Chapter 16 - Sofia’s Last SecretSofia Bellini did not request Alejandro.
She requested Clara.
“No,” Nathan said immediately from his hospital bed.
Clara stood beside him, fingers wrapped around his.
“She knows something about Emma,” Clara said.
“She threatened our daughter.”
“And that’s why I need to hear it.”
Nathan looked at Alejandro, who stood near the door.
“I don’t trust you,” Nathan said.
Alejandro nodded. “Good.”
That answer surprised him.
Alejandro continued, “But I will have men outside the room, Detective Shaw inside the building, and no weapon near Sofia.”
Nathan’s eyes hardened. “Your men?”
“Not Bruno’s.”
Clara squeezed Nathan’s hand. “I have to.”
Sofia waited in a holding room wearing a plain gray prison sweater. Without silk, diamonds, and makeup, she looked younger.
Not innocent.
Younger.
Clara sat across from her.
Detective Shaw stood by the door.
Sofia looked Clara up and down.
“Your husband looks terrible.”
Clara did not react.
Sofia sighed. “Fine. No games. Bruno is not the highest name.”
Shaw stepped forward.
“Who is?”
Sofia smiled. “Senator Halden.”
Clara frowned. “The senator whose son died?”
“His son did not die in a car crash. He was murdered because he discovered Halden and Bruno were selling federal protection through the ports.”
“Why poison Alejandro?”
“Because Halden needed a monster to blame. A famous one. Alejandro’s death would launch a public cleanup. Halden would cry on television. Bruno would inherit the underworld. Everyone clapped.”
Clara’s stomach turned. “And Emma?”
Sofia looked at her hands.
For the first time, something like shame crossed her face.
“Bruno wanted her dead if Alejandro survived.”
Clara stopped breathing.
Sofia continued quickly. “Not because she mattered. Because she could say she used the EpiPen before the doctor arrived. Because she saw him alive after the wine. Because children remember details adults miss.”
Clara’s voice was ice. “Why tell me?”
Sofia leaned closer.
“Because Bruno also has a file on me. And Halden will kill me before trial.”
“You want protection.”
“I want a deal.”
Clara stood.
Sofia said, “There is a second camera.”
Clara froze.
“What?”
“The forgotten lens caught me in the study. But the winter garden has an old motion camera behind the statue. It recorded Bruno meeting Halden two nights ago.”
Detective Shaw’s eyes sharpened.
Sofia looked at Clara.
“That recording proves everything. But it’s not in the house.”
“Where is it?”
Sofia smiled faintly.
“In the rabbit backpack.”
Clara’s blood went cold.
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“She slipped the card into Emma’s bag before dinner,” Sofia said. “Bruno thought the child was the safest hiding place because no one searches what they plan to destroy.”
Clara ran from the room.
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