Chapter 6 - THE PERSON ADRIAN TRUSTED
Dominic looked at Adrian for a long time.
“You had my wife’s letter for eighteen months.”
“No.”
Adrian shook his head.
“I had it for one night.”
“Then who has it?”
Adrian looked toward Lenora.
That alone was answer enough.
Dominic’s body tightened.
“You gave it to her.”
“No.”
Lenora frowned.
Adrian turned back.
“I gave it to Father Thomas.”
Dominic stopped.
Father Thomas Bellini was not a priest.
The nickname came from childhood because he was the family member everyone confessed to.
He was Dominic’s uncle.
Lenora’s younger brother.
Seventy now.
Retired.
Living alone two counties away.
Dominic had not seen him since Mara’s funeral.
“Why Thomas?”
“Because Mara said Lenora could not have it.”
Lenora’s face hardened.
Adrian continued.
“She knew I was scared of you.”
Dominic almost laughed.
Fair.
“She told me if anything happened, take the letter to the one Bellini who had already left the family house and survived.”
Thomas had done that.
At thirty.
After years of fighting Salvatore Bellini over how children were raised.
Nobody spoke of it as rebellion anymore.
They called Thomas eccentric.
Distance made uncomfortable choices easier to rewrite.
Dominic drove to Thomas’s house before noon.
No bodyguards inside.
Thomas opened the door wearing an old cardigan.
He looked at Dominic.
Then at the car.
“So Lenora finally went too far.”
Dominic stared.
“You knew?”
“I knew she would.”
Thomas let him in.
His house was small.
Warm.
Photographs everywhere.
Dominic saw himself as a boy in several.
Then Eli as a baby.
“How did you get that?”
“Ruthie sends pictures.”
Dominic looked around.
“You’ve been watching us.”
“No.”
Thomas smiled faintly.
“I’ve been caring from far enough away that your aunt couldn’t turn it into authority.”
Dominic sat.
“Adrian gave you Mara’s letter.”
Thomas’s smile disappeared.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you bring it to me?”
“Because Mara told Adrian not to let you see it until Eli was safe from Lenora.”
Dominic’s face tightened.
“He wasn’t.”
“No.”
Thomas crossed the room.
He opened a drawer.
Then returned with a sealed envelope.
Dominic recognized Mara’s handwriting immediately.
For Eli.
Dominic did not touch it.
“Read it.”
Thomas shook his head.
“It isn’t yours.”
“He’s three.”
“Then keep it.”
Dominic looked at the envelope.
“What’s in it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You never opened it?”
“No.”
Dominic almost asked how.
Then stopped.
Not everyone needed to control what they feared.
He took the letter.
Thomas sat across from him.
“Are you going to remove Lenora from the estate?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Adrian too.”
Thomas considered.
“Maybe.”
Dominic looked up.
“Maybe?”
“Did Adrian hurt Eli?”
“Yes.”
“Then he needs consequence.”
Dominic nodded.
Thomas continued.
“But if you remove everyone who failed until only you remain, you will recreate the same house with a different tyrant.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“You think this is the time to lecture me?”
“I think this is exactly the time.”
Dominic almost stood.
Then remembered Eli hiding behind his legs.
He stayed.
Thomas continued.
Lenora’s greatest power had never been cruelty.
It was certainty.
She always knew what strength looked like.
What loyalty required.
What a Bellini should tolerate.
Anyone who disagreed became weak.
Dominic had inherited part of that.
Not all.
Enough.
“You don’t starve children.”
“No.”
“You don’t drag them across floors.”
“No.”
“But you disappear for six weeks and assume blood will fill the gap.”
Dominic stared.
Thomas did not look away.
“Mara told me once that Eli behaved differently when you came home.”
“How?”
“He got quieter.”
That hurt more than Dominic expected.
“He was afraid of me?”
“No.”
Thomas shook his head.
“He was afraid you’d leave again.”
Dominic looked down.
He had mistaken clinginess for weakness.
Then treated distance as maturity.
Same family lesson.
Different shape.
Thomas leaned back.
“Mara wanted you.”
Dominic raised his eyes.
“She wanted you to come home emotionally before she ever asked you to leave the estate physically.”
Silence.
Then Thomas said something unexpected.
“Your mother wanted the same thing.”
Dominic stared.
“Isabella came here the week before she died.”
“What?”
“She asked if she could bring you and live with me for a while.”
Dominic’s chest tightened.
“Why didn’t she?”
“Lenora found out.”
Of course.
Thomas explained.
Isabella feared separating Dominic from the family after losing his father.
Lenora told her leaving would make him rootless.
Thomas argued the opposite.
Isabella chose to stay one more month.
She died before deciding again.
Dominic stood.
“Why did nobody tell me?”
Thomas looked sad.
“Because after a death, families prefer clean stories.”
That sentence followed Dominic all the way back to the estate.
Eli ran toward him this time.
Dominic noticed.
He lifted the boy.
Then Lenora appeared at the far end of the hall.
Two packed suitcases stood beside her.
Dominic stopped.
“I didn’t order anyone to pack for you yet.”
Lenora looked toward Eli.
“I did it myself.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas told you.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“How do you know I saw him?”
Lenora smiled faintly.
“Because there has always been someone in this family who reports back to me.”
Dominic looked toward Adrian.
Adrian shook his head.
Not him.
Then Lenora looked past Dominic.
May you like
Toward Ruthie.
The nanny went completely pale.
