Chapter 4
Nico denied giving Bernadette anything.
He admitted only that she had mentioned “making Luca sick enough to prove a point.”
Vittorio’s breathing slowed.
Maria, standing near the library doors, visibly recoiled.
Bernadette laughed when confronted.
“Nico is protecting himself.”
Her voice was sharp again.
Her shoulders had straightened.
She was recovering because the blame was spreading.
Vittorio noticed.
“Then tell me your version.”
Bernadette crossed one leg over the other.
“I gave Luca something for his stomach.”
“He wasn't sick before.”
“He complains constantly.”
“You made him drink it.”
“I’m his great-aunt.”
Vittorio’s hand flattened against the desk.
Bernadette’s eyes flicked toward it.
Only once.
She remembered the motor court.
He removed his hand.
“I’m asking about intent.”
Her chin rose.
“And I'm telling you that this family used to raise children who could survive discomfort.”
Maria inhaled sharply.
Bernadette looked toward her.
“You.”
Maria stiffened.
“You've turned him into a frightened little prince.”
Vittorio stepped between them.
Bernadette stopped speaking.
No threat.
No motion.
Just his body entering the space.
The balance changed immediately.
Then the security director arrived with surveillance records.
Bernadette’s car had entered a blind section of the underground garage on four separate occasions during the previous month.
Each time Nico’s credentials opened a service door nearby.
Three dates matched Luca’s earlier stomach complaints.
Vittorio looked at Nico.
Nico’s face remained unreadable.
Then the director added something worse.
On each of those three dates, Maria’s schedule had been altered.
She had been deliberately sent away from Luca.
Vittorio turned toward Maria.
“Who changed it?”
She swallowed.
“Family care authority.”
Vittorio frowned.
The director placed an authorization sheet on the desk.
Vittorio recognized the signature immediately.
His own.
May you like
Six months earlier, he had given Bernadette temporary authority to override household schedules whenever he traveled.
The person who created the opening for all three incidents had been Vittorio himself.
