Chapter 3
Malcolm claimed the visits were business.
That was plausible.
The Venturi companies owned restaurants, commercial property, logistics firms, and the conservatory itself. Family business often spilled into family homes.
But the timing bothered Gabriele.
The visits became more frequent after Laura died.
They increased again three months earlier.
Three months earlier was when Gabriele announced that Venturi Holdings would hire an outside president and begin separating family relationships from company authority.
Malcolm hated the proposal.
Cordelia hated it more.
“They think you’re giving away control,” Claire said.
“I’m giving professionals jobs professionals should have.”
“Your aunt doesn’t see a distinction.”
Cordelia had spent four decades inside the Venturi organization.
She never held a formal executive title.
She did not need one.
People listened when she spoke.
Malcolm benefited from that influence his entire career.
If Gabriele professionalized the company, Malcolm would have to justify his position like everyone else.
Evan found another problem.
On six of Malcolm’s late-night visits, Gabriele’s office alarm had been temporarily disabled.
“By Malcolm?”
“No.”
“Cordelia.”
Gabriele looked up.
His aunt had inherited security privileges from the previous generation.
Privileges nobody had reviewed in years.
“What was in the office?”
“Nothing’s reported missing.”
That answer was too simple.
Gabriele called his chief financial officer, Melissa Grant.
“Has Malcolm requested anything unusual lately?”
A pause.
“How unusual?”
“Anything involving my authority.”
Melissa became careful.
“He’s asked questions about emergency leadership.”
“What kind?”
“What happens if you’re unavailable. Who can approve debt. Who can call a special board vote.”
Gabriele leaned back.
“When?”
“Past two months.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I did.”
He stared at the phone.
“When?”
“I sent you a memo.”
Gabriele searched.
There it was.
Unread.
His assistant had flagged it.
Gabriele had forwarded it to Malcolm with one sentence:
Handle this with Melissa.
He closed his eyes.
Again.
Someone raised a concern.
He handed it directly to the person involved.
That evening, Claire arrived with a separate problem.
Massachusetts child welfare had been notified about Theo being locked outside.
Gabriele looked at her.
“By who?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
It did.
But not for the reason he first thought.
“You need to cooperate.”
“I will.”
“They’ll want to understand who supervises Theo, who had access, and what you knew about family discipline.”
Gabriele nodded.
Claire continued.
“And they may ask why multiple adults believed Cordelia had authority to punish your son on your behalf.”
That question landed harder.
Cordelia had harmed Theo.
Malcolm had threatened him.
But the structure that made everyone believe they could speak for Gabriele existed because Gabriele had allowed it.
May you like
For the first time, removing Cordelia and Malcolm from Theo’s life was not enough.
He had to find out what else they had been doing with the authority he never bothered to take back.
