Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
Vincent arrived at the Moretti estate before sunrise.
Salvatore was already in the breakfast room, reading a newspaper as if the previous day's confrontation had never happened. A silver coffee pot sat beside him. The room smelled of dark roast and polished wood.
Vincent did not sit.
“Who sent the photograph to Claire?”
Salvatore turned a page.
“I told you I don't know.”
“You knew Marco was watching her.”
“I knew Marco watches everyone who matters to you.”
“Then why did you let him get close?”
Salvatore lowered the paper.
“You are confusing my responsibilities with your regrets.”
Vincent placed the airport photograph on the table.
“This was taken after Claire returned. Someone followed her from the terminal to her building. Someone knows about Lily.”
Salvatore looked at the image.
“Then you should move them.”
“Claire will not agree to come here.”
“Then persuade her.”
“I won't force her.”
Salvatore gave a humorless laugh.
“Since when did you become a man who waits for permission?”
“Since I learned what happens when I don't.”
For a moment, Salvatore's expression shifted. He looked almost disappointed.
“You were not supposed to let her go in the first place,” he said. “You were supposed to make her hate you enough to leave and then keep her safe from a distance.”
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
“Tell me exactly what you arranged.”
Salvatore stood and walked toward the windows.
“Five years ago, Marco Bellini had lost his brother. He believed you had ordered the attack. He wanted you to suffer in the same way he had suffered. He could not reach you directly, so he began watching Claire. She was famous, visible, and unprotected whenever she left the mansion without your men.”
“I had security around her.”
“You had security around the house. Not around every theater, studio, restaurant, and airport. Marco knew her schedule. He knew which friends she visited. He knew the charity events she attended.”
Vincent's jaw tightened.
“What did you do?”
“I arranged for you to be seen with Elena Rossi.”
The name brought back the restaurant. The yellow sign. Claire standing outside in the cold.
“Elena was a witness,” Vincent said.
“She was more than that. Her brother had worked for Bellini. She had records that could damage him. She needed protection, and we needed a reason for you to be near her without raising suspicion.”
“So you used her.”
“We used a situation. You helped her carry plates because she had injured her wrist. You stayed until the restaurant closed because her brother was late. The photograph was meant to look intimate.”
Vincent's face hardened.
“And the words I said to Claire?”
Salvatore looked at him.
“You chose those.”
“I asked you what to say.”
“I told you to make it final.”
Vincent remembered the conversation. Salvatore had told him that a clean separation was safer than a marriage that could be used as leverage. He had told him that Claire would never be able to disappear while she remained his wife.
Vincent had believed the threat.
He had also believed that if Claire hated him, she would stop trying to return.
“I told her I loved Elena,” he said.
“Yes.”
“I watched her break.”
“You thought she would survive it.”
Vincent took one step toward him.
“You watched her leave with nothing but two suitcases.”
“She received a settlement.”
“She was my wife.”
“She was a weakness.”
Vincent's voice dropped.
“She was a person.”
Salvatore stared at him.
“You were a man who had built an empire on the belief that people could be protected only if you controlled every variable. I did what I thought was necessary.”
“You deleted her message.”
“I did.”
“You knew she was pregnant.”
“I suspected.”
Vincent looked as if he might strike him. Instead, he took the photograph from the table.
“From this moment forward, you have no authority over Claire, Lily, or anyone assigned to protect them.”
Salvatore's expression went cold.
“You cannot remove me from this family.”
“I can remove you from my decisions.”
Vincent walked out.
At the front steps, Luca was waiting.
“Did he admit it?”
“He admitted arranging the scene with Elena. He knew Claire had tried to contact me. He deleted the message.”
Luca looked toward the house.
“Do you want me to detain him?”
“No. I want records. Every instruction he gave Dominic. Every payment to the private security firm. Every call with Bellini.”
“And Elena?”
“Find her. I owe her an apology too.”
Luca nodded.
Vincent got into the car.
“Where to?”
“The café Claire visited yesterday.”
“Boss, she won't want to see you.”
“I know.”
“Then why go?”
