Chapter 3 - The Maid Remembered the Mafia Boss’s Dying Father Confessed Who Murdered Her Parents—Then Dante Learned the Woman He Loved Had Been Living Beside Their Killer for YearsIvy didn't sleep.
She sat in Dante's library until sunrise.
Not as an employee.
Not anymore.
As a witness.
As a woman whose entire childhood had just become evidence.
Dante sat across from her.
He didn't touch her.
He didn't ask questions for almost twenty minutes.
Finally Ivy spoke.
“I thought he was confused.”
“Matteo?”
“Yes.”
Dante's father had died after a sudden stroke four years earlier.
Ivy had been twenty-nine.
New to the estate.
Still learning names.
She remembered the night.
A charity dinner.
Matteo Morelli had left the table early.
Ivy found him in the east corridor.
Pale.
Sweating.
He asked for water.
She brought it.
Then he collapsed.
Ivy called emergency services.
Before the ambulance arrived, Matteo grabbed her wrist.
Looked at her name badge.
IVY BENNETT.
His eyes widened.
Bennett.
Then:
Gabriel killed your parents. Find the red book.
Ivy thought delirium.
By the time paramedics arrived, Matteo was unconscious.
He died at the hospital.
“I never told anyone.”
“Why?”
“Because it made no sense.”
Dante's face was pale.
“What happened to your parents?”
“Car accident.”
“When?”
“I was eight.”
“Where?”
“New Jersey.”
Dante closed his eyes.
Ivy understood.
“Don't.”
He looked at her.
“Don't make that face unless you know.”
“I know enough to be afraid.”
“Then find facts.”
Dante nodded.
Sloan did.
By noon, federal records revealed Ivy's father, Nathan Bennett, had been an accountant.
Not ordinary accounting.
Forensic auditing.
He had worked for a construction company partially owned by Morelli interests.
Ivy's mother, Sarah, worked as a legal secretary for the same company.
Three months before their deaths, Nathan discovered millions disappearing through shell corporations.
He began copying records.
Then the Bennett family car lost its brakes on a mountain road.
Eight-year-old Ivy wasn't inside because she had stayed overnight with her grandmother.
Her parents died instantly.
The investigation ruled mechanical failure.
One detective disagreed.
He retired two weeks later.
Dante read everything.
Then left the room.
Ivy followed.
She found him outside on the terrace.
He gripped the stone railing.
“Dante.”
“My family killed yours.”
“Maybe Gabriel.”
“My family.”
“Don't make yourself the center of my grief.”
He turned.
The words hit.
Ivy continued.
“I need you useful.”
He stared.
“Not guilty.”
Silence.
Then Dante nodded.
“What do you need?”
“The red book.”
He looked toward the estate.
Matteo's private office remained preserved.
Dante had never emptied it.
Grief.
Complicated grief, apparently.
They searched.
Shelves.
Safe.
Desk.
Nothing.
Hours passed.
Then Ivy noticed a red leather volume on the highest bookshelf.
Italian poetry.
Too obvious.
She pulled it.
Nothing.
Dante looked.
“Empty?”
“Yes.”
Then Ivy smiled faintly.
“Your father wasn't that stupid.”
She examined the shelf.
Dust patterns.
One book had never moved.
A dictionary.
Black.
She opened it.
Pages cut hollow.
Inside:
A red notebook.
Dante stopped breathing.
Ivy stared.
“Apparently he was dramatic.”
“Family trait.”
They opened it.
Accounts.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Then:
N. BENNETT—AUDIT EXPOSURE. GABRIEL AUTHORIZED VEHICLE CORRECTION. STERLING FACILITATED.
Ivy couldn't breathe.
Her knees weakened.
Dante caught her elbow.
She didn't pull away.
Not this time.
“My parents.”
“Yes.”
“Gabriel.”
“Yes.”
“Anthony Sterling.”
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled.
“Vanessa's father helped murder my parents.”
Dante's jaw tightened.
“And Gabriel ordered it.”
Ivy cried.
Quietly.
Dante waited.
Then she turned toward him.
“Can you…”
He understood.
“Can I hold you?”
She nodded.
He wrapped his arms around her.
Ivy pressed her face against his chest.
For several minutes, she wasn't strong.
She wasn't observant.
She wasn't the woman who kept the estate functioning.
She was eight years old again.
Waiting for parents who never came home.
Dante held her.
Nothing more.
Eventually Ivy stepped back.
“Thank you.”
“Always.”
The word hung between them.
She looked up.
He realized.
“I shouldn't have said—”
“Why?”
Dante stopped.
Ivy waited.
His voice became quiet.
“Because I care about you.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You don't.”
Her heart accelerated.
Dante continued.
“I've cared for a long time.”
“How long?”
“Long enough that I'm embarrassed.”
Despite tears, she smiled.
“That's not a number.”
“Two years.”
Ivy stared.
“Two years?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you say anything?”
“You worked for me.”
“So?”
“So I controlled your salary, housing access, schedule, and references.”
Ivy became still.
“I didn't want you wondering whether saying no would cost you something.”
Her throat tightened.
“And Vanessa?”
“My engagement was arranged six months ago.”
“You agreed.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Business.”
“That worked well.”
