Chapter 1 - THE MAN AT THE END OF THE TABLE
The man Lily pointed at was sitting beneath the chandelier, his silver
hair neatly combed and his expression arranged into polite concern.
Arthur Bell.
Gabriel’s chief financial officer.
He had worked beside Gabriel for almost a decade. He had attended Daniel
Hayes’s funeral, delivered a speech about loyalty, and personally
assured Gabriel that Daniel’s wife and child had not survived the
warehouse attack.
Now he was staring at a five-year-old girl as if she had just pulled a
loaded weapon from her pocket.
Gabriel’s hand fell away from Vanessa’s arm.
“Arthur,” he said.
The older man rose slowly. “Gabriel, this is a misunderstanding.”
“Sit down.”
Arthur hesitated.
“I said sit down.”
The room obeyed the command before Arthur did. Guests lowered their
glasses. A chair scraped across the marble floor. Somewhere near the
kitchen, a waiter dropped a spoon.
Vanessa hurried toward Gabriel.
“Darling, don’t make a scene. The child is confused. Children invent
things.”
Lily shook her head.
“I don’t make things up.”
Gabriel looked down at her. “I believe you.”
Those four words nearly broke Rachel.
For nine months, she had lived with the fear that nobody would believe
her if she ever told the truth. She had learned to keep her head down,
work quietly, and never mention Daniel Hayes inside the Moretti mansion.
Now her daughter had said his name in front of twenty-eight guests, and
the man who had once promised to protect them was looking at them as
though he had seen ghosts.
Gabriel turned to Marcus, his head of security.
“Lock the doors. No one leaves until I know what happened.”
Arthur gave a small laugh. “You can’t detain an entire room because of a
child’s story.”
“I’m not detaining anyone,” Gabriel replied. “I’m asking everyone to
stay while my security chief investigates a possible threat against my
family.”
“Your family?” Vanessa snapped. “She’s a servant, Gabriel.”
Gabriel’s eyes moved to her.
“Daniel was my brother in every way that mattered. His wife and daughter
are family.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
Marcus approached Arthur. “Mr. Bell, I need you to come with me.”
Arthur lifted both hands. “Of course. Anything to clear this up.”
But when he reached for his jacket, Lily made a small frightened sound.
“Mommy, that’s the man.”
Rachel drew her daughter close.
Gabriel noticed the way Lily’s fingers dug into her mother’s uniform.
“Arthur,” he said quietly, “don’t move.”
Two guards stepped forward.
Arthur’s polite expression vanished. For the first time that evening,
the room saw the man beneath it.
“You have no idea what Daniel did,” he said.
Gabriel’s jaw tightened. “Then tell me.”
Arthur looked at Vanessa.
She looked away.
And in that brief exchange, Gabriel understood that the two people he
had trusted most had been hiding the same secret.
He turned to Rachel.
“Tell me everything. Start with the night Daniel died.”
Rachel swallowed.
“I tried to tell you three years ago.”
Gabriel’s face changed. “What?”
“Someone told me you had ordered your people not to speak to us. Someone
told me Daniel had betrayed you and that if I came near the Moretti
family, Lily would be taken away.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“I never said that.”
“I know that now.”
“Who told you?”
Rachel looked at Vanessa.
Vanessa’s voice sharpened. “Don’t you dare.”
Rachel’s hands trembled, but she kept Lily behind her.
“Your fiancée came to our apartment. Arthur came with her. They said
Daniel had stolen company money and sold information to your enemies.
They said he deserved what happened.”
Gabriel turned slowly toward Vanessa.
“Is that true?”
Vanessa’s lips parted.
“Gabriel, I can explain.”
“Then explain.”
She glanced at the guests, at the guards, at Arthur.
“I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“From Daniel’s betrayal.”
Gabriel took one step closer.
“Daniel died protecting me.”
Vanessa’s eyes flashed. “That’s what you were told.”
Silence fell.
Gabriel looked at Arthur.
“What did Daniel see?”
Arthur’s face hardened.
“Something that should have stayed buried.”
Before Gabriel could ask another question, the lights went out.
A sharp crack sounded from the hallway.
Then Marcus shouted, “Down!”
The guests screamed. Guards moved toward the doors. Gabriel pulled
Rachel and Lily behind the heavy dining table as a second sound echoed
through the mansion.
When the emergency lights flickered on, Arthur was gone.
So was Vanessa.
May you like
And on the white tablecloth, beside Lily’s crushed carnation, lay a
small black memory card.
