Chapter 7 - The Man Who Knew Too MuchVictor's hand emerged from his jacket holding a mobile phone.
Dante didn't lower his weapon.
“Put it on the desk.”
Victor obeyed slowly.
“Now tell me why you think you can walk into my study and threaten me.”
“Because you already know the truth,” Victor replied. “You just don't know what to do with it.”
Dante moved around the desk.
“Start talking.”
Victor glanced at the technician.
“Alone.”
“No.”
“Then you'll never know what happened to your father.”
Dante's expression hardened.
“Talk.”
Victor took a breath.
“Rafael discovered that someone inside the family was selling information. He thought it was an ordinary leak. Then he found records connecting that person to the night your father died.”
“Who?”
Victor hesitated.
“Carlo.”
Dante's finger tightened around his pistol.
“And you helped him cover it up?”
“I was ordered to.”
“By whom?”
Victor looked at him as if the answer should have been obvious.
“Carlo Bellini.”
Dante stared at the man who had guarded his home for years.
“You expect me to believe you were following orders?”
“No. I expect you to understand that I was afraid.”
“Of Carlo?”
“Of what he'd do if I refused.”
Dante laughed once, without humor.
“You have a weapon, a security team, and a salary most people would kill for. What exactly were you afraid of?”
Victor's face darkened.
“Carlo doesn't need to kill you to destroy you. He can turn every family against you. He can make your men believe you're weak, your allies believe you're unstable, and your enemies believe your territory is unprotected. By the time you realize what's happening, you'll have nobody left.”
“Except you?”
“Except nobody.”
The answer was honest enough to make Dante pause.
Then he remembered the camera.
The disabled alarms.
The message threatening Sophie.
“Did you enter her bedroom?”
Victor looked away.
“Yes.”
Dante crossed the room in two strides and slammed him against the wall.
“You watched a five-year-old sleep?”
“I was looking for the star.”
“You threatened her.”
“I never touched her.”
“You frightened her.”
Victor swallowed hard.
“Carlo said she had something Rafael left behind. He told me to retrieve it before the archive could be opened.”
“Why the three knocks?”
Victor's eyes flickered.
“The passage has a metal service hatch. Three knocks were our signal. Whoever was inside knew when to open it.”
“You used that signal to enter a child's room?”
“I didn't know she'd heard us.”
Dante's grip tightened.
“You didn't know?”
Victor's voice dropped.
“Carlo told me the room would be empty.”
Dante stepped back.
For a moment, the study seemed too small to contain his anger.
“Who else knows about the passage?”
“Carlo. Silas Vane. And me.”
“What do they want from the archive?”
“The original records. The payment ledgers. The orders connected to your father's murder.”
“And the last key?”
Victor's eyes shifted toward Dante's jacket.
“The recording.”
Dante understood.
The digital file wasn't only proof of Rafael's suspicions. It contained the identity of the person who had authorized the old murder.
Carlo had spent years convincing Dante that the enemy was someone else.
If Rafael's evidence survived, everything Carlo had built could collapse.
Dante called Rossi.
“Take Victor to the west security room. Disarm him, search him, and put two guards outside the door.”
Victor didn't resist.
Before Rossi led him away, he turned toward Dante.
“One more thing.”
Dante waited.
“Carlo knows you're suspicious. But you don't understand what tonight means.”
“Explain.”
“Silas isn't here to negotiate. He's here to collect.”
“Collect what?”
Victor swallowed.
“The estate. Your business. Everything your father left you.”
Dante's jaw tightened.
“And if he doesn't get it?”
Victor's eyes drifted toward the servants' corridor.
“Then Carlo will kill the only people you have left to lose.”
Dante followed his gaze.
Sophie.
Elena.
Bruno.
Victor was dragged away.
Dante remained alone until the door closed. Then he picked up his phone and called the estate manager.
“Cancel tonight's party.”
There was a pause.
“Sir, two hundred guests have already confirmed.”
“Then tell them to stay home.”
“Mr. Bellini personally arranged the guest list.”
That stopped Dante.
“Why?”
“He said the family needed to demonstrate strength after the recent security concerns.”
Dante stared at the door.
Carlo had planned the party before the hidden camera was discovered. He had insisted on gathering two hundred influential guests under one roof.
Now Dante understood why.
Carlo wasn't preparing a celebration.
He was preparing an audience.
Dante ended the call and ordered the estate placed under emergency security.
Then he walked toward the servants' wing.
May you like
He had one final question for Sophie.
And he suspected her answer would change everything.
Related Stories
