Chapter 6
Matteo’s attorney found Helena’s family-law lawyer through billing records.
Helena had paid personally.
Six months earlier.
The legal questions were unusually specific.
What happens to a minor child when a sole custodial parent is detained pending federal trial?
How much weight does an existing bond with a proposed guardian carry?
Can temporary guardianship be established before criminal sentencing?
How does a parent’s exposure to organized crime affect the court’s assessment of household safety?
Matteo read every question.
Helena had begun planning months before she claimed to know about a coming indictment.
That contradiction mattered.
His lawyer highlighted the dates.
“She started asking about detention in March.”
“Dominic says she warned him about an indictment in July.”
“Which means the legal plan came first.”
Matteo leaned back.
“So where did the fear come from?”
They found another piece inside estate records.
Helena had instructed two senior household employees to keep notes about Matteo.
Not financial records.
Behavior.
How often he returned after midnight.
Whether he raised his voice.
Whether Ava was present during family meetings.
Whether armed guards remained near her.
Whether Matteo drank at dinner.
One employee had refused.
Another complied because Helena said the notes were for “security restructuring.”
Matteo read the entries.
Most were technically true.
That made them more dangerous.
June 11 — Mr. Bellini returned 2:40 a.m.
No mention that Ava had been asleep with her nanny for six hours.
June 19 — argument in west office. Raised voices heard.
No mention that Ava was visiting a museum with staff.
July 3 — armed security visible during family dinner.
In the Bellandi world, that was ordinary.
In a custody petition, it looked different.
Helena was not documenting emergencies.
She was constructing a portrait.
A powerful, volatile, criminally exposed father whose daughter already had a calmer replacement waiting.
Matteo called Dominic.
“Did you know she was keeping files on me?”
“No.”
Matteo believed him.
That was almost worse.
Because it meant Helena had compartments even Dominic could not see.
Before ending the call, Dominic said something that became the third clue Matteo could not ignore.
“She told me not to worry about whether the indictment would happen.”
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Matteo waited.
“She said, ‘I’ve made sure they have enough.’”
