Chapter 3 - THE CHILD WHO SAW EVERYTHING
By Wednesday morning, Lorenzo had doubled security around the Moretti estate without telling anyone why.
Two additional guards stood near the rear entrance.
Another watched the service corridor.
The cameras were checked every hour.
But Lorenzo didn't tell Elena.
He didn't want her frightened.
He also didn't want whoever was watching her to realize that he knew.
At 10:20 that morning, Elena received a call from Mrs. Alvarez.
Her voice was trembling.
“Elena, something happened.”
“What?”
“Sophie saw a man.”
Elena stopped folding a sheet.
“What man?”
“I don't know.”
“Where?”
“Outside the building.”
Elena's heart dropped.
“Did he talk to her?”
“No.”
“Did he touch her?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
Mrs. Alvarez hesitated.
“Sophie said he asked about you.”
Elena immediately left the laundry room.
She called the agency and asked to leave early.
Her supervisor refused.
So she did something she'd never done before.
She walked into Lorenzo's office.
The guard outside tried to stop her.
“Mr. Moretti is busy.”
“I need to see him.”
“He's in a meeting.”
“I don't care.”
The guard blinked.
Nobody spoke to Lorenzo that way.
Before he could respond, the office door opened.
Lorenzo stood there.
“Elena.”
“I need to leave.”
“No.”
Her face tightened.
“My daughter—”
“Is safe.”
Elena stared at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because I know.”
“Mr. Moretti, please.”
“You're not going anywhere alone.”
“I need to see her.”
“You will.”
“Then let me go.”
Lorenzo stepped aside.
“I'll take you.”
She hesitated.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“I can't ask you to do that.”
“You didn't.”
Twenty minutes later, Lorenzo's black SUV stopped outside Elena's apartment building.
Elena rushed upstairs.
The door opened before she reached it.
Sophie ran into her arms.
“Mama!”
Elena held her tightly.
“Are you okay?”
Sophie nodded.
Then noticed Lorenzo.
She hid behind Elena's legs.
Lorenzo crouched.
He didn't move closer.
“Hello, Sophie.”
The little girl peeked at him.
“You're the boss.”
Elena looked embarrassed.
“Sophie.”
“What?”
“That's rude.”
Lorenzo almost smiled.
“She's right.”
Sophie studied him.
“You're scary.”
Lorenzo raised an eyebrow.
“Am I?”
She nodded seriously.
“Like a lion.”
For the first time that day, Lorenzo smiled.
“A lion?”
“Yes.”
“Do lions scare you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because my mama says lions protect their babies.”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
Lorenzo looked away.
He hadn't expected that.
Inside the apartment, he noticed the conditions immediately.
One small bedroom.
A kitchen barely large enough for two people.
A broken heater.
A refrigerator containing mostly milk, eggs, and half a loaf of bread.
Sophie sat at the table coloring.
Lorenzo noticed the drawings.
Houses.
Trees.
A little girl.
And a man.
The man was always drawn without a face.
“Who's that?” Lorenzo asked.
Sophie looked at the drawing.
“Daddy.”
Elena went still.
Lorenzo looked at her.
“You never told me.”
“He died before she was old enough to remember him.”
“How?”
Elena's expression tightened.
“Car accident.”
Lorenzo knew that was not the official record.
But he didn't challenge her.
Not there.
Sophie suddenly dropped her crayon.
A loud sound came from the hallway.
She froze.
Elena stood immediately.
“What is it?”
Sophie whispered.
“The man.”
“What man?”
“The man outside.”
Lorenzo's entire demeanor changed.
He walked to the window.
Across the street, a gray sedan was parked beneath a tree.
Empty.
Lorenzo touched his earpiece.
“Gabe.”
“Yes?”
“Gray sedan. Across from Elena's building.”
A pause.
“I'm on it.”
Lorenzo turned.
“Pack a bag.”
Elena stared at him.
“What?”
“You and Sophie are coming with me.”
“No.”
“It's not safe here.”
“I can't stay at your house.”
“You can.”
“I work for you.”
“You're not coming as an employee.”
“Then why?”
Lorenzo looked at Sophie.
“Because someone is watching your daughter.”
Elena's face went white.
That evening, Sophie entered the Moretti estate for the first time.
The house was enormous.
She stood in the foyer staring at the chandelier.
“Is this a hotel?”
“No,” Elena whispered.
Sophie looked at Lorenzo.
“Is it your castle?”
“Yes.”
“Are you the king?”
Lorenzo looked at Gabe.
Gabe struggled not to laugh.
“No.”
Sophie frowned.
“You look like one.”
Lorenzo sighed.
“Go with your mother.”
But Sophie didn't move.
She looked at a large portrait hanging above the staircase.
A younger Lorenzo stood beside Enzo.
“Who's that?”
“My brother.”
“What happened to him?”
Lorenzo's expression darkened.
“He died.”
Sophie looked at him.
“Did you cry?”
The room became silent.
Elena's face turned pale.
“Sophie!”
But Lorenzo didn't become angry.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I was too busy being angry.”
Sophie thought about that.
Then she took a small stuffed rabbit from her bag.
“You can borrow him.”
Lorenzo looked at the toy.
“Why?”
“Because angry people need friends.”
Gabe turned away.
Elena covered her mouth.
Lorenzo stared at the rabbit.
Then slowly took it.
“Thank you.”
That night, Lorenzo placed the stuffed rabbit on his desk.
He stared at it for nearly a minute.
Then his phone rang.
Gabe.
“We found the gray sedan.”
“Who owns it?”
“Registered to a shell company.”
“Which one?”
Gabe hesitated.
“Northline Logistics.”
Lorenzo's blood ran cold.
The same company where Marcus Carter had worked.
“Who owns Northline now?”
“Adrian Vale.”
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
The name he'd been searching for had just walked directly into his house.
And then another message arrived.
A photograph.
A man standing outside Elena's apartment.
The silver ring was visible.
Underneath the photograph, Gabe had written:
HE'S NOT WATCHING ELENA.
HE'S WATCHING SOPHIE.
Lorenzo stared at the message.
For the first time in five years, something inside him felt dangerously close to fear.
May you like
Not for himself.
For a four-year-old girl who had no idea why powerful men were suddenly interested in her.
