Chapter 3
I cleared the terrace.
Children first.
Guests next.
Only senior capos, bodyguards, Thomas, Vanessa and Marcus remained.
Ethan refused to leave me.
I didn’t make him.
Thomas rolled his eyes.
“You’re reinforcing it.”
“What?”
“Dependence.”
He pointed toward Ethan.
“The boy falls into water and now he gets to cling to the head of the Moretti family.”
Ethan hid behind my wet gown.
Thomas smiled.
“Pathetic.”
I stepped closer.
“Speak to him again.”
My father raised an eyebrow.
“And what?”
I said nothing.
He understood.
For once, he chose silence.
I looked at Ethan.
“Where did you find the tablet?”
“In the little room.”
“What little room?”
“Behind flowers.”
The bridal preparation room.
Vanessa’s face changed.
There.
I noticed.
“What were you doing there?”
Ethan looked nervous.
“Aunt Vanessa said I could have cake if I carried her bag.”
Vanessa sighed.
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
I turned.
“You used food.”
“It was cake.”
“He’s three.”
“He’d already had lunch.”
Ethan whispered:
“She said no cake if I told you.”
I looked at her.
Vanessa smiled faintly.
“He asks too many questions.”
“What bag?”
Ethan pointed at the tablet case.
“This.”
The tablet had not belonged to him originally.
It had been placed inside his case.
Why?
I opened the recording list.
Thirty-seven files.
Most only seconds long.
Accidental voice captures.
Someone had left the tablet recording in Vanessa’s preparation room.
Marcus moved.
My guards stopped him.
I opened another file.
Thomas:
“After Valentina is taken downstairs, keep Ethan upstairs.”
Vanessa:
“What if he screams?”
Thomas laughed.
“Let him.”
Marcus:
“He’ll call for her.”
Thomas:
“She won’t hear him.”
Ethan started shaking.
I stopped the recording.
Thomas looked bored.
“He’s frightened because you keep playing it.”
“No.”
I crouched beside Ethan.
“He’s frightened because he remembers you.”
Thomas’s jaw tightened.
My son whispered:
“Grandpa said Mommy only listens when I’m scared.”
Nobody spoke.
I looked at my father.
“How many times have you used him to control me?”
Thomas smiled.
“Every parent has a weakness.”
“He’s not my weakness.”
“No?”
My father looked at Ethan.
Then back at me.
“Throw him in water and tell me that again.”
I almost moved.
Then Ethan whispered:
May you like
“Mommy… Grandpa did it to Grandma too.”
Thomas’s smile disappeared.
