I had authorized him permanently because changing it back afterward seemed unnecessary.
Another small convenience.
Another door left open.
“What else?”
Anika tapped a folder.
“This is more interesting.”
She opened a series of payments.
For six months, Luca had been paying a Denver architectural firm.
Not enormous sums.
Small enough that I wouldn’t have noticed among household expenses.
“What are those?”
“I called the firm,” Phoebe said.
My eyes shifted toward her.
“And?”
“They wouldn’t release plans without authorization, but they confirmed Luca commissioned preliminary design work for this address.”
“My house?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of design?”
Phoebe hesitated.
“Conversion of the east wing.”
My chest tightened.
“That’s where Lily’s nursery is.”
“I know.”
“What was he converting it into?”
“Executive offices and meeting space.”
Nobody spoke.
I looked down at Lily sleeping against me.
For months, I had picked paint samples.
Measured curtains.
Ordered a handmade crib.
Sat on the floor at midnight arranging books she wouldn’t understand for years.
Meanwhile Luca had been paying someone to draw plans for offices.
“Why?”
“That,” Phoebe said, “we don’t know.”
Anika turned her laptop again.
“But we may know part of it.”
She showed me another document.
A calendar entry.
Residential valuation – 10:00 a.m., September 9.
Three days away.
“What is that?”
“A private appraisal.”
“Who ordered it?”
“Luca.”
My heart began beating faster.
“For what?”
Phoebe slid a printed email across the table.
The sender was a private banking division I recognized.
The subject line read:
Preliminary Asset Review – Moretti Family Holdings
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
“I’ve never heard of Moretti Family Holdings.”
“Neither had I,” Phoebe said.
“What does it own?”
“Apparently, almost nothing.”
Evelyn frowned.
“Then why does it exist?”
Phoebe looked at me.
“That is exactly what I intend to ask Luca.”
I kept reading.
