Chapter 2 - The Man Behind the Locked Doors|
The sound of the lock clicking into place was quieter than I expected.
Yet somehow, it was the most terrifying sound I had ever heard.
I turned slowly, my heart hammering against my ribs.
Raymond Romano stood behind me, his expression completely different from the charming smile he had worn throughout dinner.
His right hand rested inside his jacket.
And his eyes were fixed on Gabriel.
"Nobody needs to do anything stupid," Raymond said calmly.
Thirty-two wealthy guests sat frozen around the enormous dining table.
The chandeliers continued sparkling overhead.
The candles continued burning.
Somewhere near the kitchen, a violinist was still playing, apparently unaware that the entire evening had turned into a nightmare.
Gabriel didn't move.
He stood beside Lily, one hand resting protectively on her shoulder.
"Raymond," he said quietly.
His younger brother smiled.
"Gabriel."
"Take your hand out of your jacket."
Raymond tilted his head.
"That sounds dangerously close to an order."
"It is."
A strange silence followed.
I had worked for Gabriel Romano for fourteen months, and during that time, I had witnessed powerful businessmen become nervous simply because he entered a room.
He never needed to shout.
His reputation spoke for him.
But tonight, for the first time, someone was challenging him inside his own home.
And that someone was his brother.
Cassandra stepped away from the dining table.
"Raymond, this wasn't the plan."
Gabriel's eyes moved toward her.
"So there was a plan."
She immediately straightened.
"Don't twist my words."
Raymond laughed softly.
"That's the problem with Cassandra."
He glanced at his brother.
"She's beautiful, but she panics when things get complicated."
Cassandra's face reddened.
"You promised nobody would get hurt."
Raymond gave her a cold look.
"Then stop talking."
I felt Lily's fingers tighten around mine.
She had moved close enough to stand between her father and me.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
But she was watching everything.
Every expression.
Every movement.
Every word.
I knew that frightened silence.
It was the silence of a child trying to understand which adults were safe.
Gabriel looked toward his daughter.
"Lily, sweetheart, listen to me."
She nodded.
"You're going to stay beside Natalie."
"But Daddy—"
"Please, baby."
His voice softened.
"Trust me."
Lily stepped closer to me.
I wrapped one arm around her shoulders.
Raymond watched us with a faint smile.
"Touching."
Gabriel slowly turned back toward him.
"What do you want?"
Raymond shrugged.
"Finally, a sensible question."
He removed his hand from his jacket.
He wasn't holding a gun.
He was holding a small black electronic device.
He pressed a button.
The music stopped.
A moment later, the decorative screens beside the fireplace flickered to life.
A photograph appeared.
It showed Gabriel entering a warehouse near the Hudson River.
Below it was a headline accusing Romano Holdings of illegally transferring millions of dollars through shell companies.
A murmur spread through the room.
Gabriel stared at the screen.
"What is this?"
Raymond smiled.
"Tomorrow morning's news."
Cassandra looked at Raymond in alarm.
"You said this would happen after the airport."
"Plans change."
Gabriel's expression remained unreadable.
"You fabricated financial records."
"I improved the records."
Raymond walked slowly toward the table.
"For fifteen years, I've watched you make every decision."
He lifted Gabriel's champagne glass.
"You inherited Father's confidence, his business relationships, his reputation."
He took a sip.
"And I inherited the privilege of being your little brother."
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
"You inherited half of what he left."
"Half of the property."
Raymond slammed the glass onto the table.
"Not half of the respect."
Several guests flinched.
I pulled Lily closer.
Raymond noticed.
His gaze moved toward me.
"And then there's our remarkable little housemaid."
I felt my stomach drop.
"Leave her out of this," Gabriel said.
Raymond ignored him.
"Natalie Brooks."
He spoke my name as though he had been practicing it.
"Twenty-six years old."
My throat tightened.
"Lives in a rented apartment in Queens."
Gabriel took one step forward.
"Raymond."
"Helps support her father, Thomas Brooks."
My entire body went cold.
Raymond smiled.
"Retired mechanic."
He paused.
"Recovering from a stroke."
"Don't," I whispered.
He looked delighted.
"Ah, she does speak."
Gabriel's voice became dangerously quiet.
"If you go near her father, there won't be a place in this city where you can hide."
Raymond's smile faded slightly.
Then he laughed.
"Still making threats."
He glanced around the room.
"Do you see what I mean?"
Nobody answered.
"Gabriel believes the entire world belongs to him."
A silver-haired man seated near the fireplace stood.
"Raymond, whatever dispute you have with your brother, this is not the way to resolve it."
I recognized him.
Victor Hale.
Gabriel's longtime attorney.
Raymond looked at him with contempt.
"Sit down, Victor."
"I won't."
"Then perhaps you'd like to explain the documents you signed last week."
Victor went still.
Gabriel turned toward him.
"What documents?"
Victor hesitated.
Raymond's expression became triumphant.
"Oh, this should be interesting."
Cassandra suddenly spoke.
"Gabriel, please understand."
He turned to her.
She had tears in her eyes now.
But they looked very different from Lily's.
