Chapter 4
Genevieve recovered quickly.
“What does that prove?”
Her tone was cutting.
“Adrian was managing the device.”
Adrian looked toward her.
A warning passed between them.
Domenico saw it.
Genevieve continued before her son could speak.
“You're trying to turn every small secret into treason because your pride can't survive learning people talk without permission.”
Lily remained beside Domenico.
Still hugging the dinosaur.
The toy’s torn seam sat beneath her thumb.
Domenico noticed she kept pressing it closed.
As though protecting the toy from being hurt again.
That detail angered him more than Genevieve’s voice.
He crouched.
“Lily.”
She looked up.
“Did Uncle Adrian ever ask you to put Dino somewhere?”
Her eyes immediately moved toward Genevieve.
The older woman smiled.
“There she goes.”
She folded her arms.
“Checking your face before she gives you the answer you want.”
Domenico looked over his shoulder.
“Enough.”
Genevieve laughed.
“You've been saying that all night.”
Domenico’s eyes hardened.
“And you keep discovering I mean it.”
The room fell quiet.
He looked back at Lily.
“No one gets angry at you for the truth.”
She swallowed.
“Aunt Genevieve said Dino gets lonely.”
Genevieve rolled her eyes.
Lily continued.
“She said I should let him sit under Daddy’s table when Daddy talks.”
Domenico’s chest tightened.
“When?”
“Lots.”
Adrian’s mouth curved.
“Children exaggerate.”
Lily looked at him.
“No.”
A tiny flash of anger.
The first Domenico had seen from her.
“You said if I didn't, Dino would go in the trash.”
Adrian’s smile vanished.
Several capos shifted.
Lily clutched the toy harder.
“So I put him there.”
Domenico slowly stood.
Genevieve waved one hand.
“Oh, spare us.”
She looked around at the guests.
“The child was asked to leave a toy in a room. We didn't chain her to a wall.”
Then she looked at Lily.
“And if you hadn't been so possessive over a stuffed animal, none of this would have become a problem.”
The cruelty landed.
Lily’s eyes filled again.
Domenico stepped toward Genevieve.
She raised her chin.
Still defiant.
“If you want to hit me, hit me.”
A faint smile.
“But stop pretending your daughter wasn't useful.”
Domenico stopped.
The words disgusted him.
Genevieve saw it.
And mistook disgust for hesitation.
She pressed harder.
“She walks anywhere she wants because she's yours.”
“Guards smile at her.”
“Capos lower their voices.”
“No one checks the toy.”
Her eyes sharpened.
“That's not our weakness, Domenico.”
She looked toward Lily.
“It's yours.”
Domenico did not move.
Then Matteo spoke from behind him.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
The security chief’s face had hardened.
“She was three.”
Genevieve stared.
Matteo continued.
“You used a child because grown men would've recognized what you were doing.”
Genevieve smiled coldly.
“Oh, now you grow a spine?”
Matteo’s jaw tightened.
She laughed.
“You stood in that room.”
“Yes.”
“You bowed to Adrian.”
“Because you told me Domenico ordered the meeting.”
“You believed me.”
“For one night.”
Genevieve’s smile sharpened.
“That’s all betrayal ever needs.”
Domenico watched both.
Matteo looked toward him.
“I should've checked.”
“Yes.”
Domenico did not soften it.
Matteo nodded.
“I know.”
Adrian scoffed.
“This confession is touching.”
He adjusted his watch.
“Should we all cry now?”
Domenico turned.
Adrian continued.
“You want to know why men came to me?”
His voice grew harder.
“Because they're tired of asking permission from a man who leaves meetings when his daughter gets sleepy.”
Several capos shifted.
Adrian saw it.
He smiled.
“See?”
“Even now they know I'm right.”
Domenico looked around.
No one met Adrian’s eyes.
His smile tightened.
Domenico returned to the recordings.
The next clip showed Genevieve alone with two capos.
One refused her.
“You're talking about replacing blood with blood.”
Genevieve smiled.
“I'm talking about correcting an old mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“Carlo.”
The capo’s face changed.
Genevieve continued.
“Salvatore should have led this family.”
The man shook his head.
“You know why he didn't.”
The recording cut.
Genevieve’s face went white.
Domenico noticed.
“So there is a why.”
She recovered.
“Old men love old stories.”
Domenico looked toward Rocco Marino.
The seventy-two-year-old capo had remained silent all night.
Rocco finally lifted his eyes.
“Yes.”
His voice was rough.
“There is a why.”
Genevieve immediately laughed.
“Here we go.”
Her contempt returned.
“Carlo’s faithful dog finally finds his bark.”
Rocco ignored her.
Domenico asked:
“Why wasn't Salvatore boss?”
Rocco looked toward Adrian.
Then Genevieve.
“You won't like it.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“You say one lie about my father and you leave this estate without your teeth.”
Rocco smiled tiredly.
“There.”
He looked at Domenico.
“That's exactly how she raised him.”
Genevieve’s eyes became lethal.
Rocco continued.
“Salvatore didn't lose the chair because Carlo stole it.”
A pause.
“He lost it because Carlo discovered who Salvatore had been meeting after midnight.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“Who?”
May you like
Rocco looked directly at him.
“The men trying to kill your family.”
