The guard lifted Nonnina with surprising gentleness and hurried out of the room. Vee followed at once, hot on their heels.
The hallway blurred around her. One of the guards barked orders into his phone.
"Move the car now!"
"Open the gates!"
"Call ahead!"
Vee barely heard any of it. She ran after them, one hand pressed to her now tight stomach, breath slicing painfully through her chest. Her feet carried her down the staircase too quickly, one hand dragging along the banister to keep herself from falling.
And as she ran, one heartbreaking truth settled over her. If anything happened to Nonnina, yes, everyone would feel it to their bone marrow. The whole house would mourn her. The maids who feared and adored her. The guards she scolded like misbehaving boys. The family that relied on her voice, her sharp tongue, her recipes, her prayers, her authority.
But one person would stand out. One person would be destroyed differently. Luciano Genovese.
