Chapter 4 - THE VELVET COAT
The cracked glass of the pocket watch caught the light from the chandeliers.
Alessandro stared at it as if he were holding a live grenade.
His brother.
Lorenzo Romano.
The man who handled all of Alessandro’s offshore accounts. The man who sat at his right hand during every major syndicate meeting.
“Lorenzo was here the night Elena died,” Alessandro said, his voice hollow. “He told me he arrived after the ambulance. He told me he tried to save her.”
Alessandro gripped the watch so hard his knuckles turned white.
“He lied.”
Answer One: Victoria didn’t act alone. She was working directly with Alessandro’s own brother, Lorenzo, to murder Elena and steal the Romano empire from the inside.
I looked at the drawing again.
“Why would Lorenzo want your wife dead?” I asked, my voice trembling.
“Because Elena was going to the police,” Alessandro said, his eyes darkening with the memory. “She found out about the human trafficking routes Lorenzo was running behind my back. I forbade that business. Lorenzo knew I would kill him if I found out. So he silenced her.”
Open One: Where was Lorenzo right now?
Open Two: How did my mother fit into Lorenzo’s plan ten years ago?
Suddenly, the dining room doors swung open.
Rocco stepped inside, his massive frame filling the doorway. He looked uncharacteristically pale.
“Boss,” Rocco said, his voice tight.
“What is it, Rocco? Did she confess?”
“She didn’t get the chance,” Rocco said.
He stepped aside.
Two guards carried a stretcher into the room. On top of it was a body covered by a white sheet.
One of the guards pulled the sheet back.
It was Victoria.
Her eyes were open, staring blankly at the ceiling. A thin line of dark blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
“She was dead before we even got her to the basement stairs,” Rocco explained grimly. “Cyanide capsule hidden in a false tooth. She bit down the second we left the dining hall.”
Reversal: Victoria wasn’t just a greedy fiancée running away. She was a fanatic willing to die rather than be interrogated.
Alessandro didn’t flinch at the sight of the dead woman. He only saw a broken link in the chain.
“Lorenzo knew she was a liability,” Alessandro muttered. “He probably ordered her to take the pill if she was caught.”
He turned to Rocco.
“Lock down the estate. Nobody enters. Nobody leaves. Find my brother.”
Rocco nodded and practically ran out of the room.
Alessandro looked at me.
“Clara, I need you to go to your quarters. Pack a bag. I am moving you and Sofia to the safe house downtown. It is not safe here.”
I nodded numbly.
I walked out of the dining room, my mind spinning.
My father was poisoned. My mother was murdered. And the man responsible was the brother of the mafia boss I worked for.
I made my way down the long, carpeted hallways toward the staff wing.
The mansion felt entirely different now. The luxurious paintings and crystal chandeliers felt like decorations in a tomb.
I reached the small, cramped room I shared with another maid. It was empty.
I opened my narrow metal locker to grab my duffel bag.
But as I pulled the door open, something heavy fell out and hit the floor.
It wasn’t mine.
It was a thick, dark red velvet coat.
I recognized it instantly.
It was the coat worn by Mrs. Rossi, the head housekeeper. The woman who managed the staff with an iron fist. She had worked for the Romano family for thirty years.
Why was her coat in my locker?
I knelt down and picked it up.
As I lifted the heavy fabric, I heard a metallic clink.
Something was in the pocket.
I reached inside.
My fingers brushed against cold metal. I pulled it out.
It was a heavy iron key, tarnished black with age. The teeth were intricate, unlike any standard door key in the mansion.
Answer One: Someone had planted the velvet coat and the key in my locker to frame me, or to pass me a message.
But what did it open?
“You weren’t supposed to find that yet.”
I spun around, dropping the coat.
Standing in the doorway of my small bedroom was Mrs. Rossi.
She looked terrifyingly calm.
“Mrs. Rossi,” I stammered, holding the iron key behind my back. “Your coat was in my locker.”
“I put it there, Clara,” the older woman said, stepping into the room and closing the door softly behind her.
Open One: Why did Mrs. Rossi plant the key?
Open Two: Was she working for Lorenzo too?
“Are you part of this?” I demanded, my voice shaking. “Did you help Victoria?”
Mrs. Rossi looked at me with deep, sorrowful eyes.
“I didn’t help them,” she whispered. “But I watched them do it.”
She stepped closer, pulling a silver rosary from her apron pocket and clutching it tightly in her wrinkled hands.
“I was there the night Elena died, Clara. I was hiding in the hallway. I saw Lorenzo go into her room. I heard her fighting. And I did nothing.”
Tears spilled down the old woman’s cheeks.
“I have lived with that guilt for five years. When Victoria brought you here, I knew who you were. I knew what they did to your mother. And I knew Lorenzo was planning to do the same to you once you served your purpose.”
I swallowed hard. “What purpose?”
“The key,” Mrs. Rossi said, pointing to my hand. “Lorenzo needs that key to access Elias Romano’s old vault beneath the wine cellar. But the vault is rigged with a biometric lock. It only opens for a woman of the bloodline.”
I frowned, utterly confused. “I’m not a Romano.”
Mrs. Rossi stepped forward, her eyes wide with fear.
“No, Clara. You aren’t. But your mother was.”
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Cliffhanger: Mrs. Rossi reached out and touched my cheek.
“Your mother wasn’t just a nurse,” she whispered. “She was the illegitimate daughter of the old Don. Which makes you the true heir to the Romano fortune. And Lorenzo is coming to kill you for it.”
