The Villa

quiet him. "Maddy. First I must tell you, your father is all right."
    "What happened?" Maddy rolled off the couch. "Something happened to him. That's why he hasn't called. He's never late calling."
    "He was hurt, but he's all right. He's in the hospital."
    "An accident?" Pilar stepped up, laid a hand on Maddy's shoulder. When previously the girl would have shrugged her off, she merely clung tighter.
    "No, not an accident. He was shot."
    "Shot?" Theo shoved away from the piano. Terror coated his throat like bile. "That's wrong, that's a mistake. Dad doesn't go around getting shot."
    "He was taken right away to the hospital," Tereza continued. "I've spoken with the doctor who treated him. Your father's doing very well. He's already listed in good condition."
    "Listen to me." Eli moved forward, took Maddy's hand, then Theo's. "We wouldn't tell you he's all right if he wasn't. I know you're scared, and you're worried, and so are we. But the doctor was very clear. Your father's healthy and strong. He's going to make a full recovery."
    "I want him to come home." Maddy's lip trembled. "I want him to come home now."
    "He'll come home as soon as they release him from the hospital," Tereza told her. "I'm going to make the arrangements. Does your father love you, Madeline?"
    "Sure he does."
    "Do you know how worried he is about you right now? About you and your brother, and how this worry makes it harder for him to rest, to heal? He needs you to be strong for him."
    When the phone rang, Maddy whirled away, leaped on it. "Hello? Hello? Daddy!" Tears gushed out of her eyes, shook her body down to the toes. Still, she slapped at Theo when he tried to grab the phone. "It's okay." Her voice broke, and she turned to Tereza. "It's okay," she repeated, swiping a hand under her nose, breathing deep. "So, hey. Do you get to keep the bullet?"
    She listened to her father's voice, and watched La Signora nod at her.
    "Yeah, Theo's right here, shoving at me. Can I hit him? Too late," she responded. "I already did. Yeah, here he is."
    She passed the phone to her brother.
    "You're a strong young woman," Tereza told her. "Your father should be very proud."
    "Make him come home, okay? Just make him come home." She walked into Pilar's arms and felt better for crying there.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
    Contents - Prev | Next
    Her bead throbbed like an open wound, but it was nothing compared to the ache in her heart. She ignored both and took her place behind her desk.
    Over Eli's and Pilar's objections, Tereza allowed the children to attend this emergency meeting. She was still head of the Giambelli family, and they had a right to know why she believed their father had been hurt.
    They had a right to know it fell to her blood.
    "I've spoken with David," she began, and smiled at his children. "Before his doctor came in and forced him to rest."
    "It's a good sign." Sophia ranged herself beside Theo. He looked so young, so defenseless. "Guys are such babies when they're hurt. They just can't stop talking about it."
    "Get out. We're like, stoic." Theo was trying to be, but his stomach kept pitching on him.
    "Be that as it may," Tereza continued. "With his doctor's approval, he'll fly home in just a few days. Meanwhile the police are investigating the incident. I've also talked to the man in charge of the investigation."
    And had, in short and ruthless order, researched his record. DeMarco would do. Tereza folded her hands on the lieutenant's file. "There were a number of witnesses. They have a description, though not a particularly good one, of the assailant. I don't know that they'll find him, or that he particularly matters."
    "How can you say that?" Maddy jerked up in her chair. "He shot my father."
    Approving the reaction, Tereza spoke to her as she would to an equal. "Because I believe he was hired to do so, as one buys and uses any tool. To take away papers in your father's possession. A misguided and despicable act of self-protection. There have been… discrepancies in a number of accounts. The details of that can wait. It became clear earlier today, through David's work, that my nephew has been funneling money from the company into a dummy account."
    "Donato." Sophia felt a sharp pinch in the heart. "Stealing from you?"
    "From us." That Tereza had already accepted and absorbed. "He met with David, on my orders, this afternoon in Venice and would have realized his actions would soon be uncovered. This was his response. My family's caused your pain,"