Chapter 8 - A Room With No Safe Exit
Renzo returned willingly.
That bothered Marco more than resistance would have.
He walked into the conference room beside Luca’s ICU suite, placed his phone on the table and sat down without being asked.
Tessa remained near the door.
Renzo looked at her.
“I assume my nurse interrogator is joining us.”
“I’m not your nurse.”
“Good. I suspect I would be a terrible patient.”
“You and Luca have that in common.”
Luca almost smiled.
Then the room became serious again.
Marco displayed the security footage.
“Explain.”
Renzo watched himself entering the supply corridor.
“I requested additional equipment.”
“What equipment?”
“A portable cardiac monitor.”
“For whom?”
“Luca.”
“Why?”
Renzo folded his hands.
“Because I didn’t trust the hospital.”
Tessa stared at him.
“You brought outside medical equipment into an ICU?”
“I arranged for one to be available.”
“Without telling the medical team?”
“Yes.”
“That could create dangerous interference.”
“I understand that now.”
Marco leaned forward.
“Who helped you?”
Renzo named a private physician.
Tessa recognized the name from Luca’s admission paperwork.
The doctor had been verified and interviewed after the ventilator sabotage.
Marco checked.
The physician confirmed everything.
Renzo had entered the supply area for less than four minutes, delivered the monitor, and left.
No duplication.
No medication access.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Luca asked.
Renzo looked at him.
“Because you already suspected me.”
“That should have made honesty more important.”
“Would you have believed me?”
Luca did not answer.
Renzo’s face softened.
“You are more like your father than you think.”
“That is not a compliment.”
“I didn’t intend it as one.”
Silence.
Then Renzo continued.
“I opposed your restructuring.”
“I know.”
“I still oppose parts of it.”
“You said certain decisions couldn’t be allowed.”
“I meant financially.”
Marco lifted an eyebrow.
Renzo sighed.
“Yes, I understand how it sounds now.”
Tessa spoke.
“If you didn’t arrange the attack, who benefits from making you look guilty?”
Renzo leaned back.
“Someone who wants Luca isolated.”
That answer changed the room.
Tessa felt it immediately.
The false physician had been connected visually to Adrian.
Security footage pointed toward Renzo.
Tessa’s own credentials had been used for the medication.
Every clue did the same thing.
It damaged trust.
“What happens if Luca stops trusting everyone?” she asked.
Marco answered.
“He centralizes authority.”
“Meaning?”
“He keeps more control personally.”
Tessa looked at Luca.
“And if he dies after doing that?”
Renzo’s expression sharpened.
“Whoever inherits his executive authority gains considerably more.”
“Who inherits?”
Nobody answered.
Tessa knew that meant the answer mattered.
“Who?”
Luca said quietly, “Daniel Ferri.”
The internal administrator.
One of the seven.
Tessa remembered the list.
“What exactly does Daniel control?”
“Documentation,” Marco said.
“Authorization systems,” Renzo added.
“Personnel records,” Luca finished.
Tessa stared at them.
“Hospital credential requests?”
Marco’s face changed.
“Potentially.”
“Vehicle authorizations?”
“Yes.”
“Employee records?”
“Yes.”
“Could he access Luca’s executive token after the crash?”
Luca answered slowly.
“Daniel’s team secured the car.”
Nobody spoke.
The room suddenly felt much smaller.
Marco took out his phone.
“I’m bringing him in.”
“No,” Tessa said.
Three men looked at her.
“If Daniel is behind this and he believes you suspect Renzo and Adrian, bringing him in warns him.”
Marco frowned.
“So what do you suggest?”
“Nothing.”
Luca watched her carefully.
Tessa continued.
“Act like the clues worked.”
Renzo understood first.
“You want Daniel to believe Luca distrusts us.”
“Exactly.”
Marco looked impressed despite himself.
“You’ve done this before?”
“I work in intensive care. Family politics are often more dangerous than medication errors.”
Luca smiled.
Tessa tried not to notice.
They created a false plan.
Renzo left angry enough for the hallway cameras to record it.
Marco made calls suggesting Adrian had been identified as the primary suspect.
Luca ordered executive access consolidated temporarily.
And Daniel Ferri was informed that he alone would receive the emergency authorization package.
Then they waited.
Waiting was harder than action.
Tessa returned to clinical work.
Luca’s condition continued improving.
By evening, he could sit without support.
He hated weakness.
Tessa made him confront it.
“Three steps.”
“I can do ten.”
“Three.”
“Five.”
“You’re negotiating rehabilitation?”
“I negotiate everything.”
“You negotiate badly.”
Marco watched from the doorway.
“I’m learning so much.”
“Leave,” Luca said.
Marco stayed.
Luca stood.
Pain tightened his face.
Tessa supported his elbow.
“Slow.”
“I’m fine.”
“People who are fine don’t turn gray.”
He took one step.
Then another.
On the third, his knees weakened.
Tessa caught him.
For one second his arm wrapped around her waist.
Her hand pressed against his shoulder.
Their faces were unexpectedly close.
Neither moved.
Luca’s expression changed.
Tessa felt it.
The moment.
Dangerous for entirely different reasons.
She stepped back first.
“Bed.”
He obeyed.
That frightened her more than if he had argued.
An hour later, Marco received an alert.
Someone had accessed Luca’s consolidated authorization package.
The user credentials belonged to Daniel.
But Daniel was currently sitting inside headquarters under surveillance.
His phone had not moved.
His computer remained locked.
Tessa looked at the timestamp.
“Another impersonation.”
Marco shook his head.
“No. Daniel’s executive authentication requires a physical token.”
“Where is it?”
“With him.”
“Then how?”
Daniel was searched.
His token was gone.
He swore he had used it that morning.
Security reviewed headquarters footage.
At 1:26 p.m., Daniel had removed his jacket before entering a meeting.
The jacket remained unattended for eleven minutes.
One person passed the coat rack.
Victor Salerno.
Head of finance.
One of the seven.
Marco stared at the footage.
Victor had an alibi for the night of Luca’s attack.
He had been in Miami.
Except a new flight record showed his private aircraft had landed back in the city six hours earlier than originally reported.
Luca’s expression hardened.
Renzo whispered, “Victor.”
Tessa looked at the men.
“Don’t jump again.”
But Luca wasn’t looking at the video.
He was looking at something on Victor’s wrist.
A rectangular watch.
Dark leather band.
Exactly like Adrian’s.
Marco zoomed in.
Then understood.
“It’s not Adrian’s watch.”
“No,” Luca said.
His voice became cold.
“It’s a company gift.”
“How many exist?” Tessa asked.
Luca looked at her.
“Seven.”
Again.
Seven rings.
Seven watches.
Seven men.
Whoever stood behind the attack had designed every clue to implicate the entire inner circle.
Tessa suddenly understood the real purpose.
“Luca.”
He looked at her.
“They don’t want you to discover one traitor.”
His face changed.
May you like
“They want you to believe everyone is one.”
And somewhere inside the organization, someone had created a room with no safe exit.
