Chapter 7 - THE SISTER ON THE SCREEN
Vincent changed shirts three times.
I did not know that until Maria told me.
I also did not know men like Vincent owned shirts that could somehow be “wrong for apologizing.”
Apparently they did.
At 10:00 a.m., he sat in the small downstairs study.
Not the formal office.
No bodyguards.
No Luca.
No staff.
Only Vincent.
Me.
A laptop.
And a glass of water he did not touch.
Lily was at preschool.
That was not accidental.
Sofia had asked that no child be present for the conversation.
Good.
Margaret Shaw appeared first on screen.
Gray hair.
Red glasses.
The expression of a woman who had spent forty years telling men where signatures belonged.
“Mr. Marquetti.”
Vincent nodded.
“Ms. Shaw.”
“Conditions remain.”
“Yes.”
“No recording.”
“Yes.”
“No tracing.”
“Yes.”
“No pressure through third parties.”
“Yes.”
“If Sofia ends call, you do not reconnect.”
Vincent’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
Margaret looked at me.
“Elena.”
“Hi.”
“You look like Rosa.”
“I’ve heard.”
She smiled.
“Sorry.”
“Thank you.”
Then Sofia appeared.
Vincent stopped breathing.
So did I.
She had his eyes.
That was first thing.
Same dark gray.
Same habit of going still instead of looking away.
She wore her hair short.
No makeup.
Simple blue sweater.
Forty-four now.
Vincent looked at his younger sister like the screen had become an impossible window.
“Sofia.”
She stared.
“Vin.”
His face broke.
Not dramatically.
One corner of his mouth moved.
His eyes filled.
He lowered them.
I looked away.
Margaret did too.
Sofia said:
“You got old.”
Vincent laughed through tears.
“You too.”
“Rude.”
“You started.”
Silence.
Then years returned.
Not as warmth.
As weight.
Vincent said:
“I’m sorry.”
Sofia looked at him.
“For?”
He had learned.
“For not listening before you left.”
She nodded.
“For believing Sal and Carlo.”
Another nod.
“For using anger like proof.”
Her face changed.
“For making it believable that you had to hide from me.”
That landed.
Sofia looked down.
“Thank you.”
Vincent continued.
“I am not apologizing for Sal threatening you. That belongs to him.”
Good.
“Or Carlo stealing.”
Good.
“Or for choices you made because you were afraid.”
Sofia looked back.
“But I am sorry my choices made your fear reasonable.”
There.
Her eyes filled.
“That’s closer.”
Vincent almost smiled.
“Rosa’s daughter coached me.”
“I can tell.”
I raised hand.
“Not involved.”
Both siblings looked at me.
For first time, they smiled the same way.
That unsettled me.
Sofia said:
“I owe Elena an apology too.”
“No.”
I held up hand.
“Not today. I have a waiting list.”
She laughed.
Good.
Vincent asked no questions at first.
Sofia did.
“Did Sal lose access?”
“Yes.”
“Nico?”
“Suspended.”
“Rinaldi?”
“Cooperating.”
“Mrs. Burke?”
“Still terrifying the kitchen.”
Sofia laughed.
“Good.”
Then her face hardened.
“Did you open east carriage?”
“Yes.”
“You found black ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know enough.”
“No.”
Vincent’s voice stayed quiet.
“I know pieces.”
Sofia looked.
“What do you want?”
“Whatever you choose to tell.”
I nearly looked at him.
That sentence from Vincent Marquetti deserved historical preservation.
Sofia noticed too.
She leaned back.
“Fine.”
She told him.
Twelve years ago, she found duplicate security payments while reviewing one charitable reserve.
At first she believed embezzlement.
Then she saw dates aligned with false threat reports.
Carlo created financial channel.
Salvatore used information.
Rinaldi controlled access.
Nico moved files and coded transfers.
At twenty-eight, Nico knew the money was concealed but claimed he believed it was contingency for “family security.”
Sofia never knew whether he understood every fabricated threat.
“Do you think he did?” Vincent asked.
Sofia shook head.
“I think he learned more later and chose not to ask.”
That was its own kind of guilt.
“What about six million?”
“Three went to Carlo-linked consultants. Two to Sal’s private holding network. One vanished through cash vendors.”
“Proof?”
“Most.”
“Where?”
Margaret spoke.
“Copies in protected attorney escrow.”
Good.
Not under mattress.
Sofia continued.
She moved two million into emergency trust using authority Vincent had given her on charitable reserve.
Technically unauthorized for that purpose.
She admitted.
“If you want to call that theft, you can.”
Vincent looked.
“I won’t.”
“It was still not proper.”
“No.”
Good.
“Families received money?”
“Yes. Some. Others never claimed.”
“What remains?”
“About 3.7 million.”
Vincent nodded.
“Not mine.”
Sofia stared.
“It came from family reserve.”
“It was earmarked for people our family put at risk.”
Silence.
“That changed.”
Good.
Then:
“Why did you never come home after Sal lost some power?”
Sofia looked away.
“He never lost enough.”
“Carlo died.”
“Nico stayed.”
“Rinaldi retired.”
“Sal stayed at your right hand.”
“Yes.”
“And you got worse.”
Vincent flinched.
Sofia continued.
“From outside, you became exactly what Sal said you were.”
“What?”
“A man nobody could correct.”
Silence.
Vincent looked down.
“I thought being feared kept everyone safe.”
Sofia’s voice softened.
“It kept everyone quiet.”
That might have been the hardest sentence yet.
Vincent nodded.
“Yes.”
Then he asked:
“Are you coming home?”
I tensed.
Sofia did too.
Vincent caught it.
He corrected immediately.
“Do you want to come to Chicago?”
