Chapter 3 - A HOUSE FULL OF EARS
Alessandro stared at the message.
Rosa saw his face change.
“What?”
He turned the screen toward her.
She stood so quickly the sofa cushion shifted beneath Lily.
“They heard us.”
Alessandro crossed to the fireplace.
His father had given him the brass mantel clock when he took over the estate.
A family piece, Vittorio had said.
He lifted it.
A thin black wire disappeared beneath the base.
For several seconds, Alessandro simply held the clock.
Then he set it down.
He didn’t smash it.
He wanted whoever was listening to keep listening.
“Bruno,” he called.
The old butler appeared almost immediately.
“Move Rosa and Lily into the east guest suite. Take Mrs. Alvarez with you. Nobody enters without Rosa’s permission.”
Bruno looked at Rosa, then the child.
“Yes, sir.”
“And get Lily’s rabbit.”
The old man swallowed.
“Of course.”
When they were gone, Alessandro called his head of security.
Nico Bell answered on the second ring.
“I need an outside sweep. People who have never worked for my father.”
A pause.
“How bad?”
“Assume the house is listening.”
By noon, six devices had been found.
The library clock. The study lamp. A smoke detector outside Alessandro’s bedroom.
Three more in rooms he used for private meetings.
Nico placed them in a row on the desk.
“Somebody’s been paying close attention.”
“Find out who installed them.”
“Already working on it.”
Upstairs, Rosa stood inside a guest suite larger than her apartment.
Lily sat on the rug, hugging Bun.
“Are we in trouble?”
“No, baby.”
“Pretty lady mad?”
Rosa knelt.
“The pretty lady was wrong.”
Lily considered that.
Then she asked, “Can grown-ups be wrong?”
“All the time.”
A knock came.
Isabella entered before Rosa could answer.
She had changed into a cream suit. Her engagement ring flashed as she closed the door.
“So,” she said. “This was your plan.”
Rosa rose.
“My daughter is right there.”
“Then lower your voice.”
“I haven’t raised it.”
Isabella stepped closer.
“You think having his child makes you family?”
Rosa’s stomach dropped.
She hadn’t said child.
She hadn’t said father.
Isabella smiled faintly.
“Yes. I know.”
Rosa moved between her and Lily.
“Get out.”
For the first time, the words belonged to her.
Isabella’s smile disappeared.
“You have no idea what you’re standing in the middle of.”
May you like
Then she leaned close.
“If you love that little girl, ask Alessandro what happened to his mother.”
