Chapter 20. The Trap

Simona’s patience had finally run out.

For days she’d kept her calm, insisting to herself that Margherita’s disappearance was just a misunderstanding, that she’d resurface somewhere soon. But now, almost a week later, there was still nothing—no ransom note, no whisper, not even a rumor.

It was wrong. It was too clean.

She stood before the tall windows of her office, the afternoon light slanting in thin, harsh lines across her face. Her gut told her there was something she’d missed, someone she’d underestimated.

Ezio Moroni.

She didn’t have proof, not yet—but she’d seen the way he’d looked at Margherita at the party. Predators recognized each other.

She could still see his hand on Margherita’s back that night, the faint curl of his smile when she’d pulled the girl away. He was careful then, deferential even—but that kind of composure was its own kind of arrogance.

She turned to her right-hand man, Matteo, standing by the door.

“K