Chapter 5 - The Warning From a Woman Who Was Gone|
The room seemed to lose all its air.
Gabriel stood holding Elena's letter, staring at the words as though they belonged to a language he had forgotten how to read.
Raymond took one slow step backward.
Victor Hale immediately moved beside Gabriel.
"Don't say anything else until we establish exactly what this letter contains."
But Gabriel barely seemed to hear him.
"Three years."
His voice cracked.
"Three years, Raymond."
Raymond lifted both hands.
"Gabriel, you're letting grief cloud your judgment."
Gabriel looked up.
"Don't."
His brother fell silent.
Lily stood beside me, clutching the music box against her chest.
I wished I could cover her ears without making her feel frightened.
Whatever Elena had written, it had clearly changed everything.
And Lily had already endured more than any child should during a single evening.
I gently touched Gabriel's arm.
"Mr. Romano?"
He turned.
"Miss Lily needs a quiet place."
He looked at his daughter.
Something in his expression softened.
"You're right."
Lily immediately shook her head.
"No, Daddy."
He knelt.
"Sweetheart—"
"Please don't send me away."
Her voice trembled.
"Cassandra always sends me away when people talk about Mommy."
Gabriel looked devastated.
He took her hands.
"That's not why."
"Then why?"
"Because I need to discuss some difficult things with the adults."
Lily stared at him.
"Are you going to disappear?"
The question broke my heart.
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Then he pulled her gently against him.
"No, baby."
He kissed her hair.
"I'm right here."
She held him tightly.
"But you said you would come to my recital."
Gabriel went still.
"And you didn't."
His eyes filled.
"I know."
"You promised."
He nodded.
"I broke that promise."
Lily looked at him through her tears.
"How do I know you'll keep this one?"
Nobody in the room moved.
Gabriel swallowed hard.
Then he said something I never expected to hear from a man like him.
"You don't have to believe me just because I'm your father."
Lily blinked.
He continued.
"I have to show you."
He brushed a tear from her cheek.
"And I'm going to spend however long it takes doing that."
Lily watched him carefully.
Then she nodded.
Gabriel turned toward me.
"Natalie, would you stay with her in the morning room?"
"Of course."
He looked at Lily again.
"Daniel will be right outside."
She hesitated.
"Can you come when you're finished?"
"I will."
She held up her pinky.
"Promise?"
Gabriel linked his finger with hers.
"Promise."
I took Lily's hand.
Together, we walked toward the doors.
As we passed Cassandra, she looked away.
Lily stopped.
For a terrible moment, I thought Cassandra might say something else.
But Lily simply looked at her.
"You were wrong."
Cassandra's eyes narrowed.
"About what?"
Lily lifted her chin.
"My mommy didn't disappear because Daddy stopped loving her."
Cassandra said nothing.
"And Daddy doesn't have to stop loving me to love somebody new."
Gabriel lowered his head.
I saw his shoulders move with a silent breath.
Then Lily looked toward me.
"Come on, Natalie."
We left the room.
The hallway was quieter than I had ever heard it.
Most of the household staff had been moved to the service wing while security dealt with the guests.
Two guards stood near the staircase.
Their faces softened when they saw Lily.
She held my hand all the way to the morning room.
It was Elena's favorite room.
At least, that was what the older staff had told me.
Tall windows overlooked the rose garden.
A pale-blue sofa stood near the fireplace.
And above the mantel hung a painting of the Hudson River at sunrise.
Lily climbed onto the sofa.
I sat beside her.
For a few minutes, she said nothing.
Then she leaned against me.
"Natalie?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think Mommy knew she was going to die?"
My throat tightened.
"I don't know, sweetheart."
She looked at the music box.
"Because she wrote Daddy a letter."
I gently smoothed her hair.
"Sometimes grown-ups write letters when they're worried."
Lily nodded slowly.
"Was Mommy worried about Uncle Raymond?"
"I think your daddy is going to find out."
She looked up.
"Are you scared?"
I wanted to lie.
I wanted to tell her everything was fine.
But children could hear lies in the pauses between words.
"A little," I admitted.
She considered that.
"Me too."
I wrapped an arm around her.
"Being scared doesn't mean we're not brave."
Lily rested her head against my shoulder.
For the first time all evening, she breathed normally.
Downstairs, I could hear distant voices.
A door opening.
Footsteps.
Then the faint sound of police radios.
I looked at the grandfather clock.
Almost midnight.
The engagement dinner had begun five hours earlier.
Five hours.
It felt like five years.
Lily eventually drifted to sleep against me.
