Chapter 3
The hospital discharged Ethan that evening.
Mia stayed overnight for monitoring.
Because two minors had been found inside an overheated locked vehicle, child-protective authorities were notified as a matter of procedure.
Silvio cooperated.
He hated every question.
Where had he been?
At a council meeting inside the main house.
Who was responsible for supervising Ethan and Mia?
Lucinda had volunteered to take them outside after lunch.
Why had Silvio agreed?
Because Lucinda was his sister.
The answer sounded weak when spoken aloud.
It sounded worse because it was true.
The following morning, Mara brought him the courtyard incident report.
One detail immediately stood out.
The valet log showed Silvio’s SUV had been moved from the shaded underground garage at 1:41 p.m.
Silvio found Ethan at approximately 2:03.
Twenty-two minutes.
Lucinda had claimed “a few minutes.”
“Who moved it?” Silvio asked.
“Ticket says family authorization.”
“Whose?”
“That’s the problem.”
The handwritten initials were unreadable.
Grant’s company managed valet operations for private estate events.
Silvio leaned back.
Of course it did.
Mara added another page.
“The courtyard camera covering the SUV wasn’t recording.”
“For how long?”
“Thirty-four minutes.”
Silvio looked at her.
“Convenient.”
“Don’t get ahead of evidence.”
She was right.
He hated that too.
Ethan refused to return to the estate that day.
He asked to stay at Silvio’s Manhattan apartment instead.
Silvio agreed without hesitation.
While staff packed essentials, Ethan stood near Mia’s bassinet holding one sneaker.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Will Aunt Lucy come?”
“No.”
“Uncle Grant?”
“No.”
“You promise?”
Silvio met his eyes.
“I promise.”
Ethan nodded.
Then he asked the question Silvio had spent twenty-four hours avoiding.
“Why did they want you not to be boss?”
Silvio crouched in front of him.
“I don’t know yet.”
It was the first time he had ever admitted uncertainty to his son.
That afternoon, he made a decision.
Grant’s company would lose all access to Marchetti security systems pending an independent review.
Lucinda’s access to the children would end immediately.
And every event record, valet log, text, vehicle record, and security report from the gathering would be preserved.
By six that evening, Grant’s attorney had sent a response.
Grant denied wrongdoing.
May you like
Lucinda claimed Silvio was “emotionally unstable following his wife’s death.”
And both demanded that the family council review whether Silvio remained fit to lead.
