Chapter 5 - The Fortress of the Lake
The Lake Geneva estate was an old money property, built in the 1920s out of native fieldstone and heavy white oak timbers, surrounded by twelve acres of dense pine forest that ran straight down to the black water of the lake. It looked like the home of a retired industrialist, but beneath the historical facade laid three million dollars of modern military infrastructure—ballistic glass windows, independent well water filtration systems, and a reinforced basement bunker that could withstand a sustained siege.
By 2:00 AM, the boys had been transferred to a spacious guest room on the second floor without once fully waking, their small bodies exhausted by the long drive. Isabel stayed with them, refusing my offer of a separate master suite, choosing instead to sleep on the small daybed tucked beneath the window where she could keep her eyes on both cribs.
I sat downstairs in the library, the only light coming from the green banker's lamp on the massive desk. Victor stood by the window, a thermal imaging tablet in his hand, monitoring the outer perimeter sensors.
"Leo Archer has been secured, Boss," Victor reported, tapping the screen to refresh the status report. "Our team picked him up from the motel outside the Hammond casino at 11:45. He was terrified. He thought the Calvetti crew was coming to break his legs over the markers. He’s currently in the safehouse in New Buffalo. He’s confirmed that Santino’s people asked him specific questions about Isabel’s schedule and whether she ever received money from your estate."
"Did he tell them anything?"
"He didn't know anything to tell," Victor said, a slight touch of disdain in his voice. "Isabel hasn't spoken to him about you in three years. But Santino isn't stupid. He knows Leo is a dead end now because he’s gone dark. That means Santino’s next move will be to accelerate the surveillance on the Lakeview apartment. When they find it empty, they’ll realize the bird has flown."
"Let them find it empty," I said, my fingers tapping a slow, rhythmic beat against the green leather of the desk. "I want a meeting with Dominic Calvetti. Not the son. The father. Dominic remembers the 2018 war on the south side. He knows what happens when a Rienzi stops negotiating. Arrange a sit-down at the warehouse on the canal for tomorrow night at midnight."
"And Santino?"
"If the son shows up instead of the father," I said softly, looking down at the ancient silver signet ring on my finger, "then the Calvetti family will need a new heir by Thursday morning."
The library door opened with a soft creak. Isabel stood on the threshold, wearing a dark fleece robe she had borrowed from the house linen closet. Her face was pale with fatigue, the dark circles under her eyes showing the true cost of the last three days.
Victor gave a brief, respectful nod and slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him with the silent discretion that made him invaluable.
"They're sleeping," she said, walking over to the fireplace and looking down at the cold hearth. "Matteo wanted his dinosaur truck, but he settled for the bear the housekeeper left on the pillow. The house is very quiet, Alessandro. It feels like a beautiful prison."
"It's a shield, Isabel," I said, rising to pour her a glass of water from the crystal carafe on the sideboard. "Only until this is over."
She took the glass, her fingers brushing mine for a fraction of a second. The contact felt like an electric charge, a reminder of the years when her touch was the only thing that could ground me after a night spent in the blood-soaked rooms of the outfit.
"Why didn't you ever check on me?" she whispered, her eyes fixed on the water in her glass. "In three years, Alessandro. You had all the money in the world. You had spies on every corner. You could have found out I was living in Lakeview in ten minutes. Did you really wipe me out of your mind that completely?"
"I didn't wipe you out, Isabel," I said, stepping closer until I could smell the cinnamon scent of her hair. "I locked you away. I told myself that if I looked at you, if I saw you building a life with a man who could give you what you wanted, I would come in and destroy it out of pure, selfish envy. I stayed away because I believed my absence was the only gift I had left to give you. I was a fool who trusted a piece of paper over the woman who knew my soul."
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She looked up at me, her eyes shimmering with a dangerous mixture of old love and new pain. "The paper was wrong, Alessandro. But the life you lead... that hasn't changed. Look at us. We're in a fortress surrounded by men with guns because of your name. How do I raise two boys in this?"
"You don't," I said, my voice hardening into a vow. "I am going to finish the Calvetti line this week. And then, Isabel, I am going to finish the outfit."
