Elena stared at him.
"You followed me?"
"I told you to call."
"You hung up!"
"Because I was driving."
He looked past her.
"Where's your brother?"
"Downstairs."
Dante nodded toward the corridor.
"Go."
Elena didn't move.
"What do they want?"
Dante looked at the two men on the floor.
"Your mother."
"She's dead."
"Apparently, that doesn't matter to them."
He stepped aside.
"Elena. Go."
She finally moved.
They found Matteo in the building's rear courtyard.
A black SUV waited at the entrance.
Two men stood beside it.
Elena immediately stopped.
"Where are you taking us?"
Dante opened the rear door.
"Somewhere Alessandro can't reach you."
"How do I know you aren't worse?"
He considered the question.
"You don't."
That answer frightened her more than a lie would have.
Dante continued.
"But if I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't have spent the last hour making sure your brother had a doctor waiting."
Elena looked at Matteo.
Her brother was pale and breathing hard.
She got into the vehicle.
Dante followed.
The door closed.
And the city disappeared behind darkened windows.
***
The Vitale estate stood outside the city, beyond a line of old trees and an iron gate.
It was an enormous stone residence built in the style of an Italian villa.
The front steps were lined with lanterns.
A fountain stood in the courtyard.
Security cameras watched every entrance.
Elena had never seen anything like it.
She had expected a warehouse.
Perhaps a hotel.
Not a mansion.
"Do you live here?" Matteo asked.
Dante nodded.
"Unfortunately."
Matteo looked around.
"How much is this place worth?"
"Enough to make the maintenance unpleasant."
Despite everything, Elena almost smiled.
A woman in her fifties approached them.
She wore a dark green dress and carried a medical bag.
"Mr. Vitale."
"Rosa. This is Elena Rossi and her brother, Matteo."
Rosa looked at Matteo.
"Come with me, sweetheart. Let's see what we can do."
Elena followed them inside.
Dante remained in the entrance hall.
A man approached him.
His name was Gabriel Moretti.
No relation to Alessandro.
He had been Dante's closest friend since childhood and now served as his security chief.
"Two men at the apartment," Gabriel reported.
"Who sent them?"
"We're checking."
"Check the hotel as well. Someone gave Alessandro her work schedule."
Gabriel frowned.
"You think there's someone inside the Belladonna?"
"I think someone knew exactly where she would be."
Gabriel glanced toward the staircase.
"Why her?"
Dante didn't answer immediately.
Then he said something that made Gabriel's expression change.
"Because Isabella Rossi was carrying a secret that could have ended both families."
***
Elena was given a guest bedroom overlooking the gardens.
Matteo received medical attention and was allowed to rest.
For several minutes, Elena stood by the window, watching the fountain.
She felt like a prisoner in a beautiful cage.
A knock came.
Dante entered only after she gave permission.
He had changed into a black shirt.
His sleeves were rolled up, revealing a small scar near his wrist.
"Your brother is stable," he said.
"Thank you."
"Rosa will stay with him tonight."
Elena nodded.
Then she turned.
"I want answers."
Dante looked at her.
"That's reasonable."
"Who is Alessandro Moretti?"
"You already know his name."
"I want to know why he was asking about my mother."
Dante walked toward the fireplace.
"Twenty years ago, the Moretti and Vitale families were preparing to divide control of several businesses. My father, Lorenzo Vitale, believed the agreement would prevent a war."
"And?"
"Someone betrayed him."
Elena waited.
"An important financial document disappeared. It contained evidence of illegal payments, hidden ownership, and a network of agreements between people who publicly hated each other."
"Why would my mother have it?"
"She worked for the Moretti family as a private nurse."
Elena stared.
"That's impossible."
"She also worked for my father."
The room seemed to grow smaller.
"My mother was a nurse."
"Yes."
"She wasn't involved in your business."
Dante met her eyes.
"Perhaps she was trying to make sure she wasn't."
Elena shook her head.
"You don't know her."
"You're right."
He paused.
"But I know what happened after she disappeared."
He walked to a cabinet and removed a photograph.
A young woman stood in front of a hospital.
She had dark blonde hair and a familiar smile.
Elena took the photograph.
Her hands began to shake.
It was her mother.
But there was someone standing beside her.
A man in a dark suit.
Dante pointed toward him.
"My father."
Elena looked at the photograph again.
"Why was she with him?"
"Because he trusted her."
"Why?"
Dante's expression darkened.
"Because she saved his life."
Silence settled between them.
Elena lowered the photograph.
"Then why did she disappear?"
Dante looked toward the window.
"Because someone tried to kill her."
***
Twenty years earlier, Isabella Rossi had been twenty-eight years old.
She worked at a private medical clinic in Manhattan.
The clinic treated wealthy patients who preferred their medical histories to remain private.
One evening, a man arrived with a gunshot wound.