Chapter 3
Emma knew more than anyone expected.
Children usually do.
They just lack adult vocabulary.
I asked her nothing directly at first.
I played blocks.
She talked.
“Mommy falls in kitchen.”
Block.
“Mommy falls by closet.”
Block.
“Mommy falls when Daddy gets loud.”
My hands stopped.
Then she picked up a red block.
“Red room.”
“What’s the red room?”
She pointed toward the Mercer side of the estate.
Sarah immediately looked at me.
There.
Something else.
The red room was a small formal salon in David’s family residence.
Used for private dinners.
No council meetings.
At least that was what I had been told.
Sarah whispered:
“He takes people there.”
“Who?”
“Capos. Associates. Men from both families.”
My jaw tightened.
“Why?”
She looked down.
“He tells them he’s building continuity.”
That word again.
David was not merely abusing my daughter privately.
He had been using the marriage publicly.
Presenting himself as the natural bridge between Mercer and DeLuca.
Not successor exactly.
Smarter.
Coordinator.
The man who could keep both sides stable if I ever stepped back.
Sarah hated it.
She told him to stop.
May you like
That was when the violence worsened.
Because her disagreement threatened the future he had been selling.
