Chapter 2 - The Papers in the Leather Case
Luciano did not answer.
Marco entered anyway.
He was forty-two, broad-shouldered and immaculately dressed, with the calm expression of a man who had spent fifteen years learning never to look surprised.
Then he saw Kate.
His composure slipped.
Only for a fraction of a second.
Luciano noticed.
Marco looked at the midwife, nurses, medical equipment, then at Kate’s stomach.
“What happened?”
Luciano watched him carefully.
“You tell me.”
Marco frowned.
“What?”
Luciano held up the photograph.
Marco’s eyes moved to it.
No recognition.
Or excellent acting.
“Where did you get that?”
“My case.”
Marco looked toward the leather case.
“Your case?”
“You packed it into the SUV.”
“The driver did.”
“You checked the vehicle.”
“I always check your vehicle.”
“Then explain this.”
Marco took the photograph.
Kate watched from the bed.
Margaret muttered that stress was worsening everything and ordered the men farther away.
Marco read the message.
HE SHOULD NEVER HAVE COME HOME.
His jaw tightened.
“Who knew you were coming?”
“You.”
“Your attorney.”
“And?”
“The driver.”
“Anyone else?”
“No.”
Luciano looked at him.
“Did Kate call me seven months ago?”
Marco’s silence lasted one second too long.
Kate noticed.
So did Luciano.
Marco handed the photograph back.
“This isn't the time.”
“It became the time when somebody put a threat inside my locked case.”
“Luciano—”
“Did she call?”
Marco looked at Kate.
“Yes.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Luciano spoke softly.
“How many times?”
“I don't remember.”
Kate answered.
“Eleven.”
Marco looked away.
Luciano stepped closer.
“You told me she wanted no contact.”
“She did.”
“No, I didn't,” Kate said.
Marco ignored her.
“You were in the middle of negotiations with the Moretti organization. There had already been two attempts on your life. Your judgment was compromised.”
“My judgment?”
“You were calling her every night.”
“Because she was my wife.”
“And every call exposed her.”
Kate stared at him.
“So you decided for us?”
“I protected both of you.”
Luciano’s hand curled into a fist.
“Did you intercept her emails?”
Marco did not answer.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
Kate closed her eyes.
Luciano stepped toward him.
Margaret moved between them.
“Not in this room.”
Luciano stopped.
Barely.
Marco said, “You can break my jaw later. Right now somebody knows about the pregnancy.”
“You knew.”
“I knew she was pregnant.”
Luciano froze.
Kate stared at Marco.
“You knew?”
Marco exhaled.
“The ultrasound arrived at the Milan office.”
Luciano’s face emptied of emotion.
“You saw my son's ultrasound before I did.”
“Yes.”
“And you hid it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the day it arrived, someone tried to kill you.”
Luciano said nothing.
“The package had been opened before it reached my desk,” Marco continued. “Whoever opened it knew Kate was pregnant. I had two choices. Tell you and watch you fly home immediately, or make everyone believe the marriage was dead.”
“You chose for me.”
“I kept you alive.”
“You left her alone.”
“I put security around this estate.”
Kate laughed bitterly.
“Security that somehow missed poisoned medication.”
Marco looked at her.
“What?”
She told him.
For the first time, his alarm looked genuine.
“When?”
“Eleven weeks ago.”
“Why wasn't I informed?”
“Because I didn't know your men were here.”
Marco turned to Luciano.
“I never authorized anyone inside the house.”
A nurse approached Margaret.
“We need more hot water.”
“I'll get it,” another said.
Marco blocked the door.
“No one leaves alone.”
The nurse stared.
Margaret snapped, “My staff are not prisoners.”
“No,” Marco said. “But someone inside this estate may have access to Mrs. Aruri.”
Kate suddenly groaned.
Everyone turned.
Margaret hurried back.
“Another contraction.”
Luciano went to the bed.
Marco remained near the doorway.
Kate gripped Luciano's hand before she remembered she was angry with him.
He let her.
Afterward, she whispered, “I hate you.”
“I know.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
Her fingers remained around his.
Margaret checked the fetal monitor.
“Heart rate is stable.”
Luciano lowered his head.
He had never heard his son's heartbeat before.
The sound was fast and impossibly small.
His eyes closed.
Kate saw.
For one dangerous second, she remembered why she had loved him.
Not the Aruri name.
Not his money.
Not the protection.
The man who once sat on the kitchen floor with her at two in the morning because she had burned dinner and cried from embarrassment.
The man who secretly fed stray dogs behind restaurants.
The man almost nobody else was allowed to see.
Then she saw the divorce papers again.
She pulled her hand away.
Marco’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
His expression sharpened.
“What?”
Marco showed Luciano.
A security-camera image.
A vehicle parked beyond the east gate.
No plates.
“Been there twelve minutes.”
“Send two men.”
“Already did.”
Kate whispered, “No.”
Luciano turned.
“What?”
“That car.”
“You recognize it?”
“I've seen it before.”
“Where?”
“Outside Dr. Bennett's office.”
Marco and Luciano exchanged a look.
“When?”
“The day my medication was changed.”
Luciano immediately called someone.
“Find Bennett.”
Margaret looked up.
“He's on his way here.”
Luciano stopped.
“What route?”
“I don't know.”
Marco was already moving.
“Call him.”
Margaret dialed.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Luciano looked toward the window.
The November afternoon had darkened.
Kate whispered, “He always answers me.”
Marco spoke into his phone.
“Locate Dr. Bennett’s car.”
A minute passed.
Then another.
Kate breathed through another contraction.
Finally Marco's phone rang.
He listened.
His face changed.
“Where?”
Luciano watched him.
Marco ended the call.
“They found Bennett's car.”
Kate pushed herself higher.
“Is he okay?”
Marco did not answer quickly enough.
“Marco.”
“The car is empty.”
“Where?”
“Three miles from here.”
Luciano asked, “Blood?”
“No.”
“Phone?”
“Inside.”
Kate looked terrified.
Margaret placed a hand on her shoulder.
“We focus on the baby.”
But Luciano understood now.
This was not simply about him.
Someone had tracked Kate's pregnancy.
Someone had intercepted her attempts to contact him.
Someone had changed her medicine.
Now the doctor coming to help her had vanished.
Luciano picked up the divorce agreement.
He looked at his signature.
Then he tore the papers in half.
Kate stared.
He tore them again.
And again.
He dropped the pieces into the fireplace.
“You can't undo seven months by destroying paper.”
“No.”
He watched the pages burn.
“But nobody is ending anything today.”
“You don't get to decide that either.”
“I know.”
The answer surprised her.
Luciano looked at Marco.
“Search everything.”
“Already started.”
“Phones. Staff. Vehicles. Deliveries. Every person who has entered this property since Kate became pregnant.”
Marco nodded.
Then stopped.
“What?”
Luciano had noticed something on the floor.
A tiny piece of cream paper had remained beneath the leather case.
He picked it up.
Not part of the divorce agreement.
A receipt.
Private courier.
Milan to Hawthorne Ridge.
Seven months earlier.
Luciano turned it over.
The recipient signature was visible.
MARCO BELLINI.
Kate saw his face.
“What is it?”
Luciano raised his eyes toward the man he had trusted for fifteen years.
Marco looked at the receipt.
Then went pale.
“That isn't my signature.”
A phone rang.
Not Luciano’s.
Not Marco’s.
It came from inside the leather case.
Both men stared at it.
Luciano slowly reached inside.
Beneath the lining was a phone he had never seen before.
The screen showed one incoming call.
May you like
KATE ARURI.
But Kate’s phone was lying on the bed beside her.
