CHAPTER 13: THE FATHER’S EYE
498 Words
Elize didn’t move for s everal minutes after Luca left.
The glass room felt different now.
Not empty.
Monitored.
She could feel it in the stillness—the same sensation as before, but sharper. More deliberate.
Like she had been placed somewhere on purpose.
Eventually, she walked to the edge of the room.
No obvious cameras.
That didn’t mean anything anymore.
The door opened again.
This time, it wasn’t Luca.
It was Enzo.
He stopped when he saw her position.
“You’re still here,” he said.
“I was told to stay.”
A pause.
“That wasn’t a suggestion,” Enzo replied quietly.
Elize studied him.
“You don’t agree with him.”
Enzo didn’t respond immediately.
That hesitation again.
It was becoming a pattern.
“I follow orders,” he said finally.
“But you think,” Elize added.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“Careful,” he said.
A faint silence.
Then—
Footsteps again.
But heavier this time.
Slower.
Not Luca.
Not Enzo.
Authority before presence.
Vittorio DeLuca entered.
The temperature of the room didn’t change.
But everything else did.
Enzo straightened immediately.
Elize didn’t.
That alone made Vittorio look at her longer than anyone else had so far.
“So,” he said calmly.
“This is her.”
Elize met his gaze.
“And you are?”
A faint smile touched his expression.
Not warm.
Not amused.
Evaluative.
“You don’t remember me, I’m the reason you’re still breathing in this house,” he replied.
A pause.
Then he stepped closer.
Circling slightly—not rushing, just observing.
“You’re bolder than I expected,” he added.
“I don’t know what you expected.”
“Obedience,” Vittorio said simply.
That landed.
But Elize didn’t react outwardly.
Instead—
“I signed a contract with Luca,” she said.
“Yes,” Vittorio replied.
“Which means you signed it with me too.”
Silence.
That was the first true shift.
Elize held his gaze.
“You didn’t sign anything.”
Vittorio’s expression didn’t change.
“Neither does ownership require ink,” he said.
From the side, Enzo shifted slightly.
Uncomfortable.
Vittorio noticed.
He always noticed.
“You’re watching her closely,” Vittorio said to Enzo without looking away from Elize.
Enzo hesitated.
“I’m assigned to monitor security.”
“Mm.”
A non-answer.
Vittorio turned slightly back to Elize.
“You’re being studied,” he said calmly.
“That should be obvious by now.”
“It is,” Elize replied.
A faint pause.
Then—
“Good,” Vittorio said.
“Then you won’t be surprised when things get worse.”
And he left.
No explanation.
No delay.
Just exit.
Like he had already confirmed what he needed.
Elize didn’t move immediately.
Then she turned slightly toward Enzo.
“That wasn’t a greeting,” she said.
“No,” Enzo replied.
“That was assessment.”
A pause.
Then quieter—
“And you passed… for now.”
- Writer
