Chapter 3 - THE VOICE SOFIA LEFT BEHIND
Isold led Marco into Sofia’s old music room.
Aurora came with them.
Marco objected.
“This is not for her.”
Aurora faced his voice.
“It is about me.”
Marco opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
Isold placed her phone near the piano and activated an audio file.
Sofia’s voice filled the room.
“If Marco hears this, then I failed to reach him while I was alive.”
Marco became completely still.
Aurora’s fingers found the edge of the piano.
Her mother’s voice continued.
“I love my husband, but love has never made him careful with power. He believes fear creates loyalty. He does not understand that frightened men obey only until someone offers them a safer master.”
Marco lowered his eyes.
Sofia described financial irregularities inside Bellini Atlantic.
Security contracts were being paid to companies that did not exist.
Vehicles assigned to family protection were being rerouted.
Camera systems contained undocumented access points.
Someone had obtained Aurora’s medical schedules.
“I believe Vincent Moretti is involved,” Sofia said. “I do not know whether he leads the conspiracy or serves someone above him.”
Marco glanced toward the closed door.
Outside, Vincent was being guarded by men whose loyalty Marco could no longer assume.
Sofia’s recording continued.
“I hired Isold Kane because she once protected me without asking my surname. She is not loyal to Marco’s empire. That is precisely why I trust her.”
Aurora’s lips trembled.
“She knew you?”
Isold nodded.
“She spoke about you constantly.”
“Why did you wait six years to come?”
“I did not.”
Isold explained that she arrived in the United States two days after Sofia’s death.
Someone had already erased the attorney’s files and closed the account intended to pay her.
A vehicle followed her from the airport.
Two men attacked her near a storage facility where Sofia had hidden evidence.
Isold survived.
One attacker did not.
The other disappeared.
For years, Isold tracked the money while recovering from injuries and working under false identities.
Eight months earlier, she discovered a payment for Aurora’s household staffing.
The payment came from the same network connected to Sofia’s death.
Someone wanted a new maid inside the mansion.
Isold intercepted the position and arrived before the person originally selected.
Marco stared at her.
“Who was the other maid?”
“A woman trained to administer medication without leaving obvious marks.”
Aurora tightened her hand around the piano.
Marco’s face changed.
His daughter had suffered sudden weakness twice during the previous year. Doctors blamed exhaustion.
“Were they poisoning her?”
“Testing access,” Isold said. “Small doses in drinks. Enough to see whether anyone noticed.”
Marco slammed one fist against the piano.
Aurora flinched.
He immediately stepped back.
“I am sorry.”
The apology sounded unfamiliar in his mouth.
Isold continued.
“I changed her food and replaced the kitchen staff member involved. I could not expose myself until I identified the person giving orders.”
“You trained her instead.”
“I taught her to hear footsteps, identify rooms by echoes, break a grip, and reach protected exits.”
Marco looked toward Aurora.
“You should have told me.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You would have fired her.”
“I would have increased security.”
“More men like Vincent?”
The question left him without an answer.
A knock sounded.
Marco’s attorney, Daniel Ross, entered with the mansion’s chief accountant.
They placed financial records on the table.
Vincent’s accounts contained payments from Gabriel Bellini.
Marco’s older brother.
Gabriel had left the United States twelve years earlier after losing a struggle for control of the family empire.
He now operated businesses across Europe.
Marco had believed they maintained an uneasy peace.
The records suggested Gabriel financed the hidden cameras, the false security companies, and the team that targeted Sofia.
Marco reached for his phone.
Isold stopped him.
“If you call Gabriel, he knows we found the connection.”
“I am going to kill him.”
“No.”
Marco’s eyes burned.
“You do not give me orders.”
“Aurora is still inside the house. If Gabriel planned this for six years, Vincent is not his only man.”
Aurora turned toward her father.
“Please do not leave me to chase revenge.”
Marco looked at her.
His fists slowly opened.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Stay.”
May you like
The most feared man in the room obeyed his daughter.
Continue to the next part: Marco begins testing the loyalty of his own guards while Vincent offers a deal involving Sofia’s death and a kidnapping planned for that same night.
