Chapter 10
I gathered the senior Bellandi capos at the estate the next afternoon.
Luca stayed upstairs with Claire and Diane.
That was important.
I was not going to carry my newborn into a council room as proof of anything.
Grant would have done that.
I would not.
The Marlowe meetings came first.
Carlo admitted five.
Two other capos admitted three.
One admitted only listening.
Another said Grant approached him but he refused because he disliked Vanessa’s involvement in operational matters.
I appreciated the honesty.
Then I asked one question.
“How many of you believed I was becoming unreliable because of Luca?”
Three hands.
Nobody enjoyed raising them.
Good.
“What did you see?”
One capo answered.
“You leaving meetings.”
Another:
“Your house in chaos.”
A third:
“Grant finishing decisions because you weren’t there.”
I nodded.
Then Claire entered.
Not Luca.
Only Claire.
She described the delayed feedings, the colder swaddles, the missing staff, the freezing water, and the pattern of people being invited to witness distress before anyone was allowed to comfort the child.
The room changed slowly.
Not outrage at first.
Understanding.
That mattered more.
Grant interrupted.
“She’s a caretaker.”
I looked at him.
“Yes.”
“You’re weighing her against capos?”
“No.”
I leaned back.
“I’m weighing what she saw against what you wanted them to see.”
Silence.
Then Diane spoke from the doorway.
“I was fired because I noticed the same thing.”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
One of the older capos looked at Grant.
“You staged the chaos?”
Grant snapped:
“We demonstrated a weakness that already existed.”
The room went still.
There.
No more denial.
I looked at him.
May you like
“My son was your demonstration.”
Grant realized too late how ugly the truth sounded without strategy wrapped around it.
