Chapter 7
Vittorio moved Anna and Mia to his private upstairs suite.
Not a staff room.
Not the servants’ wing.
His floor.
Celeste laughed when she heard.
“So now maids sleep beside the boss?”
Vittorio looked at her.
“No.”
He nodded toward Anna.
“People I trust do.”
That hurt.
Celeste’s smile vanished.
She leaned toward Anna as guards passed.
“Enjoy the carpet.”
Her voice turned sweet.
“You’ll be scrubbing it again soon.”
Anna stopped walking.
Vittorio noticed.
Celeste continued.
“And maybe your daughter can help this time.”
Mia hugged Anna’s leg.
Celeste smiled at the child.
“You like helping Mommy, don’t you?”
Vittorio stepped between them.
Celeste looked up.
“What?”
He leaned closer.
“If you threaten the child again, the conversation changes.”
Her face tightened.
Then she smiled.
“You think I threatened her?”
“You did.”
“I was being affectionate.”
“That's your problem.”
Celeste’s smile thinned.
“You've started believing servants when family is standing right in front of you.”
Vittorio said nothing.
She continued.
“Your father would be ashamed.”
Vittorio’s expression did not move.
Celeste pressed harder.
“He built something feared.”
She looked toward Mia.
“You’re turning it into a daycare.”
Mia frowned.
Celeste laughed.
“See?”
Then she looked at Anna.
“Maybe teach her not to stare at adults.”
Anna quietly said:
“Stop talking to my daughter.”
Celeste blinked.
The first resistance.
Small.
But there.
“What did you say?”
Anna’s hands shook.
Still, she repeated it.
“Stop talking to her.”
Celeste stepped closer.
“Or what?”
Anna went pale.
Celeste saw it.
Enjoyed it.
“There she is.”
She smiled.
“The brave little maid disappears when someone looks back.”
Vittorio moved.
Celeste’s confidence vanished.
He didn't touch her.
He simply stood beside Anna.
That was enough.
Celeste looked away.
Later, Vittorio returned downstairs.
Mauro had gathered eight of the senior capos.
No secret vote.
No twelve chairs.
A different room.
Different table.
No drinks.
Vittorio placed the brass marker in the middle.
“Who has one?”
Nobody moved.
He waited.
Anthony Bellucci reached into his coat.
Placed number four down.
Then Dominic Rizzo.
Number seven.
Then Paul Caruso.
Number ten.
Three men.
Mauro watched the others.
Vittorio asked:
“Who gave them to you?”
Anthony answered.
“Marco.”
“When?”
“Two days ago.”
“What were you told?”
Anthony looked uncomfortable.
“That there might be a confidence vote.”
“In me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Anthony hesitated.
“That you were ill.”
Vittorio almost smiled.
There it was.
The powder created symptoms.
Marco spread explanation.
Then the vote arrived as concern.
Perfectly staged.
“What illness?”
“Neurological.”
“Based on?”
“Your fatigue.”
Vittorio looked at the others.
Dominic spoke.
“Marco said you’d been forgetting meetings.”
False.
Paul added:
“Celeste said your hands were shaking.”
Also false.
Mauro cursed quietly.
They had been building a story around symptoms they intended to create.
Vittorio asked:
“And at midnight?”
Anthony looked confused.
“Midnight?”
Interesting.
The vote participants didn't know.
Vittorio looked at Dominic.
Same confusion.
Paul.
Same.
So midnight belonged to another layer.
Something hidden even from the men being recruited.
Then the door opened.
One guard entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We caught somebody in the staff corridor.”
“Who?”
“A man dressed as catering.”
Vittorio stood.
“Name?”
“He won't give one.”
The guard hesitated.
“But he had this.”
He placed a black velvet pouch on the table.
Inside were six silver rings.
Ferrara rings.
Too many.
Not personal jewelry.
Props.
Markers.
Evidence meant to be found.
Vittorio looked at Mauro.
The ring in the blue room hadn't been planted to identify one Ferrara man.
Someone planned to scatter six.
Enough to make an attack look external.
Enough to send Vittorio’s family toward war.
He looked at the clock.
10:38 p.m.
The secret vote weakened the house.
The blue powder weakened selected men.
The Ferrara rings created an enemy.
And midnight was approaching.
Vittorio finally understood one thing.
May you like
Celeste and Marco weren’t planning to replace him quietly.
They were preparing the mansion to look attacked.
