CHAPTER 6
"I think you should know what your mother left behind."
The room went still.
Elara stared at Serafina Valcieri across the library. The woman's calm expression had not changed, but her eyes had moved briefly toward Alessandro.
Elara noticed.
"What did my mother leave?"
Serafina folded her hands over the front of her dress.
"A small box."
"What kind of box?"
"Wood. Dark oak. About this size."
She held her hands apart.
"What's inside?"
"I don't know."
Elara frowned. "Then how do you know it exists?"
"Because I saw it once."
"Where?"
Serafina hesitated.
"At your mother's home."
Dante shifted beside the desk.
"You knew Isolde?"
Serafina looked at him.
"Bellacorte was smaller then. People knew one another."
"That isn't an answer," Elara said.
A faint smile touched Serafina's lips.
"You have your father's habit of asking difficult questions."
"My father didn't answer them."
"No. He preferred silence."
Elara's fingers curled.
"What was in the box?"
"Documents, perhaps. Letters. I never saw the contents."
"Who did?"
"Isolde."
"And my father?"
Serafina's gaze moved toward Alessandro again.
"Your father knew the box mattered."
Alessandro's expression remained unreadable.
Elara caught it.
"You know about it."
"Elara—"
"You know."
Serafina gave a quiet sigh.
"Ask Alessandro."
Alessandro's eyes hardened.
"That's enough."
Serafina turned toward him.
"Is it?"
Something passed between them.
Elara saw it.
History.
Something neither wanted to explain.
Serafina picked up her gloves.
"Your mother understood Bellacorte better than most people ever did. She knew that certain truths were safer when left untouched."
Elara stepped forward.
"Was she afraid?"
"No."
"Then why hide the box?"
Serafina's gaze settled on her.
"Because courage and foolishness are sometimes difficult to tell apart."
Elara almost laughed.
"That's your warning?"
"It's advice."
"I didn't ask for it."
"You will."
Serafina moved toward the door.
Before leaving, she stopped.
"Bellacorte doesn't forgive people who uncover what was buried."
Elara held her gaze.
"Then perhaps Bellacorte should have buried it better."
Dante's mouth twitched.
Serafina's smile disappeared.
She left.
The door closed.
Elara turned slowly toward Alessandro.
"You knew about the box."
He said nothing.
That silence was answer enough.
"How long?"
"Not long."
"That's not what I asked."
Alessandro exhaled.
"Come with me."
"Where?"
"Somewhere we can talk."
She studied him.
Then followed.
Alessandro led Elara through the rear doors and into the private garden.
The noise of the house faded behind them.
Stone paths wound between cypress trees and flowering bushes. At the far end stood a weathered stone bench beneath an old olive tree.
Alessandro stopped there.
"My father believed your mother knew about the original agreement between the families."
Elara folded her arms.
"Did she?"
"I don't know."
"You knew she had the box."
"I knew she had something."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't know whether it was still relevant."
"It is relevant now."
"Yes."
She looked toward the house.
"Did Carlo fear her?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Alessandro looked at the olive tree.
"Because she wasn't afraid of him."
Elara studied his face.
"My mother wasn't powerful."
"Power isn't always money."
That answer stayed with her.
They walked slowly along the path.
Alessandro seemed different outside the estate's formal rooms. The rigid lines in his face had softened. His shoulders were less tense.
He stopped beside the stone bench.
"My mother used to sit here."
Elara looked at him.
"You don't talk about her."
"I don't talk about much."
"Why?"
He gave a small, humorless smile.
"My father taught me that attachment creates weaknesses."
"Did you believe him?"
"For a long time."
"And now?"
Alessandro looked at her.
"No."
The answer was quiet.
Elara sat.
He remained standing.
"What changed?"
"I lost people anyway."
She didn't ask who.
Something in his voice told her the answer was still painful.
He finally sat beside her.
"Everything I loved here eventually became something I was expected to protect."
Elara looked at his hand resting on the bench.
She touched it.
His fingers moved beneath hers.
For once, Alessandro didn't pull away.
He turned his palm upward and held her hand.
Warmth moved through her.
"You don't have to protect everything," she said.
"I know."
"Do you?"
He looked at her.
"I'm learning."
The honesty caught her off guard.
A phone vibrated in his pocket.
Alessandro released her hand and answered.
"Moretti."
His expression changed.
"How many?"
He listened.
"Seal the east wing."
He ended the call.
Elara stood.
"What happened?"
"Someone has been inside the archive."
Her stomach tightened.
"Again?"
Alessandro nodded.
This time, the concern in his eyes was impossible to miss.
Dante found Elara before she could return to the library.
"You're coming with me."
She stared at him.
"Where?"
"Training room."
"No."
He raised an eyebrow.
"That wasn't a question."
"Then you're asking the wrong woman."
A reluctant smile appeared.
"Good. You're already improving."
She followed him downstairs.
The training room was simple: padded flooring, heavy bags, wooden practice weapons, and enough open space to move.
Dante tossed her a pair of gloves.
Elara caught them.
"I don't need this."
"Everyone needs this."
"I need answers."
"You also need to survive long enough to get them."
She looked at him.
"What happened to the man who thought I was lying?"
"He still thinks you're trouble."
"Charming."
"But now I think you're worth teaching."
She slipped on the gloves.
Dante showed her how to break a wrist hold.
She tried.
Failed.
Again.
Failed.
"You're using strength."
"What else should I use?"
"Timing."
He demonstrated.
"Don't fight the person. Fight the moment."
She tried again.
This time, she twisted free.
Dante nodded.
"Better."
"Better?"
"Don't expect praise after one move."
