Chapter 2 - The Housekeeper’s InsightClare sat at the small kitchen table in the staff wing, pouring warm milk into a bowl of oatmeal for Lily. Nero lay heavily across the threshold, his massive head resting on his paws, his dark eyes tracking every movement in the hallway.
When a knock sounded on the door, Clare felt a brief tightening in her chest. It wasn't the sharp, aggressive knock of an enforcement guard, but the steady, measured tap of Marco Bellini.
Clare opened the door. Marco stood in the hallway, looking older in the harsh morning light, the gray at his temples stark against his dark suit.
"Mr. Moretti wants to see you in the study," Marco said quietly.
Clare glanced back at Lily, who offered a small, reassuring smile. "Go ahead, Mom. Nero and I will be right here."
Nero let out a low huff of agreement, his tail thumping once against the floorboards.
Clare smoothed down her skirt, checked her apron, and walked through the echoing corridors until she reached the heavy double doors of the private study. Dante was standing by the window. When she entered, he turned immediately, his presence filling the room with an unspoken, heavy gravity.
"Sit down, Clare," Dante said, gesturing to a leather armchair opposite his desk.
Clare remained standing. "I'd prefer to stand, Mr. Moretti."
A faint, almost imperceptible shadow of a smile touched Dante's lips. "You have a habit of surprising people, Clare. Last night, you trusted an animal’s instincts over thirty years of professional security protocol."
"Nero doesn't lie," Clare answered simply. "And he doesn't have an agenda."
"True," Dante murmured, walking slowly around his desk. He picked up a small, matte-black transmitter recovered from the wall. "This device was engineered to relay high-frequency audio across encrypted cellular bands. It requires a local receiver within a two-mile radius to aggregate the feed before transmitting it off-site."
Clare looked at the device, her analytical mind immediately engaging. "A two-mile radius? That means whoever is listening isn't thousands of miles away. They’re sitting right in our backyard."
"Precisely," Dante said, his eyes locking onto hers. "Which brings us to the logistics. To plant these without triggering the estate's motion sensors or acoustic monitors, someone had to bypass the master security hub during scheduled maintenance windows. And according to the electronic logs, your digital security key was used to authorize three of those maintenance entries over the last six months."
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Clare’s breath hitched. The room suddenly felt smaller, the air dropping several degrees.
"My key?" Clare whispered. "That's impossible. My key card never leaves my pocket, and the backup pin is locked in my desk safe."
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