“No.”
He smiled sadly.
“It didn't.”
Ivy studied him.
“Did you love her?”
“No.”
“Did she know?”
“Yes.”
“Did she love you?”
“I don't know.”
“That's depressing.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Ivy looked toward the red notebook.
“This is not a good time.”
“No.”
“My parents were murdered.”
“I know.”
“Your family is imploding.”
“Yes.”
“Someone is trying to kill me.”
“Yes.”
“And my hair looks like I fought a lawn mower.”
Dante frowned.
“I like it.”
She stared.
He looked worried.
“That sounded wrong.”
Ivy laughed.
Actually laughed.
“Terrible timing.”
“Yes.”
She touched the short ends.
“I hate it.”
Dante's expression softened.
“Then hate it.”
“What?”
“You don't have to turn what Vanessa did into empowerment immediately.”
Ivy froze.
He continued.
“You can hate that she took something you loved.”
Tears returned.
“Hair grows.”
“I know.”
“My grandmother used to say that.”
“Then let it grow.”
He looked at her.
“Not because long hair makes you beautiful.”
“You're already beautiful.”
Ivy looked away.
“Dante.”
“I know.”
“No pressure.”
“No expectation.”
“Just truth.”
Her cheeks warmed.
Then the library window shattered.
Dante moved.
A bullet hit the wall.
Security alarms screamed.
Ivy dropped.
Dante covered her.
Dominic rushed in.
“Sniper!”
“Location?”
“North woods.”
Another shot.
Then silence.
Federal teams responded.
The sniper escaped.
But left something behind.
A burner phone.
One unsent message.
RED BOOK CONFIRMED. BENNETT AND DANTE TOGETHER. GABRIEL ORDERS BOTH REMOVED.
Ivy read it.
“Both.”
Dante nodded.
“He's done hiding.”
“What does he want?”
“The company.”
“The ports.”
“Everything.”
“And Vanessa?”
Dante's face hardened.
“Useful until she isn't.”
Ivy understood.
Vanessa had humiliated her.
Participated in conspiracy.
Helped her father.
But Gabriel was using her too.
“Find her.”
Dante frowned.
“What?”
“Before Gabriel kills her.”
“You want to save Vanessa?”
“I want her alive to testify.”
Dante almost smiled.
“Of course.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You're doing that thing.”
“What thing?”
“Looking at me like I'm remarkable.”
“You are.”
Ivy rolled her eyes.
But she smiled.
Vanessa was found forty-eight hours later.
She called Ivy.
Not Dante.
Ivy answered.
“I need help.”
Vanessa was crying.
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Then I can't help.”
“Gabriel killed my father.”
Ivy froze.
Anthony Sterling had been reported dead in federal detention transport after a vehicle collision.
Apparently not an accident.
Vanessa sobbed.
“He's killing everyone.”
“Where are you?”
“Ivy…”
“Where?”
An abandoned church.
Federal agents surrounded it.
Vanessa surrendered.
Inside her purse:
A flash drive.
Gabriel's financial records.
Payments.
Bribes.
Murder contracts.
Enough to bury him.
Vanessa sat across from Ivy afterward.
Her eyes went to Ivy's hair.
“I’m sorry.”
Ivy said nothing.
“I hated that Dante noticed you.”
“That wasn't why you cut it.”
“No.”
Vanessa cried.
“I wanted you to quit.”
“I know.”
“They told me you remembered things.”
“I know.”
“I chose the thing I knew would humiliate you most.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
Ivy looked at her.
“You'll testify?”
“Yes.”
“Against Gabriel?”
“Yes.”
“Then start there.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Will you forgive me?”
Ivy thought.
“Maybe.”
Vanessa looked surprised.
“But forgiveness doesn't erase consequences.”
“I understand.”
“You assaulted me.”
“Yes.”
“You helped people trying to kill me.”
“Yes.”
“You'll answer for that.”
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
“I know.”
Ivy stood.
As she reached the door, Vanessa whispered:
“He loves you.”
Ivy stopped.
“Dante.”
“I know.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“I used to think that was impossible.”
Ivy turned.
“Because of how I look?”
Vanessa cried.
“Yes.”
Ivy considered the woman.
Then said quietly:
“That was always your limitation.”
She walked away.
Three days later, Gabriel DeMarco disappeared.
Federal agents searched.
Nothing.
Then Dante received a message.
A photograph.
Dominic Russo bound to a chair.
Behind him:
The old Morelli dock warehouse.
Text:
BRING THE RED BOOK. BRING IVY. MIDNIGHT. ONE FAMILY ENDS TONIGHT.
Dante stared.
“No.”
Ivy stood beside him.
“We've done this conversation.”
“You're not going.”
“Still not your decision.”
“He murdered your parents.”
“Exactly.”
“He wants you dead.”
“I noticed.”
“Ivy.”
She looked at him.
“I want justice.”
Dante's voice broke.
“I want you alive.”
Something in her softened.
She touched his hand.
“You can want both.”
He stared.
Then Ivy said the words that changed everything between them.
“Don't protect me by leaving me powerless.”
Dante closed his eyes.
When he opened them, he nodded.
“Together?”
May you like
Ivy squeezed his hand.
“Together.”
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