Chapter 2 - Shadows in the Marble HallBy May, the rigid silence of the Moretti estate had been completely shattered.
Ellie attended the prestigious Saint Jude Academy in the mornings, and every afternoon at three o'clock sharp, her bright red sneakers could be heard skidding across the Italian marble foyer. She had turned the terrifying crime syndicate headquarters into her personal playground.
The hardened ex-mercenaries and armed guards who patrolled the perimeter now carried spare hair ties in their tactical vests and frequently found themselves playing tea party in the East Parlor.
Julian, meanwhile, was changing. Under Dr. Bennett's grueling regimen and Ellie's relentless encouragement, he had regained sensation in his left thigh. He could now transfer himself from his wheelchair to an armchair without assistance.
Yet, as the house grew warmer, the shadows outside grew longer.
One evening, Claire was scrubbing the baseboards in the library when she noticed a heavy, leather-bound ledger half-hidden behind a stack of law books on Julian’s private desk. Sticking out of the pages was a folded newspaper clipping dated three years ago—the night of the assassination attempt.
Her fingers grazed the paper before she could stop herself.
The headline read: MORETTI EMPIRE SHATTERED IN BLOODY WAREHOUSE AMBUSH; UNKNOWN TRAITOR WITHIN INNER CIRCLE SUSPECTED.
"Reading my history, Claire?"
Claire gasped, dropping the cloth. Julian rolled silently through the doorway, his broad shoulders filling the frame of his chair. His eyes were cold, stripped of the warmth he reserved for Ellie.
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"I-I was just cleaning, Mr. Moretti," she whispered, her hands trembling.
"That ledger doesn't get cleaned. It gets locked," Julian said, his voice dropping into that dangerous, low register that had once made rival bosses pack their bags and flee the state. "Be careful, Claire. Curiosity in this house is a terminal illness."
