Chapter 4 - Massimo Comes Home
Massimo’s jet landed at Teterboro at 3:42 that afternoon.
Cameras recorded him descending the stairs wearing the same navy suit he had supposedly worn during meetings in London.
Vivian waited at the estate entrance.
When Massimo stepped from the car, she ran into his arms.
“I missed you.”
Massimo embraced her.
For three seconds.
Long enough for the staff to see.
Long enough for the cameras to see.
Long enough to understand exactly how convincing she had been for three years.
Then he kissed her forehead.
“I missed you too.”
Vivian smiled.
Nothing in her face suggested she had kissed Damian less than twenty-four hours earlier.
“Your mother has been difficult,” she said.
Massimo looked toward the upstairs windows.
“Difficult?”
“Tired. Emotional. Wedding stress.”
“How is her heart?”
“Fine.”
He held Vivian’s gaze.
“My mother’s heart is fine?”
Vivian nodded.
“As far as I know.”
Massimo almost admired the lie.
Almost.
Inside, Damian approached with open arms.
“London survivor.”
Massimo hugged his cousin.
Damian slapped his shoulder.
“You look terrible.”
“You look expensive.”
“That’s because I’m marrying no one.”
Everyone laughed.
Massimo did too.
Damian wore the watch Massimo had given him on his thirtieth birthday.
They had grown up almost like brothers.
Their fathers had not.
Enzo Moretti and Carlo Moretti had spent years fighting over the family company before Carlo abruptly left.
Massimo had been sixteen.
Damian twelve.
Adults had told the children it was business.
Massimo now wondered what that word had concealed.
Lucia waited in her bedroom.
When Massimo entered, she stared at him for a long moment.
Then her face crumpled.
“My boy.”
He crossed the room.
She held him fiercely.
Massimo felt guilt burn through him.
She believed he had been in London while Vivian threatened her.
He could tell her the truth.
He wanted to.
Instead he whispered, “I’m here now.”
Lucia glanced toward the door.
“Where is Vivian?”
“Downstairs.”
Lucia relaxed slightly.
Massimo crouched beside her wheelchair.
“What happened to your cheek?”
A faint bruise remained beneath makeup.
“I bumped the bathroom cabinet.”
“Mother.”
“I’m old.”
“You’re seventy-two.”
“Exactly. Ancient.”
He almost smiled.
Then he saw the medication bottle.
The pills had been refilled.
“Any trouble while I was away?”
Lucia looked at him.
Something passed between them.
She knew he suspected.
Perhaps she even wanted him to force the truth from her.
But fear won.
“No.”
Massimo hated himself for nodding.
“Where is Sophie?”
Lucia’s expression changed.
“Fired.”
“Why?”
“They said she stole from me.”
“And did she?”
“No.”
The answer came instantly.
Massimo leaned closer.
“How certain are you?”
“As certain as I am that you are my son.”
Lucia’s voice trembled.
“Sophie would sleep on the floor beside me before she stole one dollar.”
Massimo remembered exactly that image.
Lucia grasped his wrist.
“Bring her back.”
“I’ll look into it.”
“Massimo.”
“I said I will.”
She studied him.
Then lowered her voice.
“Your father used to say that when he had already made a decision he did not want me to know.”
That caught him.
Before Massimo could answer, Vivian entered.
“There are my two favorite people.”
Lucia’s grip on Massimo tightened.
Vivian noticed.
Her smile barely changed.
“Darling, the florist needs you downstairs.”
“In a minute.”
Vivian approached Lucia.
“Feeling better?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Their eyes met.
Massimo watched his mother become smaller without physically moving.
That was the most painful thing Vivian had done.
Not the slap.
Not the medication.
Fear had invaded Lucia’s own bedroom.
Massimo stood.
“I want Sophie reinstated.”
Vivian froze.
Lucia looked up sharply.
“Why?” Vivian asked.
“My mother trusts her.”
“She stole—”
“Allegedly.”
“The evidence is overwhelming.”
Massimo shrugged.
“Then security can investigate while she works.”
Vivian stared at him.
“You’re risking your mother.”
“My mother just told me she wants Sophie.”
Lucia held her breath.
Vivian could not challenge Massimo without exposing too much.
Finally she smiled.
“Of course.”
Massimo kissed her cheek.
“Thank you.”
He left.
Vivian remained with Lucia.
The hidden bedroom microphone transmitted her whisper seconds later.
“That was stupid.”
Lucia replied, “He asked.”
“You put Sophie back inside this house?”
“My son did.”
Vivian bent closer.
“Then perhaps your son needs to stop making decisions.”
Massimo heard it while walking downstairs.
Marco’s voice came through his earpiece.
“Still want to wait?”
Massimo paused.
“Yes.”
That evening Sophie received a call from Human Resources.
The dismissal had been rescinded.
Full pay restored.
No explanation.
She refused.
Massimo expected that.
Ten minutes later he called her himself.
Sophie answered cautiously.
“Hello?”
“This is Massimo Moretti.”
Silence.
Then:
“If you’re calling to offer me hush money, save your breath.”
Massimo almost respected the insult too much to respond.
“I’m calling because my mother asked for you.”
“Your mother needed you yesterday.”
The words landed like a strike.
Massimo closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“No, Mr. Moretti. I don’t think you do.”
“I need you to return.”
“I’m not stepping back into that house while Vivian Crawford is there.”
“You will be protected.”
“By whom?”
“Me.”
Sophie laughed bitterly.
“Where were you when she put her hands on your mother?”
Massimo stared at the dark garden.
He could tell Sophie everything.
Instead he said, “Closer than you think.”
Silence.
Sophie’s breathing changed.
“What does that mean?”
“Come tomorrow morning. Ten o’clock. Use the north gate. Ask for Marco.”
“I haven’t agreed.”
“No.”
Massimo lowered his voice.
“But I think you photographed what they planted in your locker.”
Sophie went completely quiet.
Now she understood.
Massimo knew.
“How?”
“Tomorrow.”
“If this is another trap—”
“It isn’t.”
“You don’t get automatic trust because your name is on the building.”
“I know.”
That answer surprised her.
Finally Sophie said, “Ten o’clock.”
She disconnected.
Massimo turned.
Marco stood behind him holding a tablet.
“We found Elena’s mirrored login token.”
“Where?”
“Not with Elena.”
Massimo took the tablet.
The token had been activated from an office on the twenty-eighth floor of Moretti Holdings.
An office belonging to the company’s general counsel.
Arthur Vale.
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The man who had drafted Massimo and Vivian’s prenuptial agreement.
And the man scheduled to witness Lucia’s signature on Document 17.
