Chapter 4
Victor Marchetti came back when I called.
That alone told me he thought he still had standing.
He entered the dining room in an old navy suit, looked at the broken expense card beside Gloria’s plate, and sighed as if I were a disappointing nephew.
“Dramatic.”
I almost smiled.
“That word gets used a lot by people hoping I won’t ask follow-up questions.”
He sat.
Didn’t wait for permission.
Old generation.
Old habits.
I remained standing.
“You’ve been monitoring Sadie’s meals.”
He looked at Gloria.
Then me.
“No.”
“Thursday breakfasts.”
His face changed slightly.
“Family breakfasts.”
“Six weeks in a row?”
Silence.
I leaned forward.
“What were you checking?”
Victor’s expression hardened.
“Whether Gloria had the house under control.”
There.
Not Sadie.
The house.
I glanced at my aunt.
She looked away.
“What does control mean?”
“Standards.”
“Define them.”
He frowned.
“You’re thirty-two. Do you really need every word explained?”
“Yes.”
That annoyed him.
Good.
He continued.
“Boys are prepared for command. Girls are prepared for family cohesion.”
I almost laughed.
“Sadie is three.”
“That is when formation starts.”
Again.
Always early.
Train the hierarchy before the child learns enough language to question it.
I looked at Pierce.
He stared at the table.
Victor continued.
“Your daughter receives everything immediately because you feel guilty about how little time you spend at home.”
That one landed.
Not because he was right about the solution.
Because he was right about the guilt.
I did work too much.
Sadie did wait for me.
That did not make burnt meat reasonable.
“You thought starving dignity out of her corrected my absence?”
“No one starved her.”
I slid Gloria’s plate toward him.
“Eat it.”
He stared.
“What?”
“You said it’s acceptable.”
Silence.
“Eat.”
He looked at Gloria.
Neither moved.
Exactly.
I sat down.
“Who decided Gloria should have the house under control?”
Victor said nothing.
Pierce inhaled sharply.
I heard it.
I turned.
“What?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“Pierce.”
Finally:
“Because if something happened to you, Gloria was supposed to manage Sadie.”
My blood went cold.
“What do you mean if something happened to me?”
Victor’s face hardened.
Pierce looked miserable.
“There’s an old family arrangement.”
I almost laughed.
Of course there was.
Dead men always leave arrangements waiting to interfere with living children.
“What arrangement?”
Pierce answered.
“If a sitting boss dies before his child reaches twelve, the senior household matriarch controls the child’s upbringing.”
I looked at Gloria.
She finally smiled.
Not warmly.
Possessively.
May you like
Sadie’s burnt dinner was not merely training.
Gloria had been practicing for a future role she already believed would be hers.
