Chapter 14
Isabella
Papa did not allow the use of the internet in the house, he didn’t allow me to have a cellphone or any means of contact with most of the outside world. In the past three years that we’d been here in America, he had instilled fear in me. He’d convinced me that we needed to stay detached from the outside world because our lives were still in danger, and any small slip-up could cause his enemies to find us.
So, I had stayed away from the computer all these years, immersing myself in bringing up Sofia instead. But today, I made my way to papa’s office in the house. In three years, this was the first time I went on the internet. I could still hear Leo’s voice in my head. He wanted me to see for myself, to do my own investigation and find out if what he was saying about papa was true or not.
I tried my best to look for anything on papa and our family that I could. Since we moved to America, there were hardly any reports on Marco Aducci in the news in Italy, and there was no trace of him in America. I remembered, growing up, papa was always in the news. Journalists were always writing about him and trying to force the Italian government’s hands to make an arrest, to make papa answerable for the innumerable crimes our family was committing on a daily basis. Now, there was nothing. It was as though Italy had breathed a sigh of relief that Marco Aducci had left the country.
I tried researching a different angle after that. The trafficking numbers in Italy had gone down significantly in the past four years, since we left. And that raised alarm bells in my head. Even though I couldn’t find a direct connection between human trafficking and papa, I couldn’t deny the fact that there was something suspicious.
I turned off the computer, my heart racing in my chest. I had spent the last day, since I spoke to Leo; trying hard to deny what he’d told me. I couldn’t believe papa would be involved in something so gruesome and inhumane. I wanted to find proof that would prove Leo wrong.
I searched around his office, hopeful for clues. I didn’t know when papa would be back from the meeting he said he had gone to, but I was willing to take my chances.
I searched every drawer and every file and folder for evidence. In the bookshelves, I shook out the books and looked in every corner. I must have spent close to an hour looking, before I saw the black leather bound folder at the back of a row of books. It had clearly been placed there to keep it hidden from the naked eye. I slipped it out and lifting my blouse, I stuck it into my pants. That’s when I heard the door creak open.
“Bella, what are you doing in here?” I heard papa’s voice and froze.
I could hear his footsteps approaching me and I whipped around to him, afraid of what he might do if he found me with the folder that he had clearly gone to lengths to keep hidden.
“Oh, papa, you’re back!” I exclaimed, forcing myself to smile.
His brows were crossed, I could see he was suspicious. He was searching my face for signs.
“I’m looking for a pair of earrings. Sofia’s got into this habit of hiding my things around the house,” I said, as calmly and casually as possible. Papa’s eyes were dark, I could sense that he was trying to decide whether he should believe me or not. He looked me up and down and then around the office. I had made sure to not make a mess, or leave a trace that I was looking for anything of his. He clenched his jaw and stepped away from me, walking over to his desk.
“You won’t find it here, she doesn’t come into this room. In fact, I’m thinking of keeping my office locked from now,” he said, sitting down on his chair.
I felt too nervous to speak, too afraid of what the consequences would be if he thought I was suspicious of him.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” I said and he looked up at me sharply.
“You remember about the charity ball on Saturday, don’t you? Adam’s organized it and he wants you to be there,” he continued. I gulped. Just the thought of exchanging fake pleasantries with that man sent shivers down my spine. I couldn’t stand him and his sleazy ways. I knew that he’d been trying hard to get me to sleep with him, and the thought made me sick. My only hope was that papa would be against the idea, although in the past few years, papa had become reliant on him.
“Yeah, I remember. I’ll go…I’ll make sure one of the maids is there to babysit Sofia,” I said, smiling weakly at papa.
“Good. Now, off you go. I don’t want you coming into this room again, Bella. There’s some important stuff here which I don’t want you messing with,” papa warned as I rushed out of the room.
“Yeah, you’re right. See you later,” I said and I closed the door behind me, breathing a sigh of relief. I didn’t want to look too anxious since Matteo and Francis were hanging around the hallway, keeping a watchful eye on papa.
I rushed past them, with the ledger digging into my skin. It was still tucked into my pants. Luckily I had a big comfy sweater on so nothing was noticeable. I made my way up to Sofia’s room, where I’d left her playing with her toys. I locked the door behind me, before I sat down cross-legged on the floor with her and slipped the ledger out finally.
Just from the first page, as my eyes flitted over the words and numbers, I knew exactly what this was. These were records of the old human trafficking business papa had abandoned in Naples.