I covered her with the blue blanket and remained beside her.
Then the morning room door opened.
Gabriel entered quietly.
His jacket was gone.
His black shirt was unbuttoned at the collar.
He looked exhausted.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
As though the past three years had returned all at once and demanded answers.
"How is she?" he whispered.
"Sleeping."
He approached the sofa.
For a long moment, he simply looked at his daughter.
Then he knelt and kissed her forehead.
"I'm sorry, baby," he whispered.
His voice nearly broke.
I looked away to give him privacy.
After a while, he stood.
"Natalie."
"Yes, sir?"
"Can we speak?"
I glanced at Lily.
He noticed.
"Daniel is outside."
I nodded and followed him into the hallway.
The door remained slightly open.
Gabriel stood by the window.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he turned.
"I owe you an apology."
I blinked.
"Sir?"
"I allowed you to be placed in an impossible position."
I shook my head.
"You didn't know."
"That doesn't excuse it."
He looked toward the morning room.
"You told me Lily was eating alone."
"Yes."
"You told me Cassandra was isolating her."
"Yes."
His jaw tightened.
"And I had no idea."
I hesitated.
"Mr. Romano, Cassandra told the staff you had approved everything."
He nodded.
"I know."
Then he said quietly, "I should have asked my daughter."
I didn't know what to say.
He looked at me.
"And I should have listened when you tried to protect her."
I swallowed.
"I couldn't let her think she was unwanted."
Gabriel stared at me for a moment.
Then he said, "You reminded her she was loved when the people responsible for protecting her failed."
My eyes filled.
"She's easy to love, sir."
He looked toward the doorway.
"Yes."
His voice softened.
"She is."
A heavy silence settled between us.
Then I asked the question that had been sitting in my chest since the letter appeared.
"What did Elena write?"
Gabriel looked toward the garden.
For a moment, I thought he wouldn't answer.
Then he spoke.
"She discovered financial irregularities involving Raymond."
I listened silently.
"Three years ago, Elena was helping establish a foundation for families affected by medical emergencies."
He paused.
"She found donations being transferred into private accounts."
My stomach tightened.
"Raymond's accounts?"
"We don't know yet."
Gabriel shook his head.
"She confronted him."
I looked toward the morning room.
"And then?"
"A week later, she died in a car crash."
His voice became almost inaudible.
"On a road she had driven a hundred times."
I swallowed.
"Was it investigated?"
"Yes."
He looked at me.
"The conclusion was mechanical failure."
I felt a chill.
Gabriel continued.
"I believed it."
He pressed a hand against the window frame.
"God help me, Natalie, I believed it."
I wanted to say something comforting.
But there was nothing simple enough to make that kind of pain disappear.
Instead, I asked, "What happens now?"
He turned.
"The police have detained Raymond and Cassandra while they investigate tonight's threats and financial evidence."
I nodded.
"And the letter?"
"Victor is arranging for it to be examined."
Gabriel looked down.
"We have reason to reopen Elena's case."
I felt my stomach twist.
Three years ago, Lily had lost her mother.
Tonight, she had nearly lost her father.
And somewhere inside the same family, someone had been planning both disasters.
Gabriel looked toward the morning room.
"I need to know what happened to Elena."
I nodded.
"But more than that, I need Lily to feel safe again."
His eyes returned to mine.
"And I don't know how to begin."
For the first time since I had met him, Gabriel Romano sounded helpless.
I took a breath.
"Begin with breakfast."
He frowned slightly.
"What?"
"Tomorrow morning."
I smiled sadly.
"Sit beside her."
He stared.
"Ask how she slept."
I continued.
"Ask about the recital."
His eyes glistened.
"And listen when she tells you."
For several seconds, he didn't speak.
Then he nodded.
"Breakfast."
"Yes, sir."
He looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite understand.
"Thank you, Natalie."
Before I could answer, Daniel appeared at the end of the hallway.
His expression was serious.
"Mr. Romano."
Gabriel turned.
"What is it?"
Daniel hesitated.
"We searched Raymond's office."
Gabriel straightened.
"And?"
"We found a locked drawer containing documents related to Mrs. Romano's accident."
The color drained from Gabriel's face.
Daniel continued.
"There's something else."
He glanced toward the morning room.
"I think you should see it privately."
Gabriel stepped forward.
"What did you find?"
Daniel lowered his voice.
"A photograph taken the morning Elena died."
Gabriel went completely still.
Daniel swallowed.
"In the photograph, she's standing beside her car."
May you like
He hesitated.
"And she's talking to Cassandra Vale."
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