Chapter 2 - Before the Fall
By the time the ambulance doors closed, Alessia could feel pressure in her foot but not pain.
That frightened her more.
Valerio sat beside her, one hand around hers, the other holding his phone while he issued short instructions.
“Lock the ballroom cameras. Nobody copies anything. Nobody deletes anything. Mateo stays with security until I speak to him.”
Alessia turned her head. “He’s a kid, Valerio.”
“I know.”
“Don’t scare him.”
Valerio looked offended. “I’m charming with children.”
Nathan, riding across from them, snorted.
Alessia almost laughed. Then the ambulance hit a bump and pain burned through her hip.
At St. Catherine’s, imaging showed no fracture. The nerve appeared compressed but intact. That should have been good news.
Nathan did not look relieved.
He stood at the foot of Alessia’s hospital bed, studying old scans on a tablet.
“Your right calf has lost muscle mass.”
“I had the car accident last year.”
“Yes, but your last rehabilitation report said the strength was returning.”
“It was.”
“Until when?”
Alessia thought about it.
“Maybe six months ago.”
Valerio stopped pacing.
“That’s when you started limping again.”
“I thought I was tired.”
Nathan asked, “Any numbness before tonight?”
“Pins and needles. Sometimes after dinner.”
“After dinner?”
Alessia nodded.
Nathan’s eyes moved to Valerio.
“What medication does she take?”
“Gabapentin at night. A vitamin supplement. Anti-inflammatory as needed.”
Alessia frowned. “And the blue capsule.”
Valerio looked at her.
“What blue capsule?”
“The one Dr. Heller added three months ago.”
Nathan’s face changed.
“I spoke with Heller last week about your case. He didn’t add anything.”
No one spoke.
Valerio’s hand lowered slowly from his phone.
“Who gives you the capsule?”
“Usually the house staff leaves my medication tray.”
“Who controls it?”
Alessia already knew the answer.
“Veronica.”
Valerio walked to the window and stood with his back to them.
Veronica had managed the Rinaldi household for four years. She handled staff schedules, private travel, family events, prescription pickups, and half a dozen boring details Valerio refused to think about.
She was also his cousin.
Nathan said, “I want blood work before anything clears your system.”
The door opened.
One of Valerio’s security men entered holding a sealed plastic evidence bag.
Inside was a blue capsule.
“Found in Mrs. Rinaldi’s evening medication case,” he said.
Valerio turned.
“Where’s Veronica?”
The guard hesitated.
“She left the estate six minutes after the ambulance.”
Valerio’s eyes hardened.
“Find her.”
The guard did not move.
“Sir, there’s something else.”
He held up a second bag.
Inside was a small brass key.
“It was taped beneath Mrs. Rinaldi’s medication box.”
Alessia stared at it.
“I’ve never seen that key.”
May you like
Valerio had.
It opened the private archive beneath his father’s old study.
