Chapter 2 - The Son Who Trusted No OneNora’s first instinct was to put the notebook down.
Her second was to run.
Unfortunately, neither seemed intelligent while standing in front of Lorenzo Moretti.
“I was feeding him.”
Lorenzo looked at the untouched food tray.
Then at the leather notebook in Nora’s hands.
“You usually feed people with family records?”
Nora swallowed.
“No.”
“Then explain.”
Giovanni made a strained sound.
Both Nora and Lorenzo turned toward him.
It was not a word.
More like air being forced through a throat that had forgotten how to speak.
Lorenzo crossed the room immediately.
“Dad?”
Giovanni stared at Nora.
Then at the notebook.
Lorenzo noticed.
“You gave this to her?”
Giovanni tapped the wheelchair once.
Lorenzo went completely still.
Nora looked between them.
“What does one tap mean?”
“Yes,” Lorenzo said.
She stared at him.
“You have a communication system?”
“We used to.”
Lorenzo knelt beside his father.
“One tap for yes. Two for no. He stopped using it years ago.”
Nora’s throat tightened.
“He uses it with me.”
Lorenzo looked up sharply.
The suspicion in his face made Nora regret speaking.
“How long?”
“A few weeks.”
“And no one told me?”
“I didn’t know I was supposed to.”
“You work in my house.”
“I work for Mrs. Gable.”
“No. Everyone here works for me.”
Something about the statement irritated Nora.
Maybe exhaustion had finally destroyed her survival instincts.
“Then perhaps you should visit more often.”
Silence fell.
Lorenzo slowly stood.
Most employees would have apologized.
Nora did not.
She was terrified, but she was also angry.
“Excuse me?”
“Your father has been sitting in this room freezing.”
Lorenzo’s expression hardened.
Nora continued anyway.
“He was being given cold food. Sometimes nobody changed him for hours. The fireplace was rarely used because Mrs. Gable said firewood cost too much.”
Lorenzo’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But the room suddenly felt dangerous.
“Who said that?”
“Mrs. Gable.”
“Anything else?”
Nora hesitated.
Giovanni tapped once.
Yes.
Lorenzo heard it.
“Tell me.”
Nora looked at the floor.
“Some staff insult him.”
“What kind of insults?”
“I don’t think repeating them helps.”
“It helps me.”
Nora met his eyes.
“They call him dead weight.”
Lorenzo said nothing.
“One kitchen worker joked that the estate would save money when he finally died.”
Giovanni closed his eyes.
Lorenzo’s jaw tightened.
“I see.”
Nora expected fury.
Instead, Lorenzo became calmer.
That frightened her more.
He walked toward the fireplace and studied the logs.
“Who started this fire?”
“I did.”
“The blanket?”
“I bought it.”
“Food?”
“I bring it.”
“Hair?”
Nora blinked.
“What?”
“My father’s hair is cut.”
“I trimmed it.”
“You’re a maid.”
“I also own scissors.”
A tiny sound escaped Giovanni.
Lorenzo turned.
His father was smiling.
Not much.
But unmistakably.
Lorenzo stared as if witnessing something impossible.
Then Giovanni’s eyes moved toward Nora.
For the first time, Lorenzo understood.
His father liked her.
Trusted her.
Perhaps more importantly, he responded to her.
Lorenzo looked back at Nora.
“How far along are you?”
“Six months.”
“You’ve been assigned to carry furniture?”
Her face betrayed her.
Lorenzo noticed.
“Who?”
“I’m not trying to cause trouble.”
“You already told me my father has been neglected.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
“He can’t defend himself.”
“And you can?”
The question landed harder than Nora expected.
She looked away.
Lorenzo saw the bruising on her wrist.
He stepped closer.
“Who did that?”
Nora pulled down her sleeve.
“Nothing happened.”
“People don’t bruise themselves in the shape of fingers.”
Giovanni tapped once.
Nora closed her eyes.
“John.”
Lorenzo’s eyebrows rose.
“John?”
“That’s what everyone calls him.”
“Everyone except me.”
“And me.”
Something passed across Lorenzo’s expression.
Nora continued.
“I call him Giovanni.”
The old man tapped once.
Lorenzo looked almost amused.
Almost.
Then footsteps sounded in the hall.
Mrs. Gable appeared in the doorway.
Her face turned white when she saw Lorenzo.
“Mr. Moretti! I didn’t realize you had come upstairs.”
“Clearly.”
Mrs. Gable glanced nervously at Nora.
Lorenzo noticed that too.
“I was just coming to check on Mr. Giovanni.”
“You told me he was comfortable.”
“He is.”
Lorenzo touched the radiator.
