Chapter 9 - THE THINGS FIRE COULDN’T TAKE
Bruno ran toward the greenhouse before anyone could stop him.
Alessandro caught him at the steps.
“The box!”
“Stay back.”
Heat pushed across the lawn.
Glass cracked overhead.
Rosa stood at the terrace door holding Lily, who had awakened crying at the alarm.
“Mommy, the sky’s orange.”
“I know. Look at me.”
Nico pulled a garden hose free, but the fire was already climbing the wooden interior frames.
A security guard shouted that someone had cut through the service fence.
Alessandro dragged Bruno farther back as a roof panel collapsed.
The old man struggled.
“I lost it again.”
“No.”
“The evidence—”
“Maya has scans.”
Bruno stopped fighting.
“Everything?”
“Everything.”
The fire department arrived within minutes.
Police followed.
By dawn, the greenhouse was a black shell.
Nobody had died.
Alessandro stood barefoot on the wet grass, his sleeve burned where falling debris had brushed him.
Rosa approached carrying a clean shirt.
“You’re bleeding.”
“It’s nothing.”
She looked at him.
He corrected himself.
“It needs cleaning.”
Inside, Lily sat with Mateo, sticking bandages on Bun.
When Alessandro entered, she pointed.
“You need one.”
“I think you’re right.”
She chose a bandage covered in little green frogs.
He let her press it over the dressing on his forearm.
Then she looked up.
“Are you my daddy?”
The room went still.
Rosa sat beside her.
“Why do you ask, sweetheart?”
“Uncle Mateo said Daddy’s house.”
Mateo closed his eyes.
“Rosa, I’m sorry.”
She shook her head.
Alessandro lowered himself to Lily’s level.
“Yes,” he said, after Rosa nodded. “I am.”
Lily studied him with serious eyes.
“Where were you?”
It was the question no threat had prepared him for.
“Right here,” he said. “But I didn’t know.”
“Know me?”
“I didn’t know I was your daddy.”
She looked at Rosa.
“Mommy knew.”
Rosa felt the words like a bruise.
“Yes, baby.”
“Why didn’t you tell?”
“Because I was scared.”
Lily thought about that.
Then she held out Bun.
“You can hug him.”
Rosa did.
That afternoon, an investigator called Maya.
The two men from the kitchen were no longer willing to remain silent.
One had identified the person who arranged the attempted removal.
Vittorio Moretti.
May you like
The other had named the place they were supposed to take Rosa and Lily.
An abandoned property off Route Nine.
