Chapter 5
Javier initially refused to blame his wife.
That lasted one day.
Then he returned with text messages.
Clara had spent months telling him that Dante no longer respected him.
Some messages were subtle.
He talks to Marco before you now.
Did you notice he didn’t ask your opinion at dinner?
Everyone can see he treats you like hired muscle.
Others were direct.
If you don’t make him respect you, nobody else will.
Javier had answered many of them with anger.
Sometimes with pride.
Sometimes with fantasies about confronting Dante.
Nothing in the messages ordered him to hurt Leo or Mia.
That responsibility remained Javier’s.
Dante made sure he understood that.
“She didn’t put your knee on my son.”
“I know.”
“She didn’t shove my daughter.”
“I know.”
“She didn’t throw your punch.”
Javier looked down.
“I know.”
But Clara had clearly been escalating his resentment.
The strange part was why.
If she wanted Javier to replace Dante, why was she preparing a hidden home in Wisconsin?
Rachel found another clue.
Three weeks before the barbecue, Clara had contacted a lawyer specializing in marital separation and asset division.
That suggested she expected her marriage to change.
Yet she had not filed for divorce.
She had also asked several questions about relocating after a spouse lost employment due to “serious misconduct.”
Dante read the summary twice.
Serious misconduct.
“Did she expect Javier to lose his position?”
Rachel nodded.
“It looks possible.”
That contradicted the obvious theory.
Clara was pushing Javier toward a challenge while preparing financially for his fall.
Dante called her again.
This time she agreed to speak.
She arrived without Javier.
Dante put the Wisconsin lease on the table.
Clara looked at it.
“You’ve been going through my finances?”
“Public property records and lawful disclosures from accounts connected to family businesses.”
She folded her arms.
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
“You wouldn’t recognize it unless it came wearing your family ring.”
Dante did not react.
“Were you leaving Javier?”
Clara stared at him.
Then said quietly:
“I was preparing for what came next.”
“What came next?”
She stood.
“If Javier wants to tell you, let him.”
Dante watched her leave.
That was not an answer.
May you like
But it confirmed one thing.
Clara had expected the barbecue to change Javier’s life.
