Chapter 6 - The Widow
Celeste Rinaldi had been dead on paper for fourteen months.
Not officially.
Socially.
She had vanished after Vittorio’s funeral.
Sold nothing.
Closed nothing.
Simply disappeared.
Most people assumed grief.
Others assumed Moretti business.
No one asked too many questions.
That was how the Moretti world worked.
Silence became a form of self-preservation.
Sofia had received three messages from Celeste.
The first:
Your mother did not die from what they said.
The second:
Vittorio kept copies.
The third arrived two months before my anniversary.
If Alessandro goes to Il Cielo for the December anniversary, tell Elena not to eat dessert.
I stared.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Sofia’s face crumpled.
“I tried.”
“How?”
“I contacted Alessandro’s office.”
I looked at Marco.
He was already checking records.
“No message.”
Sofia continued.
“I called Elena’s foundation.”
“My foundation?”
“Three times.”
I remembered no calls.
“Who answered?”
“Your assistant.”
My stomach tightened.
“Rachel?”
Sofia nodded.
Rachel Kim had worked for me four years.
Organized charity events.
Scheduled appointments.
Knew my clothing.
My restaurants.
My anniversary plans.
And she had resigned the morning after my poisoning.
Claimed family emergency.
I sat.
“Oh.”
Alessandro’s expression became deadly calm.
“Where is Rachel?”
Marco was already moving.
Her apartment was empty.
Phone disconnected.
Flight booked to Seoul but never boarded.
Another person gone.
Another leak.
“Was Rachel involved?”
I asked.
“Or frightened?”
Nobody knew.
Sofia explained she finally stopped trying to contact me after receiving her own warning.
A photograph of her leaving work.
Black lily drawn across her throat.
Fear had worked.
Again.
That left Celeste.
Where was she?
The answer came from Vittorio’s archived financial records.
A small monthly payment to a farmhouse in the Hudson Valley.
The payments continued after his death.
Alessandro, Marco, two detectives, and a tactical team went.
I did not.
Heart recovery finally won one argument.
Celeste was there.
Alive.
Forty-six.
Living under another name.
She surrendered before anyone knocked.
Almost as though she had been waiting.
Alessandro returned six hours later.
He looked furious.
Not explosive.
Wounded.
“Vittorio was part of it.”
I closed my eyes.
His trusted consigliere.
The man who had handled warnings.
Evidence.
Phone messages.
“He worked for Caterina?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then?”
“He worked for himself.”
Of course.
Vittorio discovered Isabella’s hidden daughter years earlier.
He discovered the trust vulnerability.
He realized he could manipulate both sides of the family.
He convinced Caterina that Alessandro planned to remove her from the company.
He convinced Isabella that Caterina wanted Bianca installed.
He fed fear in both directions.
Then he began siphoning money through Nera Holdings.
“Did Vittorio kill Isabella?”
“Celeste thinks yes.”
“Thinks?”
“She saw him carrying Santoro’s missing medical case.”
My skin went cold.
“The night Isabella died?”
“Two days before.”
“And Caterina?”
“May have known.”
“Bianca?”
“Maybe.”
“Celeste?”
“She helped hide records.”
“Why warn Sofia?”
“Guilt.”
“And the cake?”
Alessandro sat.
“Vittorio left files.”
“Celeste found them after he died.”
“One file described contingency plans if I remained in control.”
“Contingency meaning murder.”
“Yes.”
“Who inherited those plans?”
“That is the problem.”
Celeste did not know.
After Vittorio died, his secure office had been emptied before she could access everything.
One person had arrived before her.
Bianca.
That made Bianca look guilty again.
Except Celeste added another detail.
Bianca had not come alone.
Rachel Kim was with her.
My assistant.
The woman who knew my anniversary dinner.
My shoes.
My coat.
My schedule.
“Rachel worked for Vittorio?”
“Probably.”
“How long?”
“Years.”
I felt violated in a new way.
Rachel had chosen my birthday flowers.
Held my phone during meetings.
Bought gifts for Alessandro.
Knew when I fought with him.
Knew when I slept at his penthouse.
Knew almost everything.
“Why?”
“Money?”
Marco said.
“Blackmail?”
Alessandro added.
“Loyalty?”
I asked.
Nobody knew.
Then Celeste gave investigators a location.
An old Moretti wine warehouse in Red Hook.
Vittorio had kept an off-book archive there.
Police found it burned.
Recent.
But the fire had not destroyed everything.
A metal safe survived.
Inside were photographs.
Videos.
Audio.
And a ledger titled:
SUCCESSION.
The first page listed Isabella.
Status:
Removed.
The second listed Alessandro.
Status:
Pending.
The third listed Bianca.
Status:
Unreliable.
The fourth listed Caterina.
Status:
Useful.
Then one final name.
Rachel Kim.
Status:
Primary.
I stared.
“Primary what?”
Marco turned the next page.
There was a photograph of Rachel.
Younger.
About nineteen.
Standing beside Vittorio.
On the back:
Rachele Rinaldi.
May you like
My assistant was not Rachel Kim.
She was Vittorio’s daughter.
