Chapter 3
Dr. Harris confirmed that Mia’s cheek was bruised but nothing was broken.
Her optometrist replaced the damaged glasses the following morning.
Rocco took her himself.
He expected Mia to be upset about Celeste.
Instead, the child became anxious when the technician removed her temporary pair to adjust the new frames.
“No.”
The technician stopped immediately.
Rocco crouched.
“It’s okay.”
Mia reached for the glasses.
“I need them.”
“You’ll get them right back.”
She shook her head.
“No dark.”
Rocco’s chest tightened.
Mia was significantly farsighted and had astigmatism. Without correction, the world was blurry, especially at certain distances.
But “dark” was not how she usually described it.
“Did Celeste leave you without your glasses for a long time?”
Mia nodded.
“How long?”
She held up both hands.
That meant nothing at four.
Rocco did not press.
Later, child psychologist Dr. Hannah Price met Mia in a playroom away from the estate.
She told Rocco afterward:
“Mia associates having her glasses removed with being told to stay in bed and not look at people.”
Rocco’s expression changed.
“People?”
“She used the plural.”
“Adrian and Celeste?”
“I’m not going to turn her statements into conclusions.”
Rocco hated careful professionals.
He was beginning to understand why he needed them.
Hannah continued.
“One thing is clear. The glasses were being used as a control mechanism.”
Rocco looked through the observation window at Mia.
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She may have tried in ways you didn’t understand.”
That answer followed him home.
He asked Mrs. Ellis whether Mia had said anything unusual over the previous months.
The nanny thought.
“She started asking whether grown-ups were allowed in your room when you weren’t there.”
“When?”
“Maybe two months ago.”
“Anything else?”
“She once said Uncle Adrian came to visit the papers.”
Rocco went still.
“The papers.”
“Yes. I thought she meant your office.”
That was clue number one.
Adrian’s visits had something to do with documents.
Rocco called Elaine.
He requested a complete list of sensitive company material delivered to his home during the last six months.
The list contained eleven packages.
Four related to routine matters.
Three concerned acquisitions.
Two involved internal audits.
One involved changes to vendor authorization.
The final package concerned something Adrian had fought Rocco about repeatedly.
A proposed restructuring that would remove senior family capos from approval roles in Moretti Holdings.
Rocco had delayed the plan.
Not because he changed his mind.
May you like
Because Adrian had warned it would create conflict.
Now Rocco wondered whether the conflict had already begun.
