Chapter 6
Enzo arrived that evening with the confidence of a man who still believed age protected him.
He kissed my mother’s cheek.
Asked after Audrey.
That almost impressed me.
Then he entered the council room and saw Vanessa, Matteo, and the phones.
His expression changed by half an inch.
Enough.
“Uncle.”
“Damian.”
I played Claire’s recording.
He listened.
No reaction.
Then I showed him the photographs.
He sighed.
“Children fall.”
I stared.
There it was.
The exact sentence Vanessa had used for months.
Not coincidence.
Shared language.
I leaned back.
“Tell me about St. Catherine’s.”
His eyes sharpened.
“Why?”
“Because my wife and cousin tried to manufacture enough accidents to send Audrey there.”
Enzo looked at Vanessa.
Not with shock.
With annoyance.
She had failed.
That told me everything.
“You knew.”
“I knew she wanted the girl somewhere quieter.”
“The girl.”
His grandniece.
My daughter.
He continued.
“You travel constantly. She needs stability.”
I almost laughed.
“Is that what you call reopening my father’s route?”
Silence.
Matteo looked down.
Enzo’s face hardened.
“That route fed this family for decades.”
“So did fear.”
He shrugged.
“Fear works.”
I thought of Audrey asking whether I would come with her.
I kept my voice low.
“Not anymore.”
Enzo leaned forward.
“You shut down half the old network because you wanted to modernize.”
“I shut it because every old route came with men who thought they owned it.”
“And now our enemies use the space.”
“Then we build something better.”
He laughed.
“Like what? Garden parties?”
Vanessa almost smiled.
There.
Shared contempt.
I understood the alliance.
Enzo thought I had become soft after fatherhood.
Vanessa thought Audrey was the reason.
Matteo wanted position.
Different motives.
Same child in the way.
I looked at Enzo.
“You wanted access to St. Catherine’s.”
“Yes.”
Finally.
“And if Audrey refused to live there?”
He said nothing.
I stood.
My voice dropped.
May you like
“Then you planned to keep hurting her until I made the decision for her.”
Enzo’s silence was the first honest answer he gave me.