She attacked.
He stepped aside.
She nearly lost her balance.
His hand caught her waist.
For a second, neither moved.
His dark eyes met hers.
Then he released her.
"Again."
Elara steadied herself.
"You're enjoying this."
"More than I should."
She attacked again.
This time she succeeded.
Dante laughed.
"You're learning fast."
"I had a good teacher."
"Don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to protect."
The humor faded when he looked away.
Elara noticed.
"You've done this before."
"Protected people?"
"Failed to."
His jaw tightened.
She waited.
Dante finally said, "Someone I cared about was hurt because I wasn't there."
"I'm sorry."
He looked at her.
"Most people would ask who."
"I'm not most people."
Something softened in his eyes.
"No."
He stepped closer.
"You're not."
Elara looked down.
The room suddenly seemed quieter.
Dante reached toward her shoulder, correcting her stance.
"Feet apart."
She obeyed.
"Good."
His hand moved briefly to her waist.
"Keep your balance."
Her pulse quickened.
He noticed.
So did she.
Dante stepped away.
"You've got it."
"Maybe."
His gaze remained on hers.
"Maybe."
A guard appeared at the doorway.
"Dante."
He turned.
"What?"
"The archive alarm has gone off again."
Dante's expression hardened.
"Impossible."
He looked at Elara.
Then toward the corridor.
"Come on."
Luca was already waiting in his private office.
He shut the door behind Elara.
"You shouldn't be here."
"That's what everyone keeps telling me."
"And yet you keep appearing."
"You make it easy."
His smile faded.
He walked to a locked cabinet and opened it.
Inside were old documents arranged in neat rows.
"These concern your father."
Elara moved closer.
"You've been investigating him."
"Since his death."
"Why?"
"Because his official story never made sense."
He handed her a file.
She opened it.
Dates filled the first page.
"What am I looking at?"
"His final movements."
Elara scanned the entries.
"There's a gap."
"Three days."
She turned the page.
"Another."
"Two."
"Why?"
"Because someone removed the information."
Luca placed another document beside it.
"One meeting is missing. A location was erased. A witness's name was blacked out."
Elara looked at him.
"Someone rewrote my father's history."
"Exactly."
Her throat tightened.
"Why didn't you show me this before?"
"Because I didn't know if you were part of the secret."
She stared at him.
"You thought I was?"
"I didn't know."
"And now?"
Luca's expression softened.
"Now I think you're the person who was kept outside it."
The answer unsettled her.
They sat beside one another.
Their shoulders almost touched.
Elara studied the papers.
"You trust me more than you did yesterday."
"Don't get too pleased with yourself."
He smiled.
"I'm trying not to."
"Why me?"
"Because every time someone tries to frighten you, you ask another question."
"Maybe I'm stubborn."
"I know."
Their eyes met.
Their knees touched.
Neither moved.
Luca's voice lowered.
"You make this difficult."
"What?"
"Remembering that I'm supposed to keep my distance."
Elara's heart skipped.
"Then don't pretend you aren't curious."
His smile returned.
"I'm very curious."
A folder slid from the cabinet.
Luca reached for it.
Then stopped.
The space was empty.
He checked again.
"It's gone."
"What?"
"The file."
He searched the shelf.
One folder.
Then another.
Several were missing.
Elara stood.
"What was in them?"
Luca's face hardened.
"Everything."
Alessandro and Dante arrived minutes later.
The atmosphere inside Luca's office had changed.
"Seal the estate," Alessandro ordered.
Dante nodded.
"Already done."
Luca spread the remaining papers across the desk.
"The missing files contained records of Matteo's final days, Isolde's movements, and the original alliance."
Elara looked at the shelves.
"Who had access?"
"Very few people."
"Who?"
Luca hesitated.
"Family members. Senior staff. Security."
Dante's expression darkened.
"So someone inside helped."
Alessandro turned toward the guards waiting outside.
"Nobody leaves."
Elara walked slowly around the room.
She ignored the arguments behind her.
Dust covered most of the floor.
Then she noticed a clean line cutting through it.
She crouched.
"Something moved."
Luca came beside her.
She pointed toward the bookshelf.
"That."
He examined it.
Together they pushed the shelf.
It shifted.
A narrow panel opened.
Behind it was a dark passage.
Dante stared.
"How long has that been there?"
"Longer than this house," Luca said.
Elara looked into the darkness.
"Someone could move through here without appearing on the main cameras."
Alessandro nodded.
"Which means the person knew the house."
Luca checked the security system.
He froze.
"What?"
"The cameras."
He pointed to the screen.
"There was no recorded entry."
Dante swore.
"Then how were the files taken?"
Luca enlarged the system log.
"Someone disabled the camera from inside."
Silence.
Elara looked at the three men.
"Which one of your people?"
No one answered.
Then something slid beneath the office door.
A single sheet of paper.
Luca picked it up.
His eyes moved across the words.
He handed it to Alessandro.
Alessandro read it.
His face became cold.
Dante took the paper.
Elara watched both men.
"What does it say?"
Dante gave it to her.
She read:
Stop searching for Matteo Vesperi—or the next person who disappears will be one of the three kings.
Her fingers tightened around the page.
The threat was no longer aimed only at her.
Someone had decided that the three men protecting her could become targets too.
Alessandro looked at Dante.
Dante looked at Luca.
For once, none of them had an answer.
Then Luca said quietly:
"They know what we're looking for."
Elara folded the note.
"Then we should find it first."
Alessandro stared at her.
She met his gaze without fear.
The frightened woman who had arrived at Bellacorte was disappearing.
And someone inside the estate had just given her a reason to become much harder to control.