Chapter 3 - The Favor
“I didn’t authorize it.”
Rocco nodded.
“I know.”
“Find out who did.”
Elena shifted Mia higher on her hip.
“What does that mean?”
“It means somebody used my access.”
“To watch us?”
Lorenzo couldn’t give her a clean answer.
“I don’t know yet.”
She looked toward the locked door.
“Then open that.”
He did immediately.
Elena remained where she was, but her shoulders lowered a fraction.
Rocco arranged rooms above the garage in a separate guest apartment. Elena refused.
“Still your property.”
“A hotel, then,” Lorenzo said.
“In my name. I choose it.”
He handed her his phone.
“Use this.”
She called a small hotel near the hospital where Lorenzo’s mother received therapy. She knew the desk clerk by name.
Only after the room was booked did she sit.
Mia had fallen asleep with her hand twisted in Elena’s collar.
“There’s something else,” Elena said.
Lorenzo waited.
“Your mother didn’t just say she opposed the wedding.”
“What did she say?”
“She said, ‘He wants my hand.’”
“Who?”
“I asked. She got upset. I thought she meant the physical therapist.”
Rocco stopped typing.
Elena continued.
“Yesterday, Vivien brought papers upstairs. Your mother kept pushing them away. Vivien told me they were wedding seating arrangements.”
“My mother doesn’t arrange seating.”
“I know.”
Lorenzo’s phone buzzed in Elena’s hand.
Vivien’s name lit the screen.
Elena nearly dropped it.
He took the phone gently.
“Go pack. Rocco will walk with you.”
“Don’t send anyone into my room alone.”
“No one goes in before you.”
After she left, he answered.
“Where are you?” Vivien asked.
“Working.”
“Always working.”
He could hear the smile.
“Charles is coming for dinner tomorrow. We need to discuss the foundation announcement.”
“What announcement?”
“Our wedding gift. Remember? Your mother’s property going into the family foundation.”
Lorenzo looked toward the ceiling.
His mother occupied the rooms directly above him.
“We haven’t agreed to that.”
“Darling, we’ve discussed it endlessly.”
“No. You’ve discussed it.”
A beat passed.
Then Vivien laughed softly.
“You sound tired.”
“I am.”
“Come upstairs. Let me fix that.”
He ended the call without answering.
Rocco returned carrying a small brown envelope.
“Elena found this in her dresser.”
Inside were photocopies of her driver’s license, Mia’s birth certificate, and a handwritten note.
Lorenzo read the five words.
Think carefully before becoming difficult.
Below them sat a photograph.
May you like
Mia at the public playground.
Taken through a fence.
