Chapter 2 - When the Lights DiedThe blackout lasted three seconds.
Three seconds was all it took for panic to become violence.
A woman screamed.
Someone knocked over a champagne tower.
Glass shattered across the marble.
Security guards drew their weapons.
Ethan grabbed his father’s jacket.
“Dad.”
“I've got you.”
Alessandro pulled him close.
When the lights returned, the room had changed.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
People no longer looked at one another as friends.
They looked at one another as suspects.
Alessandro turned toward Victor Dane.
The lawyer was still beside his sister, Elena.
But something had changed.
His right hand was no longer visible.
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
“Victor.”
“Yes?”
“Show me your hand.”
Victor hesitated.
Only half a second.
But Alessandro noticed.
Victor slowly raised his hand.
Nothing.
No weapon.
No blood.
Just a wedding ring and the expensive watch Alessandro had given him ten Christmases ago.
Lily began crying again.
“Not him.”
Alessandro looked at her.
She shook her head.
“Not Victor.”
Victor exhaled.
Then Lily pointed behind him.
“Behind him.”
Everyone turned.
There stood the chef.
Matteo.
He had been employed by the Moretti family for thirteen years.
He stared at Lily in horror.
“No.”
Lily buried her face against Sophia.
Alessandro walked toward Matteo.
“Did you touch my son’s cake?”
Matteo immediately shook his head.
“No, sir. I swear.”
“Who prepared it?”
“The pastry staff.”
“Who supervised them?”
Matteo swallowed.
“Mrs. Bell.”
“Elena?”
“No. Mrs. Bell, the assistant.”
Alessandro looked at Marco.
“Bring them.”
Two kitchen workers were escorted into the room.
One was crying.
The other looked furious.
“What happened?” Alessandro asked.
The older woman answered.
“The cake was delivered sealed.”
“By whom?”
“I don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“It came through the service entrance.”
Alessandro looked at Marco.
“Who authorized the delivery?”
Marco checked his tablet.
“Nobody.”
Silence.
“What?”
Marco looked up.
“The delivery vehicle used an employee access code.”
“Whose?”
Marco hesitated.
Then he stared across the room.
“Elena’s.”
Every eye moved toward Alessandro’s sister.
Elena Moretti stepped backward.
“What?”
“My code was copied,” she said.
“That is convenient.”
“You think I did this?”
“I think someone used your identity.”
She looked devastated.
“I would never hurt Ethan.”
Alessandro believed her.
Almost.
He turned toward Lily.
“Little one.”
She peeked out from behind her mother.
“Did you see the person who brought the cake?”
“No.”
“Did you hear his voice?”
She nodded.
“What did he say?”
Lily squeezed her eyes shut.
“He said the birthday boy won't finish his cake.”
Ethan suddenly gasped.
He looked at his father.
“Dad.”
Alessandro turned.
“What?”
Ethan pointed toward the cake.
“One candle is different.”
Everyone stared.
The candles were identical.
Except one.
The fourth candle from the left was slightly crooked.
Marco approached.
“Don't touch it.”
He stopped.
Alessandro studied the cake.
Then he noticed something beneath the icing.
A tiny black thread.
Not decorative.
A wire.
The room erupted in whispers.
Marco moved everyone backward.
Alessandro's expression became cold.
“Get Ethan out.”
Two guards approached.
Then Ethan screamed.
“No!”
He grabbed his father's hand.
“I don't want them.”
Alessandro crouched.
“Ethan, listen to me. You need to go with Marco.”
“No.”
The boy's eyes filled with tears.
“I want you.”
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
Then Lily whispered something no one expected.
“Don't take him away.”
Alessandro looked at her.
“Why?”
Lily stared at the cake.
“Because it's not only in the cake.”
The room went still.
“What do you mean?”
May you like
Lily pointed toward Ethan's chair.
“There is another one.”
