Chapter 7
The capos had already heard about Lucy.
Not the dog bowl.
The “problem.”
Thomas Bellini admitted it privately.
“Bianca mentioned household strain.”
I stared.
“How?”
“She said Lucy was acting out after Elena’s death.”
Plausible.
That was why it worked.
“What else?”
“That you were missing meetings.”
I did leave early twice.
Because Lucy had nightmares.
“And?”
“She said you might reduce travel permanently.”
I had considered it.
Again, truth mixed with poison.
Bianca did not invent everything.
She curated reality.
Choose facts.
Remove context.
Add fear.
Then let older men reach the conclusion themselves.
“Did anyone question my leadership?”
Thomas looked uncomfortable.
“One man did.”
“Who?”
“Marcus.”
Of course.
He argued that Romano needed a stronger domestic structure around me.
His words.
Domestic structure.
Meaning Bianca.
If she became the stable center of the house while Lucy became the instability, Bianca gained political value.
Not just as fiancée.
As solution.
I almost admired the architecture.
Almost.
Thomas looked at me.
“Did you know any of this?”
“No.”
He nodded slowly.
That embarrassed him too.
Good.
Not because I wanted shame.
Because people remember being manipulated longer than being ordered.
“What did Marcus want?”
“A household council.”
I laughed.
“Of course.”
Three people.
Bianca.
Marcus.
One senior capo.
Officially for continuity during my absences.
Unofficially, it would turn my home into a parallel command structure.
“Did they mention Lucy?”
“Only as justification.”
There.
The child became the problem.
The council became the cure.
Bianca’s future child would arrive later into a house where she already controlled access, staff, schedules, and perception.
May you like
Lucy did not need to disappear immediately.
She only needed to become the reason everyone accepted Bianca taking over.
