Chương 4
She was refusing because too many people had spent too many years deciding what she could handle.
Thomas glanced toward the note on the table.
"I assume you received that."
Maria studied him.
"You know about it."
"I know someone contacted my office."
"Who?"
Thomas did not answer immediately.
That bothered her more than if he had lied.
"Inside," he said.
Maria looked at the yard through the window.
The barbecue had lost its shape.
People were leaving in small groups now.
Some avoided looking at the house.
Others watched openly.
The Bellandi family had always been good at pretending not to see things.
Today, pretending had become impossible.
"Tell me here," Maria said.
Thomas took a breath.
"The call came from someone using a blocked number."
"That means nothing."
"I know."
"Then why are you here?"
Thomas looked at the cracked phone sitting near the sink.
"Because they asked me to prepare for the possibility that the video creates legal problems."
Daniel stood.
"Legal problems for who?"
Thomas looked at him.
"For everyone involved."
Maria saw Daniel's face harden.
Not anger.
Fear.
People heard words like legal problems and imagined the worst version of themselves being exposed.
"I did not hurt her," Daniel said.
Thomas nodded.
"I know."
"But?"
Thomas looked uncomfortable.
"But the situation is more complicated than a prank."
Maria felt the room become smaller.
She had expected resistance.
She had expected family pressure.
She had expected Vincent to find a way to turn embarrassment into offense.
She had not expected her lawyer to arrive carrying the same warning.
"What does that mean?" Maria asked.
Thomas opened the folder.
Inside were printed photographs.
Not from today.
Maria did not touch them.
"Someone sent these to my office this morning."
"Of what?"
Thomas looked at Lily.
Then back at Maria.
"Of your family."
The answer irritated her.
"Be specific."
Thomas hesitated.
That hesitation was becoming a habit around information.
Maria disliked habits that involved hiding things.
"Records," he said.
"Financial records."
Nobody spoke.
The refrigerator hummed.
A lawn mower somewhere beyond the property continued running.
The normal sounds of a normal afternoon continued while Maria felt the ground beneath her family shift.
"What records?" she asked.
"Old ones."
"From when?"
"Several years ago."
"Whose?"
Thomas closed the folder.
"That is why I wanted to speak privately."
Maria took a step closer.
"You came to my home because someone sent you documents connected to my family, and you want privacy?"
Thomas looked at her carefully.
"You are angry."
"Yes."
"Good."
The answer surprised her.
Thomas rubbed his forehead.
"Because angry means you are paying attention."
Maria did not appreciate being managed.
She had spent years around men who disguised control as concern.
But Thomas had never spoken to her like that before.
"What are you not telling me?"
Thomas looked toward the kitchen table.
At Lily.
At the girl who was quietly tracing a circle on the wood with her finger.
Then he looked back at Maria.
"I do not know who sent them."
"That is not what I asked."
A long silence followed.
Finally Thomas said, "The records involve your late husband's final year."
The room changed.
Maria hated how quickly the past could enter a room.
A name.
A date.
A document.
Something invisible becoming heavier than everything around it.
Her husband, Luca, had been dead for seven years.
Seven years since the heart attack that took him in the middle of the night.
Seven years since everyone told her to grieve privately and lead publicly.
Seven years since she had learned that people respected a widow more when she looked strong.
She had never been sure whether strength meant surviving or simply becoming harder to read.
"What about Luca?" she asked.
Thomas looked away.
Just for a second.
But she saw it.
"Thomas."
"I need to review everything before I say something I cannot support."
Maria laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
"You are my lawyer."
"Exactly."
"And?"
"And I am telling you that someone is trying to force a reaction from you."
"By sending documents."
"By choosing today."
Maria looked toward the backyard.
Toward Vincent.
Toward the family.
Toward the day that had started with a child being humiliated.
"Why today?"
Thomas did not answer.
He did not have to.
The question was the answer.
Someone wanted her distracted.
Someone wanted her emotional.
Someone wanted her to make a mistake.
Maria turned back toward Lily.
The girl was watching them.
Not understanding the details.
Understanding enough.
Adults always thought children missed complicated things.
They rarely missed fear.
Maria walked over and sat beside her.
"Lily."
The girl looked up.
"Yes?"
"I need to ask you something."
She nodded.
"When those boys brought you outside, did they say anything before they started filming?"
Lily became still.
The change was immediate.
Daniel noticed too.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," he said.
Maria looked at him.
He was right.
For once, she was grateful someone interrupted her.
Lily looked between them.
"They said it was going to be funny."
"What else?"
The girl swallowed.
"One of them said someone important would like the video."
Maria's hand stopped moving.
"Who said that?"
"I don't know."
"Can you describe him?"
Lily looked down.
"He wasn't one of the boys."
Maria felt a chill move through her.
"Someone else was there?"
Lily nodded slowly.
"He stayed near the trees."
"What did he look like?"
"I don't know."
"Anything."
The girl closed her eyes briefly, searching.
"He had a ring."
"What kind of ring?"
"Black."
Maria and Thomas exchanged a look.
It was brief.
But Daniel noticed.
"What?"
Neither answered.
Because they both knew what the other was thinking.
The Bellandi family had a tradition.
Not a public one.
Not something written anywhere.
A private symbol passed down through certain members.
A black stone ring.
May you like
Maria had not seen one in years.
Not since her husband's younger brother disappeared from family life after a violent argument that nobody discussed.
