Chapter 3 - The Woman Roman Had Sworn to Hate|
Roman Vale didn't sleep that night.
At three in the morning, he sat in his private office overlooking Philadelphia, studying the photograph Bennett had brought him.
Grace Vale stood outside a boxing gym.
Her blonde hair fell across one shoulder.
She was laughing.
Beside her stood Evelyn Mercer.
Young.
Athletic.
Smiling at something outside the frame.
Roman had never seen that photograph.
And he had spent six years believing he knew everything about the final days of his wife's life.
Grace had died in a warehouse fire when their daughter, Lily, was four.
The official report said someone had disabled the security system before the blaze.
A woman named Evelyn Mercer.
A former professional fighter hired as temporary protection during a period of threats against the family.
Roman remembered the name.
He remembered the investigator explaining that Mercer had vanished after the fire.
He remembered standing beside Grace's coffin and swearing that if he ever found the woman responsible, he'd make sure she answered for what she'd done.
But he'd never seen a clear photograph of her.
By the time Roman returned from a business trip after the fire, the security contractor's files had already been sealed under a private legal settlement.
His father had handled everything.
Salvatore Vale had insisted that Roman focus on his daughter.
And Roman had obeyed.
Because Lily had stopped sleeping.
Because she screamed whenever she smelled smoke.
Because she'd spent months asking whether Mommy was coming home.
Roman stared at Evie's photograph.
Then at the old incident report.
A single sentence appeared near the bottom.
Evelyn Mercer — former security contractor. Last known location: unknown.
His jaw tightened.
She hadn't disappeared.
She'd been serving bourbon to him every Thursday for eleven months.
And he'd never known.
His phone rang.
Bennett.
“Boss?”
Roman answered.
“Who hired Mercer to protect Grace?”
A pause.
“Your father arranged the contract.”
Roman looked toward the city.
“Who investigated her disappearance?”
“Private security.”
“Whose private security?”
Bennett hesitated.
“Mr. Vale's.”
Roman's expression hardened.
“Of course.”
He ended the call.
Then opened a drawer.
Inside was a small wooden box.
He lifted the lid.
A wedding photograph lay beneath Grace's engagement ring.
Roman touched the picture.
Grace looked radiant.
She had been twenty-nine when she died.
A woman who loved rainy mornings, terrible romantic movies, and making pancakes shaped like hearts.
She'd hated the criminal world Roman inherited.
She'd begged him to leave it.
And he'd promised.
Always tomorrow.
After one more business arrangement.
After one more dangerous rival had been dealt with.
Then tomorrow never came.
Roman closed his eyes.
“Grace.”
His voice cracked.
“What did you know?”
Across the city, Evie Mercer sat on the edge of her narrow apartment bed.
She'd packed a bag.
Two changes of clothes.
Cash.
A photograph.
A small silver bracelet.
She knew Roman would discover her identity.
Maybe not tonight.
Maybe not tomorrow.
But soon.
She'd spent six years learning how to disappear.
Changing jobs.
Moving between cities.
Avoiding photographs.
Keeping her hair dark.
Never entering another boxing gym.
Then her younger sister became ill, and Philadelphia was the only place Evie could find steady work that paid enough to help.
She'd convinced herself Roman Vale would never look twice at a waitress.
For eleven months, she'd been right.
Until Derek touched her wrist.
Evie looked at her swollen knuckles.
The strike had been controlled.
Necessary.
But it had brought the old world back.
She reached for the photograph beside her bed.
Grace Vale stood beside her outside a gym.
Both women were laughing.
On the back, Grace had written:
To Mercy. Thank you for keeping my little girl safe.
Evie's eyes filled.
“I'm sorry, Grace.”
She pressed the photograph against her chest.
Then her phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
She stared at the screen.
A message appeared.
YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED GONE.
Her blood turned cold.
Another message followed.
ROMAN WILL LEARN WHAT YOU DID.
Evie slowly stood.
She crossed the room.
Checked the lock.
Then looked through the curtains.
A black SUV sat across the street.
Its headlights were off.
A man stood beside the driver's door.
Evie recognized him immediately.
Derek Shaw.
Her stomach tightened.
He wasn't there because Roman had sent him to apologize.
He was watching her apartment.
Then a third message arrived.
THE LITTLE GIRL STILL REMEMBERS THE FIRE.
Evie stopped breathing.
Lily.
Roman's daughter.
Ten years old now.
The child Evie had carried out of the warehouse six years earlier.
The child who had screamed for her mother while flames swallowed the hallway.
The child who had once called Evie Aunt Mercy.
Evie grabbed her coat.
She couldn't run anymore.
Not if someone was threatening Lily.
She picked up her phone.
Found a number she'd sworn never to dial.
And pressed call.
A man's voice answered.
“Who is this?”
Evie swallowed.
“Roman Vale.”
Silence.
Then his voice became cold.
“Evelyn Mercer.”
She closed her eyes.
“Before you decide what you're going to do to me, there's something you need to know.”
Roman stood.
“What?”
Evie's voice trembled.
“Someone is watching my apartment.”
His expression hardened.
“Who?”
“Derek Shaw.”
Roman went still.
May you like
Then Evie whispered:
“And the man who told you I killed Grace is the same man who ordered Derek to find me tonight.”
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