Chapter 2 - THE HOUSE DIVIDED
Alessandro brought Sophie and me to his private quarters on the penthouse level—a place no staff member had ever stepped foot in. He ordered his personal physician to attend to my bruised face and had hot tea brought up for Sophie.
While Sophie drank her tea on the plush velvet leather sofa, Alessandro stood by the grand bay window, staring out into the rain-drenched gardens of the estate.
"Vincent Marchetti has been with my family for twelve years," Alessandro said, his tone icy. "His father bled for my father. But the silver bracelet proves his men were in the service quarters tonight."
"Mr. Viscari," I said, rising from the sofa and stepping closer to him, "Vincent isn't acting alone. Before his man hit me, I heard him tell his partner on the radio: 'Damien wants the logs destroyed before the boss sees the discrepancies.'"
Alessandro turned around slowly. His eyes locked onto mine. "Damien Rizzo?"
"Yes," I confirmed, my voice trembling with conviction. "Damien has been altering the cargo manifests for months. He used Vincent’s men to do the dirty work so the blame would fall on the Marchetti family if anything went wrong!"
The pieces of a massive conspiracy suddenly clicked into place. Damien Rizzo, Alessandro’s deputy of fifteen years, was orchestrating a quiet coup—framing the Marchetti clan to ignite an internal war while stealing millions from the syndicate’s logistics network.
"They thought you were just an invisible maid who wouldn't speak up," Alessandro said, stepping closer to me. The sheer power radiating from him was terrifying, yet for the first time, I felt completely safe. "They made a fatal error."
"What are you going to do?" I asked quietly.
May you like
Alessandro looked over at Sophie, who was fast asleep on his sofa, her little hand still clutching her white rabbit.
"I am going to tear them down," Alessandro replied softly. "Starting tonight."
