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Chapter 5
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The Family Picture Without Me Chapter 9
The Hawthorne investigation closed two weeks later.Federal investigators seized three underground vaults, and Kane saved the client ninety million dollars in acquisition losses. At the final meeting, Ronan handed me the client’s letter.The last paragraph read:The acquisition committee has voted unanimously to retain VIOLET for the continuing investigation, subject to independent authorization from its creator, Viola Moretti.I had developed VIOLET during graduate school and retained legal ownership of its source code, though the Morettis had used it for years without putting my name on most of the work.Now my name appeared alone.Applause filled the conference room.Ronan didn’t take the letter from me or turn my success into a speech about Kane. He waited until the room cleared, then asked, “How do you want to celebrate?”“No champagne.”“I assumed that much.”“There’s a bakery around the corner.”Ten minutes later, one of the most feared men in private intelligence stood beside m
The Family Picture Without Me Chapter 8
Leon stayed in Chicago.My family returned to Boston the next morning, but he rented a room across from Kane and sent one message.I’m not asking you to come back. I need to understand what happened.I didn’t answer.Two days later, Damian called from the Moretti security office.“I reviewed the villa recordings.”Something in his voice made me stop walking.“What did you find?”“We agreed to meet in the sitting room at four thirty. At three thirty-five, Selena told us she had checked your room and that you must have gone ahead.”“I know.”“No. You don’t know all of it.”An encrypted video arrived on my phone.The garage camera showed Selena running up two flights of stairs at 3:33 a.m. One minute later, her monitor registered a high pulse. She returned to the garage, pressed a hand against her chest, and told everyone she needed fresh air.At 3:35, she looked toward the hallway.“Viola isn’t in her room. She must have driven ahead.”The convoy left two minutes later.At 4:30, another
The Family Picture Without Me Chapter 7
Leon arrived outside Kane the following evening.He had come without his security detail. His shirt was creased, and dark stubble shadowed his jaw as if he had left the airport without stopping anywhere else.The moment I stepped through the revolving door, he crossed the sidewalk.“Come home with me.”“I’m not going home.”He held out the ring.“You can’t end an engagement by leaving this in a dorm room. Both families have spent a year planning the wedding. Half the East Coast knows we’re getting married.”“And I should marry you so no one asks embarrassing questions?”“That isn’t what I meant.”“It’s the first reason you gave.”He lowered the ring. “Your father is prepared to put you in charge of Moretti risk operations. Full authority over the harbor accounts, security models, and international audits.”“I already have a job.”“This is your family’s business.”“That didn’t matter when every family decision was made around Selena.”“We’re trying to correct that.”“Because I left.”Le
The Family Picture Without Me Chapter 6
Nora called me shortly before midnight.“Your family came back to NYU.”I sat up on the couch. “All of them?”“Your parents, Damian, and Leon. Selena stayed in one of the SUVs.”They had returned to the residence hall after waiting until six for me to appear at the Moretti estate.“What did they want?”“To know where you went.”“What did you tell them?”“That you moved out.”Nora paused.“Your father didn’t believe me. He made the residence director open your room.”I pictured Dad entering the half-empty room and expecting to find evidence that I planned to return. Instead, he would have seen the bare shelves, the cleared wardrobe, and the engagement photograph left facedown beside Leon’s bracelet.“What happened when you gave Leon the ring?”“He took it and asked why you had left it behind.I told him you had ended the engagement.”My fingers tightened around the phone.“What did he say?”“Nothing at first. Then he asked when you made the decision.”“And you told him?”“That you accept
The Family Picture Without Me Chapter 5
Chicago was colder than New York.By the time my flight landed, rain had turned to sleet against the terminal windows. A driver from Kane Strategic Risk was waiting near baggage claim with my name printed on a plain black card.He didn’t call me Miss Moretti or mention my family.“Ms. Viola,” he said. “Mr. Kane asked me to take you to the apartment first. You start tomorrow.”The company apartment overlooked the river. An encrypted phone, an access badge, and a handwritten note waited on the dining table.There’s no champagne in the refrigerator. Staying sharp before your first day matters more than celebrating. —Ronan KaneI smiled despite myself.That was exactly how Ronan had sounded during the video conference where we first met: practical to the point of rudeness.He had been reviewing a Moretti shipping guarantee when he found three weaknesses in the contract. I had found two errors in his risk model before the call ended.A week later, Kane Strategic Risk offered me a position a
The Family Picture Without Me Chapter 4
The next morning, three black SUVs stopped outside my residence hall.My family had taken the private jet back from the island.Leon sent one message.[Come downstairs.]My parents, Damian, and Leon were waiting beneath the awning. Selena stood between them, wrapped in Leon’s jacket.Mom approached me first. “What were you thinking?”“I wanted to leave.”“You disappeared without telling anyone,” she said. “Do you know how humiliating that was?”Dad’s expression hardened. “Get your things. You’re coming home.”“No.”Everyone fell silent.Damian stared at me. “We flew through the night to find you, and you’re still acting as if no one cares.”“We came because you were behaving irrationally,” Mom said.Selena clutched Leon’s jacket around herself.“Please don’t fight because of me. I told them to stay on the island, but they were too worried about you.”Her voice trembled, and Damian immediately touched her shoulder.“This isn’t your fault.”“I should have woken Viola myself,” she continu
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