Chapter 2 - THE MARKS
Dr. Elena Russo arrived within thirty minutes.
She had treated the Bellucci family for almost fifteen years.
She had seen Carmine survive bullets, broken ribs, and wounds that would have hospitalized most men for weeks.
She had never seen him look as shaken as he did that afternoon.
Leo sat on the edge of Carmine’s bed wearing clean pajamas.
Carmine stayed beside him.
Helena was kept downstairs.
Dr. Russo examined the boy slowly.
She checked his arms.
His back.
His knees.
His weight.
Her expression became increasingly serious.
“How long have you been away?”
Carmine looked toward her.
“Nine days.”
Dr. Russo stopped writing.
“Only nine?”
Carmine understood immediately.
“These didn’t all happen in nine days.”
“No.”
Dr. Russo lowered her voice.
“Some marks are older.”
Carmine’s jaw tightened.
“How much older?”
“Several weeks.”
Carmine stared at Leo.
The boy was playing with the button on his pajama sleeve.
Carmine suddenly remembered every video call during the past month.
Helena had always positioned the phone carefully.
Leo had rarely appeared.
Whenever Carmine asked where he was, Helena always had an explanation.
Sleeping.
Bathing.
Playing outside.
Visiting the nanny.
Carmine had believed her.
That realization sickened him.
Dr. Russo continued.
“He is underweight.”
“Not severely, but enough that I’m concerned.”
Carmine looked toward the bedside table.
A tray of pasta and fruit sat untouched.
Leo had eaten three bites before hiding the bread under his napkin.
Carmine had noticed.
“Why would he hide food?”
Dr. Russo looked at him carefully.
“Because someone may have taught him that food can disappear.”
Carmine lowered his eyes.
Across the room, Leo suddenly whispered.
“I can save it.”
Carmine turned.
“For what?”
Leo pointed toward the bread.
“For tomorrow.”
Carmine felt his chest tighten.
“There will be more food tomorrow.”
Leo looked uncertain.
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
The little boy studied his face.
Then nodded.
Carmine had negotiated deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
He had survived men who tried to kill him.
Yet earning his own child’s belief in that moment felt more important than anything he had ever done.
Dr. Russo handed Carmine a written report.
“I documented everything.”
“Do not destroy it.”
Carmine looked at her.
“You think I would?”
“I think you are angry.”
Carmine said nothing.
Dr. Russo held his gaze.
“Anger can erase evidence.”
Carmine understood what she meant.
She knew him too well.
“I won’t touch Helena.”
“Good.”
“I want the truth first.”
Dr. Russo glanced at Leo.
“That is what he needs.”
After she left, Carmine called his oldest security officer.
Marco DeLuca entered quietly.
Marco had worked for Carmine since before Leo was born.
He was one of the few men permitted to speak honestly.
“I want every camera recording from this house.”
Marco hesitated.
Carmine noticed.
“What?”
“The interior cameras stopped recording six weeks ago.”
Carmine slowly stood.
“All of them?”
“Most.”
“Why?”
“The system showed scheduled maintenance.”
“Who authorized it?”
Marco looked uncomfortable.
“Your digital signature.”
Carmine’s expression darkened.
“I never authorized that.”
Marco nodded.
“I suspected as much.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
Carmine stared at him.
“When?”
“Three messages.”
“Two emails.”
“And one report left on your desk.”
Carmine’s mind moved quickly.
He remembered Helena reorganizing his correspondence.
She had told him Marco was becoming paranoid.
She had suggested replacing several older members of staff.
Carmine had dismissed the idea.
Now he understood why she wanted them gone.
“Find the original maintenance request.”
Marco nodded.
“And Carmine?”
“What?”
“One camera stayed active.”
Carmine looked at him.
“Which one?”
“The garage camera.”
Carmine’s breath stopped.
“Show me.”
Marco opened a tablet.
The footage began.
Carmine watched Helena enter the garage with Leo.
He watched her lock the door.
He watched her throw the bucket.
Then Marco moved backward through earlier recordings.
The dates changed.
One day.
Three days.
Five days.
Helena appeared again.
And again.
Each time, Leo was cleaning.
Each time, he was alone with her.
Then Marco stopped on footage from two weeks earlier.
The camera showed Helena standing near the trunk of her car.
She was speaking to someone on the phone.
The audio was faint.
Marco increased the volume.
Helena’s voice became clearer.
“The boy is almost completely under control.”
Carmine stopped breathing.
Then another voice answered through the car’s speaker.
A man’s voice.
“Good.”
“Then we move on to Carmine.”
Carmine looked at Marco.
Neither man spoke.
May you like
Because whatever Helena had been doing to Leo was no longer only about cruelty.
It was part of something larger.
