Chapter 5
Frank denied asking Maisie anything.
Until I showed him audio from the nursery hallway.
One camera had sound.
His voice came through clearly.
“If Daddy had to choose between you and the Caruso family, who do you think he picks?”
Maisie’s little voice:
“Me.”
Frank laughed.
“Children always think that.”
I paused the clip.
He stared at the screen.
I looked at him.
“Why ask?”
“She needs perspective.”
“She’s three.”
“She’ll grow.”
There.
Same disease older men carried.
Punish the child for the adult she might become.
I pressed play.
Frank continued:
“Daddy has responsibilities. Sometimes family comes before little girls.”
Maisie:
“I’m family.”
Silence.
Then Frank:
“Not the kind I mean.”
I stopped the recording.
Every person in the room went still.
I looked at him.
“What kind did you mean?”
He did not answer.
I stepped closer.
“My daughter is Caruso.”
“Yes.”
“Then what family exists above her?”
Frank’s eyes hardened.
“The organization.”
There it was.
Not blood.
Structure.
Power.
He had spent his whole life believing the organization was the true family and everyone else existed beneath it.
Renata looked uncomfortable now.
Good.
Maybe even she had not understood how deep this went.
I looked at Frank.
“You were teaching her that I would abandon her for the chair.”
“I was preparing her.”
“For what?”
Silence.
I already knew.
“For the day you expect me to prove you right.”
His jaw tightened.
I leaned closer.
“You want Maisie afraid of losing me because fear makes children easier to control.”
Frank scoffed.
“You’re turning fatherhood into weakness.”
I almost smiled.
“No.”
May you like
My voice dropped.
“You’re terrified it made me less like you.”
