Chapter 4
Bernadette finally lost control.
Not loudly.
Her handbag slipped from her hand.
That tiny movement mattered more than a scream.
Adriano watched her.
“You knew.”
Her lips pressed together.
Damian stepped between them.
“My mother didn't steal anything.”
Adriano’s eyes shifted to him.
“I didn't ask you.”
Damian’s shoulders stiffened.
Bernadette took one slow breath.
“I knew Theo saw Damian with a book.”
“Which book?”
“I didn't know.”
“Why silence him?”
“Because children repeat things badly.”
Adriano stared at her.
Then looked toward Ava.
The marks from Bernadette’s fingers were still visible around the child’s wrist.
“Is that what you call this?”
Bernadette’s eyes dropped.
For the first time, shame flickered through the arrogance.
But it disappeared quickly.
“You don't understand what Damian was dealing with.”
Adriano’s voice became softer.
“Then help me.”
That frightened her more than anger.
Bernadette sat down.
Damian immediately turned.
“Mom.”
She looked at him.
His expression changed.
Not pleading.
Warning.
Adriano saw it.
Bernadette saw Adriano see it.
The balance shifted again.
She finally said:
“Damian had debt.”
Damian’s eyes hardened.
“Stop.”
Bernadette’s fingers twisted against one another.
“He bought into a private collection in Geneva. The authentication failed. He owed people money.”
“How much?”
“Three million.”
Adriano looked toward Damian.
Damian laughed.
“It was a business loss.”
“With money you didn't have.”
No answer.
Bernadette continued.
“He said he could replace the money if he moved one manuscript temporarily.”
Charlotte’s eyes widened.
“Temporarily?”
Bernadette nodded.
“He had a buyer who would advance cash against possession. He said the Psalter would come back before the annual inventory.”
Adriano’s face became unreadable.
“You helped him.”
“I helped my son.”
“No.”
Adriano’s gaze hardened.
“You helped him steal.”
Bernadette looked away.
Then she whispered:
“I was going to put it back.”
Damian’s jaw tightened.
“Mom.”
Bernadette ignored him now.
Power was beginning to leave him.
She said the plan involving Theo was supposed to be temporary too.
Hide the boy in a family townhouse for several hours.
Make him miss the auction.
Recover him after Damian destroyed the security trail.
No harm.
No ransom.
No permanent disappearance.
Adriano listened.
Then asked:
“Why record yourself saying he disappears?”
Bernadette froze.
Damian stopped breathing.
For the first time, she seemed to realize the recorder itself made no sense.
Her eyes slowly moved toward her son.
“I dictated reminders because you told me to.”
Damian said nothing.
Bernadette’s face changed.
Adriano saw the thought arrive.
Damian had encouraged his own mother to create evidence in her own voice.
May you like
And suddenly Bernadette no longer looked like his accomplice.
She looked like someone beginning to wonder whether she had been chosen as his fallback suspect.