Cold.
Mrs. Gable swallowed.
“There appears to be some issue with the heating in this wing.”
“Only this room?”
“We were waiting for maintenance.”
“For how long?”
“Perhaps a day.”
Nora stared at her.
Lorenzo looked at Nora.
“One day?”
“No.”
Mrs. Gable snapped her head around.
Nora’s heart pounded.
“How long?” Lorenzo asked.
“At least three months.”
Mrs. Gable’s face twisted.
“She is lying.”
Giovanni tapped twice.
No.
Lorenzo looked down at his father.
“You’re saying she isn’t lying?”
One tap.
Mrs. Gable stepped forward.
“Sir, your father’s condition makes his responses unreliable.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
Lorenzo turned toward her.
“My father built this house.”
Mrs. Gable froze.
“He built the business that pays every employee under this roof. You will not stand inside his bedroom and call him unreliable.”
“I only meant medically.”
“Leave.”
“But, Mr. Moretti…”
“Now.”
Mrs. Gable fled.
Nora exhaled.
Lorenzo returned his attention to his father.
“Dad, I’m going to bring Dr. Kaplan here.”
Giovanni tapped twice.
“No?”
One tap.
“You don’t want Kaplan?”
One tap.
Lorenzo frowned.
“Do you want another doctor?”
One tap.
Nora smiled.
“Maybe he never liked Dr. Kaplan.”
Giovanni tapped once.
Lorenzo stared at him.
“You could have told me that five years ago.”
Giovanni’s eyes sharpened.
Nora almost laughed.
Lorenzo saw it.
“You find this amusing?”
“A little.”
His mouth twitched.
Then his phone vibrated.
He checked the screen.
His expression immediately changed.
“I need to deal with something.”
He leaned toward his father.
“I’ll be back.”
Before leaving, Lorenzo stopped beside Nora.
“Stay with him.”
Nora blinked.
“What?”
“Until I return.”
“I still have work.”
“Not anymore.”
“Mrs. Gable will fire me.”
Lorenzo’s gray eyes settled on hers.
“No one fires anyone in this house without my permission.”
Then he left.
Nora looked at Giovanni.
“Well.”
He tapped once.
“You enjoy causing problems.”
One tap.
Nora laughed.
For the first time in months, Giovanni’s shoulders shook with silent laughter too.
Downstairs, however, something much darker had begun.
Lorenzo entered his study and locked the door.
His security chief, Marco DeLuca, was waiting.
“What happened?” Marco asked.
“My father is communicating again.”
Marco stared.
“Since when?”
“A pregnant maid apparently accomplished in weeks what expensive specialists failed to do in years.”
“That’s good news.”
“It should be.”
Lorenzo opened his laptop.
“But someone has been keeping him isolated.”
Marco’s expression changed.
“You think it’s deliberate?”
“I think my father has been awake inside that chair, watching people who believed he couldn’t understand them.”
Lorenzo pulled up staffing records.
Mrs. Gable’s name appeared.
Beneath it were financial reports.
Lorenzo stopped.
“What is this?”
Marco leaned closer.
Several unexplained transfers had been made from the estate operating account.
Small amounts at first.
Then larger.
Nearly nine hundred thousand dollars over four years.
Marco whistled.
“That isn’t household spending.”
“No.”
Lorenzo scrolled farther.
One payment recipient appeared repeatedly.
Wells Gaming Holdings.
Lorenzo frowned.
“Run that company.”
Marco typed.
Thirty seconds later, a photograph appeared.
A young man with brown hair and a smug smile.
Lorenzo studied the name.
Brody Wells.
He had heard Nora say it earlier.
Her child’s father.
Marco looked at him.
“You know him?”
“No.”
Lorenzo’s expression went cold.
“But Nora does.”
Upstairs, Nora was helping Giovanni drink tea when someone knocked softly.
A kitchen maid named Elise entered.
Her face was pale.
“Nora?”
“What’s wrong?”
Elise closed the door behind her.
“You need to leave.”
Nora frowned.
“What?”
“Tonight.”
“Why?”
Elise glanced toward the hall.
“Mrs. Gable knows you told Lorenzo.”
Nora’s stomach dropped.
“She said if Mr. Moretti starts investigating, she’ll make sure everyone believes you were stealing from his father.”
Nora went cold.
“That’s insane.”
“There’s more.”
Elise looked terrified.
“Mrs. Gable has your employment file.”
“So?”
“She was showing someone your emergency contact information.”
Nora’s breath stopped.
“Who?”
Elise whispered the name.
May you like
“Brody.”
Across the room, Giovanni Moretti’s hand slowly curled into a fist.
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