Chapter 7 - The Man Inside the House
Gianni Morello disappeared before sunset.
His apartment was empty.
His passport was gone.
Two offshore accounts had been drained.
Mateo stood in Leo’s office with a loaded silence between them.
“He knew.”
Leo stared through the windows.
“Someone warned him.”
“Victoria?”
“Possibly.”
“Sterling?”
“Definitely.”
Mateo placed another file on the desk.
“There’s more.”
Leo turned.
“One of the estate guards copied the driveway footage from the night Lily was locked downstairs.”
“Which guard?”
“Anthony Bell.”
“Where is he?”
“Missing.”
Leo’s mouth hardened.
“How many rats are in my house?”
Mateo did not answer.
That evening, Leo ordered every employee off duty.
No one left the property.
Phones were collected.
Vehicles were searched.
Beatrice watched the mansion transform into something she had never seen.
Men moved through corridors with earpieces.
Security doors locked.
Cars blocked the gates.
Lily remained upstairs with two trusted female guards.
Beatrice was supposed to remain with her.
Instead, Lily asked Leo to stay.
“I need Daddy tonight.”
Beatrice smiled.
“That sounds like a very good idea.”
When she walked downstairs, she found Victoria sitting in the drawing room.
Beatrice stopped.
Victoria had spent the previous two days in a private guest suite under legal supervision while lawyers argued over what Leo could and could not do without creating a public scandal.
She wore a cream dress.
Her hair was immaculate.
Only the shadows beneath her eyes betrayed fear.
“You look terrible,” Victoria said.
Beatrice continued walking.
“Beatrice.”
She stopped.
Victoria stood.
“You think he cares about you now?”
Beatrice turned slowly.
Victoria smiled.
“You saved his daughter.”
“For now.”
“Once this is over, you will go back to washing his towels.”
Beatrice said nothing.
Victoria stepped closer.
“Men like Leo do not fall in love with women like you.”
Beatrice almost laughed.
“This isn’t about love.”
“Everything is.”
“No.”
Beatrice looked her directly in the eyes.
“This is about a six-year-old girl you locked in a freezing room while she couldn’t breathe.”
Victoria’s smile vanished.
“You have no proof.”
“Maybe not.”
Victoria leaned closer.
“When Sterling destroys him, you will wish you had stayed invisible.”
Beatrice felt fear.
But for the first time in her life, she did not let fear make her smaller.
“You’re wrong about something.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed.
“I stayed invisible because it kept other people comfortable.”
Beatrice stepped forward.
“I’m finished making cruel people comfortable.”
A movement behind Victoria made them both turn.
Leo stood in the doorway.
He had heard everything.
Victoria’s face changed instantly.
“Leo.”
He ignored her.
His eyes were on Beatrice.
“You should be upstairs.”
“Lily wanted you.”
He nodded.
Then Mateo entered from the opposite hall.
“We found Anthony.”
Leo turned.
“Where?”
Mateo’s expression was grim.
“In the old maintenance garage.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Mateo looked toward Victoria.
May you like
“And he wants immunity.”
Victoria’s face went white.
