Chapter 8
Alessandro signed the authorization.
It was the most irreversible decision he had made since canceling the wedding.
Child-safety professionals could interview relevant estate staff.
They could inspect Livia’s living arrangements.
They could review household security procedures involving the child.
They could receive the unedited wedding footage.
Claire also hired an independent forensic firm to preserve digital records connected to the wedding.
Dominic nearly exploded when he learned.
“You opened the house.”
“Yes.”
“To outsiders.”
“Yes.”
“For what? To prove Bianca is cruel?”
“No.”
Alessandro looked at him.
“To find out why nobody stopped her before I walked into the room.”
Dominic stared at him.
“This is bigger than one woman.”
“That’s what I’m starting to think.”
Alessandro temporarily moved with Livia to a smaller private residence north of the city.
No business meetings there.
No large family dinners.
Only Livia, a rotating child-care professional, Rosalie during agreed hours, and security kept outside the main living space.
The first night, Livia asked where everyone was.
“Home.”
“This home?”
“For now.”
“Bianca?”
“No.”
Livia touched the short side of her hair.
“She comes when it grows?”
Alessandro crouched.
“No.”
“Ever?”
“No.”
His daughter nodded.
Then returned to coloring.
It was apparently the clearest answer any adult had given her all week.
Alessandro sat beside her.
He had given investigators access that could create problems far beyond the canceled wedding.
May you like
There was no pulling it back.
If the truth damaged him too, he had decided he would live with that.
