Chapter 3 - MY HUSBAND HAD TRIED TO WARN HIM
I wanted to hate Vincent immediately.
It would have been easier.
A feared man ignored my husband.
My husband died.
End of moral equation.
But facts refused to organize themselves that neatly.
Vincent showed me the original message Noah had sent.
It had arrived through an unverified account with no attachment.
Subject:
BELLINI ACCOUNTS.
Body:
Your finance division is hiding payments through Harbor Meridian vendor codes. I have proof. I need ten minutes in person.
Vincent had received dozens of threats and fake tips every month.
Noah provided no phone number.
No identifying information beyond his initials.
Vincent’s security team categorized it as unverified.
Then Noah sent another.
This time:
If Bellini knows I contacted you, my family could be in danger.
That message had been routed to a security analyst.
The analyst closed it.
Name:
Dominic Vale.
Vincent’s deputy security chief.
I knew Dominic.
He nodded at me every morning.
He once gave Mia a peppermint.
My stomach twisted.
“Where is he?”
Renzo’s jaw tightened.
“Off property today.”
Convenient.
Vincent ordered a full internal review.
No one called Dominic.
No warning.
Then he turned to me.
“You and Mia are not going home.”
I stood.
“You don’t decide that.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Someone has been photographing your child.”
“And that does not make me your prisoner.”
For one long second, the study became silent.
Then something strange happened.
Vincent nodded.
“You’re right.”
Renzo glanced at him.
I think even he was surprised.
Vincent continued:
“You decide. But if you return home tonight, I strongly recommend security.”
That was different.
Advice.
Not command.
I looked at Mia.
She was drawing Vincent now.
Apparently he had purple hair.
“I’ll stay somewhere else.”
“We have a guest cottage.”
“No.”
I needed distance.
A hotel felt neutral.
Vincent nodded again.
“Renzo can arrange one under another name.”
I hated that I needed his help.
I hated more that I probably did.
Then Mia wandered toward me holding a red crayon.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“The shiny man came to our house too.”
Every adult stopped.
I crouched.
“What shiny man?”
“The one here.”
“You saw him at home?”
She nodded.
“When?”
“Night-night time.”
My mouth went dry.
“Did he come inside?”
She frowned.
“No. He talked to the door.”
Three-year-old language.
Doorbell camera.
Someone had stood outside.
I grabbed my phone.
Our building stored clips for thirty days.
I opened the app.
There.
Eleven nights earlier.
A man stood outside the entrance at 10:14 p.m.
Face turned away.
Dark coat.
Right hand raised to press the intercom.
A red stone ring flashed beneath the entry light.
Renzo leaned over my shoulder.
“That’s Dominic.”
The peppermint man.
The deputy security chief.
Vincent’s expression went cold.
“Now we know how the drive got into my study.”
I looked at him.
“No. We know who Mia saw.”
“Fair.”
Again.
Facts.
Then Renzo enlarged the footage.
Dominic was not alone.
Another man stood near the sidewalk.
Only half his face was visible.
I did not recognize him.
Vincent did.
His eyes hardened.
May you like
“Marco Bellini.”
The finance director named in Noah’s letter had been outside my apartment less than two weeks ago.