Different.
She relaxed slightly.
“Not yet.”
“Okay.”
“You mean it?”
“No.”
He gave a sad smile.
“But I will behave like I mean it.”
Sofia laughed.
Progress.
Then:
“I may come for testimony.”
“Court?”
“If prosecutors need.”
“Not estate.”
“No.”
“Okay.”
“If I come, I choose hotel.”
“Yes.”
“No black cars.”
“One normal car if you request.”
She almost smiled.
“Look at you.”
“Apparently I’m trainable.”
“Rosa always said.”
I smiled.
Then Sofia’s face changed.
“There is one thing you don’t know.”
Of course.
Vincent straightened.
“Nico contacted me.”
Silence.
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“What?”
“He found Margaret through old escrow filings.”
“How?”
“He was trying to reclaim trust.”
“What did he say?”
“He offered money.”
Vincent’s face hardened.
“For silence?”
“For a release.”
Sofia had refused.
Then Nico said Salvatore was sick of “old women and old ghosts controlling new money.”
I frowned.
“Old women.”
Margaret.
Rosa dead.
Maybe Mrs. Burke.
Sofia continued.
“Nico said if I did not sign, Sal would handle it.”
“Threat?”
“Implied.”
Vincent’s hands tightened.
He did not stand.
Good.
“Did you report?”
“To Margaret. We preserved.”
“Why not police?”
“Because we wanted enough first.”
Vincent looked frustrated.
Then stopped.
Her choice.
“What happened?”
“Nico stopped calling after I said every message was copied.”
Smart.
“Then why pull records now?”
“Because Elena appeared on payroll.”
There.
My hiring triggered more than Margaret’s notice.
Nico’s system flagged my surname too.
He knew Rosa had named me successor contact in some trust papers.
My stomach tightened.
“So my job here wasn’t random.”
Sofia hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Vincent went still.
“Who hired Elena?”
“Mrs. Burke interviewed,” I said.
“But referral?”
I thought.
An agency.
“North Lake Domestic Staffing.”
Vincent looked at Naomi? She wasn't in room. Could check later.
Sofia said:
“Carlo’s widow owns part of North Lake.”
My blood went cold.
“What?”
“Through investment company.”
So maybe I had been placed at estate.
Not necessarily by Nico.
But likely.
Why?
To flush out Rosa’s documents.
Maybe they expected I would bring them.
My skin crawled.
Vincent’s voice went flat.
“Elena.”
“I’m fine.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“You were brought into this house because of your mother.”
“Maybe.”
Sofia said:
“Verify.”
Good.
No conclusion.
Vincent nodded.
Then he looked at me.
“I’m sorry.”
“Not yours.”
“Partly.”
“Maybe later.”
He accepted.
Then Sofia said:
“Vincent.”
He looked back.
“If Elena was placed there, Sal or Nico may believe the sewing box is already in house.”
It was not.
Police had copies.
Original at my apartment? Actually sewing box maybe we brought? We can say originals currently in Naomi's legal storage for review. Good.
“Where is it?”
Vincent asked me.
“Naomi’s office safe.”
“Good.”
Sofia continued:
“They may search your house anyway.”
Vincent looked around.
“Let them.”
“No.”
She shook head.
“Do not turn it into bait.”
He stopped.
“Right.”
Good.
Then Sofia did something unexpected.
She lifted a piece of paper to camera.
A handwritten number.
“Emergency trust release code.”
Margaret immediately said:
“Sofia.”
“It’s fine.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Sofia smiled.
“I’m not giving full code.”
She showed only first four digits.
“Vincent will recognize.”
He stared.
0217.
Vincent stared at the digits.
“February seventeenth.”
Sofia nodded.
“Rosa’s first day.”
Vincent’s expression changed.
“The day she came to work.”
I blinked.
“How do you both remember that?”
“My mother wrote it in the household book,” Vincent said.
Sofia smiled.
“Our mother Teresa made Rosa’s first day a family joke because Vincent refused to eat her oatmeal.”
I looked.
“Of course.”
Sofia continued.
“The full code requires three dates only siblings and Rosa knew. Sal can’t guess.”
“Why tell me?”
“Because I’m transferring control of trust to independent administrator tomorrow.”
Vincent stared.
“You don’t need me.”
“No.”
“Good.”
Something in his face relaxed.
Sofia looked at him.
“That was the point.”
She did not return with money.
She removed money from family control entirely.
Good.
Then call ended after forty-eight minutes.
No hug.
No promise to come home.
Just:
“Bye, Vin.”
“Bye, Sof.”
Screen went dark.
Vincent sat still.
I waited.
Finally:
“She’s alive.”
“Yes.”
“She hates half my decisions.”
“Yes.”
“She still calls me Vin.”
“Yes.”
He laughed softly.
Then his phone rang.
Luca.
Vincent answered.
“What?”
His face changed.
“Nico did what?”
He listened.
Then looked at me.
“North Lake staffing records were just deleted.”
My stomach dropped.
“By who?”
“Nico’s finance credentials accessed agency server.”
There.
Not proof of why.
Enough to move.
Then Luca continued.
Vincent’s face hardened.
“And Sal?”
He listened.
“Where?”
He looked at me.
“Salvatore is at my mother’s old lake house.”
“Why?”
“According to security, he asked maintenance crew to burn stored papers because of mold.”
Sofia’s evidence.
Old household books.
Maybe Rosa records.
Vincent stood.
Old anger returned.
Then stopped.
He looked at me.
“I want to go.”
“I know.”
“Police?”
“Yes.”
He almost sighed.
“Fine.”
May you like
This time, Sofia’s voice was still in room.
It kept him sitting long enough to make the right call.
