Spike nods.
Luca turns back toward us, his phone still pressed against his ear.
No one needs to ask whether the call has gone well.
His expression tells us it hasn’t.
“He isn’t answering,” Luca says.
“When did you last speak to him?”
“Three days ago.”
“Was anything unusual?”
“No. He gave me the same weekly report he always does. There were no problems in the territory and nothing requiring our attention.”
“Apparently,” Stefano says coldly, “he neglected to mention quite a few things.”
“He’s been loyal to us for many years,” Luca says. “I truly don’t believe he’s involved in whatever this is.”
“Loyal men can still miss things,” Stefano replies.
“And loyal men can be forced into silence,” Spike adds.
Neither possibility is particularly comforting.
“All right.” I check my watch and realize I have less than ten minutes before I’m expected downstairs. “I promised the children I would join them for reading class today. I’ll leteveryone know once the meeting with Chris Olsen has been arranged.”
“Here or at the compound?” Spike asks.
I don’t like either option.
The estate houses my family, several children, and people who have already suffered enough for one lifetime. The compound is filled with the Shadows’ women and children. Bringing an unknown man into either location simply because he claims to have information would be foolish.
“We should consider investing in a joint property away from our families for situations like this,” I say. “Bringing unknown men to either location is too great a risk.”
“Patch has an empty cabin on his land,” Skip offers. “I don’t think he’d mind if we utilized it from time to time.”
“Reach out and ask him,” Spike says.
Skip nods, then looks at me as if something has only just occurred to him.
“Wait. How are you joining the children’s reading class? I thought they attended public school now.”
“Some of them do,” I explain. “But most of the parents have chosen to continue homeschooling their children because our tutors are privately contracted.”
There was a time when nearly every child living under Moretti protection was educated inside the estate. It offered privacy, flexibility, and, most importantly, security. Some of the children now attend public school because their parents want them to experience a more ordinary childhood.
Others cannot safely do so.
“So, the tutors know about the family business?” Skip asks with a smirk.
“Yes.” I smile. “They know about the family business.”
“What does that mean exactly?” he asks, looking far too amused by the entire conversation.
“It means they understand that the children’s schedules may differ from those of ordinary students. Most of our males are training to become guards for their futureDon, so they spend a considerable amount of time in specialized classes. Our teachers work their academic lessons around those schedules.”
