.
Alessandro ignored the insult.
He stepped inside.
The passage ran beneath the west terrace.
Dust covered most of the floor.
Except for fresh shoe marks.
Someone had used it recently.
Very recently.
Then Alessandro found something wedged beside the wall.
A black silk glove.
Men’s.
Inside the cuff was an embroidered symbol.
A silver serpent wrapped around a crown.
The garden became silent when he brought it out.
Several older capos recognized it.
Vivienne watched their faces.
Then smiled.
“Do tell.”
Alessandro looked toward her.
“The Marzano crest.”
Gerald shrugged.
“Old families have old junk.”
“No.”
One capo spoke.
His voice was low.
“That mark belongs to Nico Marzano’s inner men.”
The name moved through the garden.
Nico Marzano.
Once Alessandro’s underboss.
Banished six years earlier after challenging a council order and disappearing before punishment could fall.
Vivienne looked almost bored.
“Then perhaps your estate security is worse than I thought.”
Alessandro studied her.
“You know who he is.”
“Everyone knows who he is.”
“Lily heard knocking.”
Vivienne shrugged.
“Children hear monsters under beds.”
Lily looked up.
“It wasn't a monster.”
Vivienne rolled her eyes.
Alessandro crouched again.
“Who was it?”
Lily thought.
Then:
“A man.”
“Did you see him?”
“No.”
“What did he say?”
Vivienne’s fingers tightened.
Lily looked toward her.
“He said…”
She frowned, remembering.
“Aunt Vivienne told me Daddy would ring the bell.”
Gerald’s expression changed.
Alessandro slowly stood.
Vivienne did not retreat.
May you like
She smiled directly at him.
But this time the garden could see how hard she had to work for it.
