Chapter 5 - The Rabbit's Secret
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While Marco disappeared into the shadows of the estate to execute his orders, Aleandro remained in the study with Mia. The little girl had finished her cookie and was now methodically brushing the soft ears of her stuffed rabbit.
Aleandro sat on the edge of his desk, watching her. He was a man accustomed to interrogating hardened criminals, extracting information through fear and pain. He had absolutely no idea how to speak to a traumatized three-year-old.
"Mia," Aleandro started, his voice rumbling softly. "When the uncle came into your room... did he say anything to your mommy?"
Mia paused her brushing. She looked down at the rabbit’s mismatched button eyes. "He said she shouldn't listen at doors. He said she heard the bad words."
Aleandro’s mind raced. The bad words. Elena had overheard a conversation. A conversation so dangerous that a high-ranking capo had risked kidnapping a civilian from the boss's own estate.
"Did Mommy say anything back?"
"She said she didn't know what he was talking about," Mia whispered. "She was crying. She said, 'Please, I have a daughter. I won't tell Don Aleandro.' But the uncle just laughed."
Aleandro’s fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned bone-white. The sheer arrogance of Silvio laughing while destroying a woman's life under Aleandro’s own roof demanded a reckoning that blood alone could not satisfy.
He looked closely at the rabbit in Mia’s arms. The crooked stitches along the belly were fraying slightly at the edges.
"Your mother sewed that for you," Aleandro noted, trying to keep the child engaged.
Mia nodded proudly. "Mommy put a secret inside."
Aleandro frowned. "A secret?"
"When I get scared of the dark, I squeeze his tummy, and the secret makes me brave," Mia explained, holding the rabbit up.
Aleandro gently took the toy from her hands. He ran his calloused thumb over the crooked stitches. Beneath the soft cotton stuffing, he felt something hard. Something metallic and rectangular sewn directly into the lining of the toy.
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He didn't tear it open. He handed it back to her with a solemn nod.
"Your mommy is a very smart woman," Aleandro said quietly. He realized then that Elena wasn't just a quiet maid. She was a survivor who had known the danger was coming, and she had hidden something crucial exactly where no mafia enforcer would ever think to look: inside a child’s toy.
