Michael
Something inside Katie shut down once she saw her mom. She sat through the service without moving, her spine rigid against the back of the chair, and her hands folded tight in her lap. Her eyes stayed forward, fixed on nothing, barely blinking as people shifted in their seats around us.
They came one after another—hands reaching out, voices of sympathy, arms around her shoulders. She responded when she had to. Her fingers lifted when someone took her hand. Her body leaned when someone pulled her into a hug. Her lips moved when it was expected of her.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
The words left her, but they sounded distant. I stayed beside her through all of it, close enough that our shoulders touched, one hand resting against her back. She didn’t look at me. She didn’t look at anyone. She just sat there and let it happen.
At the cemetery, nothing changed. The wind moved through the open space, catching her hair and the fabric of her dress, but she didn’t react.
She stood where I placed her, her arm hooked through mine, her weight leaning into me.
The preacher spoke, his voice carrying across the crowd, but her expression didn’t shift. If she heard him, she didn’t show it.
When they started lowering the casket, something in her posture tightened, her fingers pressing harder into my arm. That was it. That was the only break in the stillness. By the time it was over, she was already pulling away.
“I’m ready to go,” she said, her voice empty.
A group of women approached then. They told her they had put together a lunch, that they would love for her to come, that her mother had meant so much to them.
Katie didn’t hesitate.
“No, thank you.”
It was polite but final. She didn’t wait for a response. She turned and walked toward the SUV, her pace picking up with each step. I followed her. Sarah stayed behind, thanking them, her voice carrying faintly across the space Katie had just left.
Katie didn’t look back. She reached the SUV, opened the door, and slid into the back seat without a word. Her hands fell back into her lap, her gaze fixed straight ahead.
“Can we go home?” she asks as Luca pulls out. “I’m tired.”
I don’t hesitate. “Of course.”
She turns her head toward me, studying my face. “Thank you.”
I reach up and tap the partition. It hums as it lowers.
“Take us back to the estate,” I say.
Sarah looks back at Katie, her expression tight, then shifts her gaze to me. I hold it for a second, then nod once. I’ve got her.
When we pull into the circle drive, Sarah is already moving. She steps out of the front seat and comes around, opening Katie’s door before Luca even cuts the engine. Katie leans straight into her, arms wrapping tight.
“I love you, Katie,” Sarah says, her voice thick.
“I love you too,” Katie answers, quiet, her face pressed into her shoulder.
I turn my attention to Luca, keeping my voice level. “Back to work tomorrow, okay?”
He nods.
“Check in with Marco.”
“You got it.”
I reach out, shake his hand once, firm, then step back. When Sarah pulls away, Katie’s eyes are glassy, tears sitting there, ready to fall but not moving yet.
Sarah looks at me then. “Take care of my girl.”
I hold her gaze. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
I guide Katie into the house. My hand stay at her back as we step inside. Marco is standing there. I stop short, my eyes locking on him. The irritation is immediate. He knows better than this. Especially today.
“Boss,” he says quietly. “I’m sorry.”
Katie doesn’t react. She just keeps moving forward like he isn’t even there. I step in front of her and lower myself enough to catch her eyes.
“Hey.”
It takes a second, but she looks at me.
“I need a minute with Marco,” I say, keeping my voice even. “I’m going to take you upstairs first, okay?”
She shakes her head.
“Can I go to the conservatory instead?”
I don’t even glance back at Marco. “Yeah. Of course.” My hand comes up to her jaw, keeping her with me for a second. “Go ahead. I’ll come find you.”
Only after she moves past me do I look back at Marco.
“I told you that until all of this settles, you are me. You better have a fucking good reason for being here.”
“I know who the rat is.”
I don’t ask anything. I just turn and walk. The door to my office shuts hard behind us, the sound cracking through the room. I move behind the desk, bracing my hands against the edge, eyes locked on him.
“Start talking.”
His expression is controlled, but there’s something underneath it, something that tells me he’s been waiting to say this.
“It’s Sal.”
For a second, I don’t react. The name just sits there.
“Say that again,” I tell him, voice low.
“It’s Sal,” he repeats. “We tracked the last leaks. Everything lines up with him. Movements, timing, access. It all goes back to him.”
Fucking Sal—a man who’s stood in my house, shaken my hand, and taken my orders without question, a man who’s sat at my table, a man I’ve trusted to drive Katie numerous times. I straighten slowly, forcing my body to stay still when every instinct in me is pushing toward violence.
“You’re sure.”
“I wouldn’t bring it to you like this if I wasn’t.”
“Where is he?”
“Gone.”
“What the fuck did you say?”
“He’s gone Boss. Within the last couple hours. He cleared out his place. Phone’s dead. No one’s seen him since.”
He knew. He knew we found out.
“Who else knows?”
“Just me.”
“Good. We tell Luca. That’s it.” My eyes snap back to his. “Nobody else says his name unless they’re in this room.”
“Understood.”
I step out from behind the desk, closing the distance between us. My voice drops.
“When we find him, we get what we need, and then.” I exhale. “He doesn’t die quick.”
Marco doesn’t hesitate. “No.”
I turn back toward the desk, grabbing my phone, already moving three steps ahead. “Pull everything. Accounts, contacts, family, anyone he’s ever dealt with. I want every hole he thinks he can crawl into.”
“It’s already started.”
“Not fast enough,” I snap, the control slipping for half a second before I rein it back in. “Double it. I don’t care what it costs.”
“You got it.”
My grip tightens around the phone as my mind flashes back to Katie, to the way she walked past me like she was barely holding herself together.
I glance back at Marco.
“Find him,” I tell him. “Before I do.”
Marco nods once. “We will.”
I don’t wait. I’m already moving for the door. There’s only one place I need to be right now. With her.
And then after that—I’m going to hunt a traitor.