Chapter 5
Lorenzo began investigating Victor’s finances.
Michael stopped him.
“You can review information you legally control.”
“I control companies he has interests in.”
“That doesn’t mean you get to dig through his private accounts because you’re angry.”
Lorenzo glared.
Michael continued.
“If this turns into a custody or divorce matter, you do not want Victor saying the Mafia father-in-law used corporate access to destroy him.”
Lorenzo sat back.
“What can I do?”
“Support Bianca.”
“That’s all?”
“That is not a small job.”
Bianca meanwhile asked a more useful question.
“Why would Victor want the baby without me?”
Her attorney, Rachel Monroe, did not assume he did.
“We know Marcella prepared a nursery.”
“Yes.”
“We know staff were told you would leave.”
“Yes.”
“We know Victor exaggerated your balance problems.”
“Yes.”
“But we do not yet know the purpose.”
Bianca hated that answer.
She accepted it.
The next development came from the hospital itself.
Victor had contacted the maternity unit two weeks earlier.
He asked about discharge procedures after delivery.
Normal for an expectant father.
Then he asked:
“What happens if the mother needs extended medical observation but the newborn is cleared?”
A nurse explained that discharge depends on parental rights, medical circumstances, and hospital policy.
Victor asked whether a father could leave with the newborn if the mother remained admitted.
Again, not inherently sinister.
But then he asked whether a grandmother could assist.
The nurse told him those decisions would depend on the parents and clinical situation.
Victor ended the call.
Bianca listened to the hospital’s documented summary.
“He thought I was going to be hospitalized.”
Rachel did not answer.
Bianca continued.
“Marcella had her nursery ready.”
“Yes.”
“They were telling everyone I was falling.”
“Yes.”
“And she told me I leave after the baby comes.”
Rachel closed the file.
“It’s concerning.”
“Concerned is starting to feel like a very small word.”
Before Rachel could answer, another call came in.
Victor had filed for a temporary protective order.
Not against Bianca.
Against Lorenzo.
He cited the punch, the destruction in the staircase hall, Lorenzo’s reputation, armed bodyguards, and the slap against Marcella.
He argued that Lorenzo posed a threat to the Hale family.
The judge granted a short temporary no-contact order pending hearing.
Lorenzo received the papers at his office.
He read them once.
Then handed them to Michael.
“He’s using my reaction.”
“Yes.”
Lorenzo thought about Victor’s face after the push.
The immediate lie.
The attempt to reach the monitor.
May you like
Then the legal filing.
For the first time, Lorenzo wondered whether his anger had been more useful to Victor than he wanted to admit.
