“Yes.”
He looked surprised by her answer.
“Then why are you speaking?”
“Because your father has been afraid, too. And he can’t say so the way I can.”
Lorenzo glanced at Giovanni.
For a moment Nora saw something break through his guarded expression. It was not anger yet. It was the shock of recognizing how thoroughly he’d allowed another person to disappear from his attention.
“Mrs. Gable,” he said, “please wait downstairs. Don’t speak to the other staff about this.”
The housekeeper tried to protest.
“I am not asking twice.”
Nora did not enjoy seeing the older woman frightened. She remembered too well what it felt like to stand in front of someone with the power to destroy a paycheck.
After Mrs. Gable left, Lorenzo opened the notebook.
He read in silence.
Outside, the snow grew heavier.
The storm prevented a clinician from traveling to the estate that night. Lorenzo arranged a video consultation with a hospital nurse practitioner who knew Giovanni’s history, then an in-person assessment when the roads reopened. Following professional guidance, staff checked his immediate needs and established safe assistance with meals. Nora made no attempt to lift him or perform procedures beyond her training.
Lorenzo stayed beside his father until well past midnight.
At one point, Nora returned with a fresh glass of water and found him staring at the blue blanket.
“Who bought this?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“He was cold.”
He ran a hand over the fleece.
“My father used to keep half a dozen expensive coats in his office,” he said. “He’d complain if a waiter let his soup cool.”
“Maybe that’s why the cold soup bothered him,” Nora answered.
Lorenzo smiled sadly.
“You don’t know who he was.”
“I know enough people were scared of him.”
“More than scared.”
Nora set down the water. “Whatever he did, he still needs someone to ask whether he’s comfortable.”
Lorenzo’s smile disappeared, not from offense but because he had no reply.
The next morning, while snow softened the roofs of the parked cars, Lorenzo spoke privately with every employee who had worked upstairs.
