Chapter 2 - The Pawn on the Board
The private floor of St. Francis Heart Center was silent except for the rhythmic, electronic hum of Caleb’s heart monitor.
Through the glass panel, I watched the boy sleep. His face was pale, his small chest rising and falling beneath the white hospital blanket. On his bedside table lay the plastic bag containing the single pill he had offered me—the tablet that was supposed to keep him alive.
Beside me, Elena stood with her forehead pressed against the cold glass. Her knuckles were white where she gripped her own elbows.
"He's going to be fine, Elena," I said, my voice low and steady. "The chief of cardiology personally reviewed his charts. The medication is back in stock, and his rhythm has stabilized."
Elena didn't look at me. "Why did you call the hospital chief, Mr. Moretti? Why did you make the insurance authorization appear out of nowhere?"
"Because someone made it disappear," I answered.
She turned slowly. Her dark eyes were shadowed with exhaustion and suspicion. "What are you talking about?"
I motioned toward the private lounge at the end of the corridor. Luca was standing guard by the elevators, his jacket slightly open to reveal the shoulder holster beneath.
"Sit down," I told her softly. "We need to speak where the nurses won't hear us."
Elena hesitated, then walked into the carpeted lounge. She sat on the edge of a leather armchair, her posture rigid. She still wore the rain-dampened maid’s uniform she had arrived in.
"Three weeks ago," I began, standing near the window that overlooked the rain-slicked grounds of Long Island, "you applied for a job through the Prestige Domestic Agency in Manhattan. Who referred you to them?"
Elena frowned, searching her memory. "Dr. Vance. At the community health clinic in Queens. I told him I was struggling to pay for Caleb’s Flecainide after my husband died. He said the agency catered to wealthy clients in Long Island who paid cash daily."
"Dr. Vance operates out of a clinic owned by Bellandi Health Services," I said. "And the Prestige agency is owned by a shell company registered in New Jersey. The owner of that shell company is Marco Bellandi."
Elena’s lips parted. "I... I don't understand."
"Marco Bellandi is my primary rival," I explained cold and hard. "For six months, he has been looking for a way to insert an insider into my estate. My security checks are ruthless. I reject ninety-nine percent of applicants. But Bellandi knew I had a soft spot for widows with clean records. He knew I wouldn't suspect a mother trying to feed her son."
Elena’s face drained of what little color remained. "You think... you think I was sent to spy on you?"
"I know you weren't," I replied gently. "If you were Bellandi’s agent, you would have taken the twenty thousand dollars on my desk. Or you would have let your son steal the watch. That was the trap Bellandi built for you. He wanted you so desperate for money that you would do anything he asked."
I leaned down until I was at eye level with her.
"Bellandi deliberately blocked Caleb’s insurance authorization yesterday," I said, every word dripping with cold rage. "He knew that without his medication, Caleb would suffer an episode. He calculated that you would panic, come to my house, and either steal from me or beg for an advance—giving Bellandi the leverage he needed to blackmail you into planting a listening device in my study."
Elena covered her face with her hands. A single, choked sob escaped her throat. "He used my baby... He used my sick boy as a weapon..."
"Yes," I said quietly. "He did."
I reached out and took her wrists, gently pulling her hands away from her face. Her skin was freezing.
"Listen to me, Elena," I commanded softly. "Marco Bellandi made a fatal mistake. He thought he was playing a game of chess using a helpless mother and a sick child. But he didn't realize who he was dealing with."
May you like
"What are you going to do?" she whispered, her eyes wide with terror.
"I am going to keep your son alive," I swore, looking directly into her soul. "I am going to hire the best pediatric cardiologists in the country to fix his heart. And then I am going to destroy Marco Bellandi so completely that his name will be erased from this city."
