Chapter 4 - The Sister Who Wanted Everything|
Damian Russo had spent fifteen years building an empire that made powerful men lower their voices when they entered a room.
He owned shipping companies, restaurants, warehouses, and businesses whose legitimate profits concealed a far darker network.
He had survived betrayals, federal investigations, and enemies who would gladly pay to see him buried.
Yet nothing had prepared him for the humiliation of waking up without his wife.
At seven that morning, his head of security, Owen Price, stood across the desk in Damian's private office.
"We've checked every camera."
"And?"
"Mrs. Russo never passed the main gates."
Damian's jaw tightened.
"Women don't disappear into thin air, Owen."
"No, sir."
"Then where is she?"
Owen placed several photographs on the desk.
One showed the old pump house.
Another showed a maintenance door hanging slightly open.
Damian stared at them.
"The service tunnels?"
"It appears so."
For several seconds, Damian said nothing.
He remembered Evelyn wandering through the mansion during their first winter together.
She had been fascinated by its history.
She would come to dinner describing hidden staircases, original fireplaces, and rooms nobody had entered for decades.
He had always listened with half an ear.
He had assumed the stories were harmless.
Now he realized she had spent years learning things about his own home that he did not know.
"Find the route," he ordered.
"And Owen?"
"Yes, sir?"
"No one touches her."
Owen nodded, but Damian noticed his hesitation.
"What is it?"
"Victor Sloane already sent men to several properties connected to Mrs. Russo's family."
Damian stood.
"Who authorized that?"
"Sloane said he was protecting your interests."
Damian's expression darkened.
Victor Sloane had managed the operational side of his organization for nearly a decade.
He was efficient, ruthless, and unusually skilled at making problems disappear.
But Damian had not given him permission to hunt his wife.
"Get him on the phone."
Before Owen could respond, the office door opened.
Lydia stepped inside.
She wore a cream cardigan over black pants, her face pale and her eyes swollen.
"Damian, can we talk?"
Owen looked toward his employer.
"Leave us," Damian said.
The security chief exited.
Lydia approached the desk.
"I heard Evelyn is missing."
Damian stared at her.
"You were there last night."
"I know."
"You helped create the situation."
Her face crumpled.
"Please don't blame me for everything."
Damian laughed once, without humor.
"Blame you?"
Lydia folded her arms.
"Evelyn has been distant for months."
"That doesn't explain what happened."
"Maybe there's something else going on."
Damian watched her carefully.
"What are you trying to say?"
Lydia hesitated.
Then she reached into her purse and produced her phone.
"I didn't want to show you this."
On the screen was a photograph of Evelyn standing beside Marco Bell at a foundation fundraiser.
Marco's hand appeared to be resting against her lower back.
The angle made their conversation seem intimate.
Damian recognized the event.
He had arrived late that evening and found Evelyn speaking with the foundation's transportation coordinator.
"Where did you get this?"
"Someone sent it to me."
"Who?"
Lydia lowered her eyes.
"I promised not to say."
Damian studied the photograph again.
Something about the background bothered him.
He remembered seeing the original group picture on the foundation's website.
There had been at least six people standing near Evelyn and Marco.
This photograph had been cropped tightly enough to remove everyone else.
"You're suggesting she's having an affair?"
Lydia's silence was answer enough.
Damian placed the phone on his desk.
For a moment, the image of Evelyn removing her wedding ring returned with painful clarity.
He remembered her trembling fingers.
He remembered the look she gave him when he smiled and challenged her to run.
Most of all, he remembered that she had not begged him to explain the kiss.
She had simply decided to leave.
That frightened him more than he wanted to admit.
"Did you sleep with Victor Sloane?" Damian asked suddenly.
Lydia's eyes widened.
"What?"
"Answer the question."
"Of course not!"
"Then why have you been meeting him privately?"
Color drained from her face.
Damian had received a report several weeks earlier mentioning their conversations.
He had dismissed it.
Now he wondered why.
"Victor is helping with foundation matters," Lydia said.
"What foundation matters?"
"Administrative things."
"My wife handles the foundation."
"Not everything."
Damian leaned forward.
"Explain."
Lydia's mouth opened, but no words came out.
The office phone rang.
Damian answered without taking his eyes off her.
It was Victor.
"We may have found a lead on Evelyn," he said.
Damian's expression hardened.
"I didn't tell you to look for her."
"I'm trying to help."
"Then help me understand why your men are checking properties without my approval."
Victor paused.
"Because your wife may be involved in a security breach."
"What breach?"
"Missing shipments, altered records, and some very suspicious conversations with Marco Bell."
Damian looked at Lydia.
She was staring at the floor.
Victor continued.
"I believe Marco is feeding information to someone outside the organization."
"And Evelyn?"
"She might be helping him."
Damian's fingers tightened around the receiver.
"Bring me proof."
"I will."
"And Victor?"
"Yes?"
"If you go near Evelyn without my permission, you'll answer to me."
Damian ended the call.
Lydia stood motionless.
"What have you done?" he asked.
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I was trying to protect you."
"From whom?"
She looked up.
"From Evelyn."
Damian studied the woman standing before him.
For years, he had considered Lydia sweet, impulsive, and desperately eager for approval.
Evelyn had defended her even when she made mistakes.
Damian had mistaken that dependence for innocence.
Now he was beginning to understand that Lydia's tears appeared whenever someone demanded the truth.
"Get out," he said.
Lydia blinked.
"Damian—"
"Get out of my office."
She fled.
After the door closed, Damian opened the photograph again.
He enlarged the corner of the image.
A reflection in the glass behind Evelyn showed two additional figures.
One was Marco.
The other was Victor Sloane.
Damian stared at the screen.
If Victor had been present that night, why had Lydia claimed an anonymous person sent her the photograph?
And why did everyone seem so determined to convince him that his wife was the enemy?
For the first time, Damian considered a possibility he should have examined months earlier.
May you like
Someone inside his organization was lying.
And the woman he had humiliated might have been the only person who had never lied to him.
Related Stories
