Chapter 9 - The Open Door
“Ruby!”
No answer.
Ethan was crying.
“She followed the bunny.”
“What bunny?”
“A white one.”
Then a guard found a stuffed white rabbit near the hedge.
Not Ruby’s.
A lure.
I ran toward the service garden.
Behind the greenhouse, I heard her crying.
“Daddy!”
Ruby stood beside a woman in a gray coat.
I did not recognize her.
Nico did.
“Marina Bellini.”
Valentina’s cousin.
“I wasn’t taking her.”
Ruby ran to me.
I lifted her.
“What were you doing?”
Marina raised both hands.
“Valentina called me before the banquet. She said if police came, I was supposed to move Ruby to the guest cottage.”
“Why?”
“So she couldn’t be interviewed.”
The child advocate arrived seconds later.
Police arrested Marina.
Ruby buried her face against my neck.
“I want Mommy Isabella.”
I closed my eyes.
“I know.”
“I want her come back.”
“I know, baby.”
That night, I slept on the floor beside Ruby’s bed.
Ethan slept in the other bed because he refused to be alone.
At three in the morning, Ethan whispered, “Mr. Dom?”
He had called me Dad before.
Not tonight.
“Yes?”
“Is Mom bad?”
I stared at the ceiling.
“Your mom made bad choices.”
“Is she going away?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you hate her?”
I thought carefully.
“I’m angry at her.”
“That’s not the same?”
“No.”
He was quiet.
Then he asked the question no seven-year-old should have to ask.
“If she goes away, do I still get to stay?”
I turned toward him.
“Yes.”
His eyes filled.
“Even if I’m not your real son?”
I sat up.
“You are a real child. That is enough.”
He cried silently.
Ruby reached from her bed and held his hand.
At dawn, Luca called.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Marcus made a deal offer.”
“For what?”
“He says he can prove Valentina planned all of this before she married you.”
I looked at the two sleeping children.
“What does he want?”
“Immunity.”
I almost laughed.
May you like
Then Luca added:
“He says he has recordings of your wedding week.”
