Chapter 5 - A Ride Nobody Ordered
By morning, Mia had pancakes in Lorenzo’s mother’s sitting room and no idea why Rocco stood outside the door.
Elena noticed everything.
The extra guard in the hall.
The car waiting near the side entrance.
The way Lorenzo checked the windows before speaking.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“Someone asked about Mia’s pickup schedule.”
Her fork hit the plate.
“Who?”
“We’re finding out.”
“No. That’s not an answer.”
He stopped.
She was right again.
“A man named Adrian Vale. Vivien’s cousin. He told the school he was arranging transportation for the household.”
Elena was already reaching for her phone.
The preschool director answered on the second ring.
Elena confirmed that nobody except her sister could collect Mia without speaking directly to her.
Then she canceled Mia’s attendance for the week.
When she ended the call, her hands shook.
Lorenzo said, “There’s a secure apartment—”
“I’m not being hidden somewhere I can’t leave.”
“You would have your own keys.”
“And my own phone?”
“Yes.”
“And I decide who stays with my child?”
“Yes.”
Elena studied him.
“You understand why I’m asking?”
He did.
Understanding it felt like swallowing glass.
The lawyer arrived before noon.
Nora Bell wore a plain gray suit and carried a battered leather bag.
She listened without interrupting.
Then she looked at Lorenzo.
“If you want this to survive outside these walls, nobody intimidates witnesses. Nobody edits recordings. Nobody touches her accounts.”
Rocco folded his arms.
Nora ignored him.
“And any material obtained unlawfully may create problems of its own. We build this around records we can authenticate.”
Lorenzo nodded.
Elena sat beside her daughter, who was drawing a purple house.
“Can she really have me arrested?” Elena asked.
“She can make an accusation,” Nora said. “That isn’t the same as proving it.”
The distinction helped.
Not enough.
At two fifteen, Rocco received a call from the gatehouse.
A black sedan had arrived.
The driver said he was there for Mia Hayes.
Elena stopped breathing.
Lorenzo took the phone.
“Keep him outside the gate. Ask who booked him.”
The answer came thirty seconds later.
The ride had been ordered through Vivien’s personal assistant.
Mia looked up from her drawing.
“Mommy, do I have to go?”
Elena pulled her close.
“No, baby.”
Lorenzo stared toward the driveway.
May you like
The wedding was six weeks away.
Whatever Vivien had planned for Elena and her daughter was already in motion.
