Chapter 3 - The Medicine Bottle
Adeline was the first person to move.
She crossed to Alfonso immediately.
“What do you mean someone tried to kill you?”
Alfonso pointed toward the locked cabinet beside his bed.
“My pills tasted different.”
Bruno laughed softly.
“A man on six medications thinks one tasted strange, and suddenly we have an assassin?”
Adeline turned.
“Which medication?”
Alfonso named it.
Her expression changed.
That morning, she had noticed something.
A bottle whose seal appeared intact.
Tablets identical in shape.
But one had left a faint chalky residue on her glove.
She had placed the bottle aside.
She had intended to ask the pharmacy about it.
Now she walked upstairs with Enzo following.
Bruno attempted to join them.
Enzo closed the door in his face.
Inside Alfonso’s room, Adeline opened the cabinet.
The bottle was gone.
Her stomach dropped.
“It was here.”
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
Enzo studied her.
“Who knew?”
“Anyone who saw me put it aside.”
“Who?”
Adeline thought.
Marisol.
Two staff members.
Alfonso’s physician.
And Bruno, who had entered while she was documenting medications.
Enzo removed the compass.
He turned it slowly between his fingers.
“Tell no one.”
Adeline stared at him.
“If your grandfather was poisoned, we tell the police.”
Enzo’s eyes settled on hers.
“This family has enemies who wear police badges.”
“Then find one who doesn’t.”
“You think it’s that simple?”
“I think dying because everyone is too important to call for help is stupid.”
Enzo almost smiled.
Again.
It annoyed him.
By dawn, he had the medication recovered.
A housekeeper found the bottle inside an outdoor trash container.
Laboratory testing confirmed the tablets contained a dangerous dose of digitalis.
Enough to worsen Alfonso’s heart failure.
Enough to make his death appear natural.
Enzo called the council.
Nobody was permitted to leave.
Adeline wanted no part of it.
Then her phone rang.
St. Bridget.
Nell’s surgery slot had been moved forward.
There was a cancellation.
If Adeline could guarantee payment within seventy-two hours, Nell could be admitted immediately.
If not, the opportunity would pass.
Adeline sat alone on the back staircase after the call.
She covered her mouth.
Seventy-two hours.
Even with every dollar she had saved, she was nowhere close.
Enzo found her there.
“You’re crying.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
She wiped her cheek angrily.
“Your observational skills are extraordinary.”
He sat one step below her.
That surprised her more than anything.
“What happened?”
“Nothing you can fix.”
“Try me.”
She laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
“My sister needs surgery.”
“How much?”
Adeline stood immediately.
“No.”
“I asked how much.”
“And I’m telling you no.”
“I can pay it.”
“That’s exactly why I’m saying no.”
His face hardened.
“You would let pride cost your sister an operation?”
Her eyes flashed.
“You think poor people have only two choices? Beg or be stupid?”
“That isn’t what I said.”
“It’s what you meant.”
She walked away.
That afternoon, Bruno found her near the greenhouse.
He was gentle.
Almost fatherly.
He apologized for his behavior during Alfonso’s announcement.
Then he offered her an envelope.
Inside was enough money for Nell’s surgery.
Adeline stared at it.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing.”
“People who want nothing don’t put that much money in envelopes.”
Bruno smiled.
“You’re intelligent.”
He wanted her to refuse Alfonso publicly.
Leave the estate.
Never return.
Adeline handed the envelope back.
“You’re trying to buy me.”
“I’m trying to save your sister.”
“No. You’re trying to make her the price.”
Bruno’s smile vanished.
“You have no idea what kind of man Enzo is.”
“Probably.”
“You have no idea what this family has done.”
“Also probably.”
“And yet you would consider marrying him?”
Adeline looked almost offended.
“I haven’t considered marrying anybody.”
She walked away.
Bruno watched her go.
That evening, Enzo learned about the offer.
Not from Adeline.
From the camera outside the greenhouse.
He summoned Bruno.
The locked room filled again.
This time Enzo did not sit.
“You offered Adeline money.”
Bruno shrugged.
“I offered a practical solution.”
“You used her sister.”
“I offered to save her sister.”
The compass touched the table.
Click.
Bruno stopped talking.
Enzo leaned forward.
“You will never approach Nell Whitaker.”
Something cold entered Bruno’s eyes.
“You’re defending a woman you met three days ago.”
“I’m giving you an instruction.”
Bruno smiled.
“And if she becomes your wife?”
Enzo did not answer.
“Then what? The nurse from Queens sits at this table? Her crippled sister moves into the estate? We turn the Marquetti family into a charity?”
Enzo crossed the distance between them so quickly Bruno barely had time to rise.
He did not hit him.
That was worse.
He leaned close.
“Speak about Nell that way again, and you’ll discover how charitable I am.”
Bruno’s face changed.
For the first time, he understood something dangerous.
Enzo cared.
Upstairs, Alfonso was weakening.
He asked Adeline to sit.
“I owe you an explanation.”
“Yes.”
“You’re angry.”
“Very.”
“Good. Enzo needs someone who gets angry at him.”
“That is not a reason to marry someone.”
“No.”
Alfonso studied her.
“I watched the three women downstairs. They looked at this house and saw what they could gain. You entered this house and saw a sick old man.”
Adeline’s anger softened.
“That still doesn’t make me your grandson’s wife.”
“No. But there’s another reason.”
He opened the bedside drawer.
Inside lay an old photograph.
A younger Alfonso.
A younger Enzo.
And a woman in hospital whites.
Adeline picked it up.
“Who is she?”
“Enzo’s mother.”
Alfonso’s voice weakened.
“She was a nurse.”
Adeline looked up.
“Enzo’s third rule.”
Alfonso nodded.
Don’t touch anyone whose work is saving lives.
“She died protecting him.”
Before Adeline could ask how, the bedroom door opened.
Enzo stood there.
He had heard enough.
His face had gone cold.
“Grandfather.”
Alfonso closed his eyes.
Enzo looked at Adeline.
“Leave us.”
She did.
But in the hallway, her phone rang.
Nell.
Adeline answered.
Her sister was crying.
Someone had already paid the hospital.
Every dollar.
And the transfer had been made anonymously.
Adeline slowly turned toward Enzo’s closed door.
Then Nell whispered something else.
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“The hospital said the guarantee was filed two days ago.”
Adeline stopped breathing.
May you like
Two days ago.
Before Enzo had learned she needed the money.