Lily had cried because someone broke her heart.
Cassandra was crying because she had been caught.
"I never wanted things to go this far," she whispered.
Gabriel looked at her for a long moment.
"Did you tell my daughter I didn't want her?"
Cassandra looked down.
"Gabriel—"
"Answer me."
She swallowed.
"Yes."
Lily made a small sound beside me.
It was barely louder than a breath.
But Gabriel heard it.
His entire face changed.
"Why?"
Cassandra wiped her cheeks.
"Because you were always choosing her."
Gabriel stared.
"What?"
"Every vacation, every holiday, every family dinner."
Her voice rose.
"Everything had to revolve around Lily."
"She's my daughter."
"And I'm supposed to be your wife!"
Gabriel looked at her as though he were seeing a stranger.
"You made an eleven-year-old child believe her father was abandoning her because you were jealous?"
Cassandra's lips trembled.
"You don't understand how lonely I felt."
Gabriel shook his head.
"No."
He glanced at Lily.
"I understand exactly who was lonely."
I saw Cassandra's expression harden.
For one brief moment, her tears disappeared.
And something ugly replaced them.
"You think she's so innocent?"
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
"Be careful."
Cassandra pointed toward Lily.
"She ruined everything from the moment I walked into this house."
Lily pressed her face against my apron.
I felt her shoulders shaking.
Something inside me snapped.
"Stop talking about her like that."
Cassandra turned toward me.
"Excuse me?"
My voice shook, but I kept speaking.
"She's standing right here."
"You're a maid."
"And she's a child."
Cassandra stared at me.
I swallowed.
"Neither of those things gives you permission to be cruel."
A woman near the end of the table quietly said, "She's right."
Cassandra whipped around.
But Gabriel was looking at me.
Not angrily.
Not suspiciously.
Almost as though he couldn't understand why someone with so little power was willing to risk everything for his daughter.
Raymond suddenly clapped his hands.
"Wonderful."
The sharp sound made several guests jump.
"Are we finished with the emotional speeches?"
He checked his watch.
"Because we're running out of time."
Gabriel's gaze sharpened.
"Time for what?"
Raymond reached into his jacket again.
This time, he removed a phone.
He placed it on the dining table and turned the screen toward Gabriel.
A live security camera showed the mansion's front entrance.
Two unfamiliar black vehicles were parked outside.
Four men stood beside them.
Then another camera appeared.
The rear gate.
More men.
Raymond smiled.
"I've made a few changes to your security arrangements."
Gabriel looked at the images without speaking.
"Your usual guards were given the evening off."
"By whom?"
"Me."
Gabriel almost smiled.
"That was your first mistake."
Raymond frowned.
"Excuse me?"
"You assumed my security team takes orders from you."
For the first time, Raymond looked uncertain.
Gabriel glanced toward the ceiling.
"Daniel."
Nothing happened.
Raymond laughed.
"Your loyal head of security isn't coming."
Gabriel remained calm.
"Daniel."
A faint crackle came from a speaker hidden near the dining room doors.
Then a man's voice answered.
"Yes, sir."
Raymond's smile vanished.
Gabriel looked directly at his brother.
"Tell me something."
His voice was almost conversational.
"Did you really think I wouldn't notice my daughter had been unhappy?"
Lily lifted her head.
I looked at Gabriel in surprise.
He continued.
"Did you think I wouldn't notice staff disappearing, security schedules changing, or money moving between accounts?"
Raymond stepped backward.
"You're bluffing."
Gabriel shook his head.
"I knew someone was working against me."
His eyes moved to Cassandra.
"I simply didn't know how close they were."
Cassandra stumbled against a chair.
Raymond gripped the phone.
"You're not as clever as you think."
"Maybe not."
Gabriel looked toward Lily.
"Because the one person who saw the truth was someone I should have been listening to all along."
His daughter stared at him.
"Daddy?"
He gave her a small, reassuring smile.
Then Raymond said something that made the blood freeze in my veins.
"You haven't seen the final document."
Gabriel turned.
"What document?"
Raymond's grin returned.
"The one Cassandra convinced you to sign yesterday."
Gabriel's expression changed.
I remembered yesterday.
Cassandra had entered Gabriel's office carrying a blue folder.
She had asked me to bring coffee.
And when I returned, I saw her standing beside his desk.
Her fingers rested on the signature page.
Gabriel slowly looked at his fiancée.
"The estate authorization."
Cassandra stepped backward.
Raymond nodded.
"Exactly."
Gabriel went perfectly still.
Because suddenly, the documents on the screen were no longer the most important thing in the room.
Raymond leaned forward.
"Do you know what happens to Romano Holdings if you're declared legally incapable of managing your affairs?"
Nobody spoke.
Then Raymond looked at Lily.
"And do you know who Cassandra listed as the child's temporary guardian?"
I felt Lily's hand turn ice-cold inside mine.
Gabriel's face lost all color.
Raymond smiled directly at me.
"That's right, Natalie."
He paused.
"Tomorrow morning, Gabriel loses his company."
May you like
Then he looked toward Lily.
"And his daughter comes with us."
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