“Because someone is following her. I need to warn her before they get close.”
Across the city, Claire was trying to convince Lily that breakfast could not consist entirely of chocolate cereal.
“Just one bowl,” Lily negotiated.
“One bowl of cereal and half a banana.”
“Can the banana have sprinkles?”
“No.”
“Just a little?”
Claire kissed her nose.
“You're becoming a very difficult person.”
Lily grinned.
“I learned from you.”
Emma arrived while Claire was packing a small bag for their afternoon outing.
“We have a problem,” Emma said.
Claire looked up.
“What kind?”
“Two men were seen outside the building last night. One was in the photograph delivery video. The other has been asking about the parking garage.”
Claire put down the bag.
“Did you call the police?”
“I called the building manager and our security contact. The men left before anyone could approach them.”
“Did they belong to Vincent?”
“We don't know.”
Claire glanced at Lily, who was carefully putting a toy dinosaur into her backpack.
“We're leaving the apartment.”
Emma nodded.
“I've arranged a private residence outside the city.”
“No. I want to know who is doing this.”
“Claire, you have a four-year-old.”
“I know exactly who I have.”
Emma lowered her voice.
“Then don't let pride make you predictable.”
Claire looked at her.
It was not pride that kept her in Chicago. It was exhaustion. She had spent five years moving from place to place, changing phone numbers, avoiding public appearances, and giving Lily a childhood that never lasted long enough in one place to feel permanent.
She wanted to stop running.
But she would not risk her daughter to prove a point.
“Fine,” she said. “We move today. But we don't go to Vincent's house.”
Emma nodded.
A knock sounded at the door.
Both women turned.
A voice came through the wood.
“Claire. It's Vincent.”
Lily looked up.
“Is that the man from the airport?”
Claire's stomach tightened.
She motioned Emma to keep Lily in the kitchen, then approached the door without opening it.
“What do you want?”
“To warn you.”
“I don't need anything from you.”
“Someone sent you a photograph. Someone is asking about Lily. It isn't my instruction.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Go away.”
“Please listen. Marco Bellini knows you're back.”
The name meant nothing to her.
“Who is Marco Bellini?”
“A man who has been trying to hurt me for years.”
“Then keep him away from us.”
“That's what I'm trying to do.”
Claire opened the door a few inches, keeping the security chain in place.
“You don't get to appear at my home and pretend you're protecting us. You were the person I needed protection from.”
Vincent accepted the words without defending himself.
“I know.”
“No, you don't. You don't know what it was like to raise a child while wondering whether the man who fathered her would ever care enough to answer a message.”
“I found the message.”
Claire went still.
“What message?”
“The one Emma sent. It said you were pregnant. I never saw it.”
“You never saw it because you ordered your men not to let me reach you.”
Vincent looked down.
“Yes.”
The honesty unsettled her more than an excuse would have.
“Why are you telling me now?”
“Because I won't lie to you again.”
Claire stared at him through the narrow opening.
“Then tell me the truth about Elena.”
Vincent's eyes lifted.
“I never loved her.”
“You told me you did.”
“I know.”
“You looked me in the eye and said it.”
“I was trying to make you leave.”
“You succeeded.”
He nodded.
“I thought if you hated me, you would be safer.”
Claire let out a small, disbelieving laugh.
“You thought heartbreak was a security plan?”
“No. I thought it was the only plan I had.”
“You had a thousand men, Vincent. You had money, influence, lawyers, and a private army. You could have told me the truth.”
“I was afraid you'd refuse to leave.”
“So you made the decision for me.”
“Yes.”
Claire's hand tightened around the door.
“That is not love.”
“I know.”
She closed the door.
Vincent did not knock again.
He stood outside for several seconds, then stepped away.
Inside, Claire leaned her forehead against the wood.
Lily appeared beside her.
“Mommy, is he going away?”
“Yes, baby.”
“Did you tell him thank you for catching me?”
Claire looked down.
“No.”
“Maybe you should. It was nice.”
May you like
Claire held her daughter close.
“Maybe one day.”
