Chapter 3 - Maeve had imagined death before.Usually in simple forms.
A car accident.
A gunshot.
A bad diagnosis.
She had never imagined standing in a dark hallway while Chicago's most dangerous man walked toward her on legs the entire city believed were useless.
Elias stopped less than three feet away.
“Who sent you?”
Maeve's mouth went dry.
“Your question assumes someone did.”
Elias smiled.
“You're not a good liar.”
“I was never trained to lie to you.”
That made him pause.
“Who trained you?”
She said nothing.
His expression became unreadable.
“Your mother?”
Maeve's eyes widened.
Elias noticed.
“You should have been more careful.”
He stepped closer.
“You were nervous when Gabriel mentioned the Ashford name.”
Maeve backed away.
“I am Amelia Ashford.”
“No.”
His voice was soft.
“You are not.”
Maeve's heart pounded.
“You don't know that.”
“I know enough.”
He reached toward her sleeve.
Maeve flinched.
Elias stopped.
His eyes lowered to her hand.
“You're wearing a recorder.”
Maeve froze.
Silence.
Elias sighed.
“Take it out.”
Slowly, Maeve reached beneath her sleeve.
She removed the tiny device.
He took it.
Turned it over.
Then crushed it beneath his shoe.
The small plastic shell snapped.
Maeve's eyes filled with fear.
“My brother.”
Elias stopped.
“What?”
She looked directly at him.
“They promised to pay for his surgery.”
Elias's face changed.
“What surgery?”
Maeve realized she had said too much.
She closed her eyes.
Elias walked past her.
He opened the door.
“Gabriel.”
His security chief appeared instantly.
“Yes?”
“Find everything on Maeve Donnelly.”
Maeve's blood ran cold.
Gabriel glanced at her.
“Everything?”
“Everything.”
Then Elias looked at Maeve again.
“You have ten minutes.”
“For what?”
“To decide whether you're going to keep lying.”
He turned.
Maeve called after him.
“Why did you let me in?”
He stopped.
“Because I already knew who you were.”
Maeve stared.
“And you still allowed this?”
Elias looked back.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His eyes darkened.
“Because I wanted to know how far the Ashfords were willing to go.”
He walked away.
Maeve stood in the hallway alone.
And for the first time since entering the mansion, she understood.
She wasn't the only person conducting an investigation.
Elias had been investigating them too.
Less than twenty minutes later, Gabriel entered the room carrying a file.
He placed it on Elias's desk.
“She worked for the Ashfords seven years.”
Elias opened it.
“Family?”
“Mother deceased. Father unknown. Younger brother, Daniel Donnelly. Age nineteen.”
“Medical?”
“Kidney failure.”
Elias's expression hardened.
“Surgery required?”
“Urgently.”
“How much?”
Gabriel named the figure.
Elias looked up.
“That is all?”
“Yes.”
“And the Ashfords?”
“They guaranteed payment through a private foundation.”
Elias tapped the file.
“They threatened to withdraw it.”
Gabriel nodded.
“She agreed to impersonate Sienna's sister.”
Elias's jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“To save her brother.”
Elias stared through the window.
Then he said something Gabriel had not expected.
“Pay the hospital.”
Gabriel blinked.
“Sir?”
“Cover the full cost.”
“What about Maeve?”
“She doesn't know.”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Why help her?”
Elias slowly turned the onyx ring.
“Because I know what desperation sounds like.”
That night, Elias ordered everyone in the house to leave the east wing.
Except Maeve.
At midnight, she found him standing in the library.
She stopped in the doorway.
“You can walk.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to the doctors.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to Chicago.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to Sienna.”
His face hardened.
“She lied first.”
Maeve lowered her eyes.
“Did you love her?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
“Did she love you?”
Elias looked at the fireplace.
“I don't think she loved me after the accident.”
“You tested her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because men like me never know whether someone is standing beside us for love or fear.”
Maeve looked at him.
“And what did you learn?”
“That people show you who they are when they think you have become useless.”
Maeve felt a strange ache in her chest.
“And me?”
“What about you?”
“I haven't left.”
“You tried.”
“My brother needs me.”
“You stayed after discovering I could walk.”
Maeve said nothing.
Elias moved closer.
“Why?”
She looked up.
“Because you didn't threaten me.”
“I could.”
“Yes.”
“But I didn't.”
“No.”
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Elias spoke.
“You aren't going back to the Ashfords.”
Maeve frowned.
“What?”
“You're staying here.”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“They'll know.”
“They already know.”
He stepped closer.
“From tonight forward, you are Amelia Ashford.”
Maeve stared.
“And if someone asks?”
“You are my guest.”
“What if they ask why?”
Elias smiled.
“Let them wonder.”
He turned away.
Maeve watched him.
“You destroyed the recorder.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn't want the Ashfords hearing what happens in my house.”
She studied him.
“And if you don't trust me?”
“I don't.”
“Then why keep me?”
Elias glanced back.
“Because the person who sent you believes you're disposable.”
He paused.
“I don't.”
The words struck harder than Maeve expected.
Before she could respond, a gunshot shattered the silence.
Bang.
The window exploded.
Maeve screamed.
Elias grabbed her and pulled her behind the marble desk.
Another bullet tore through the bookshelf.
Elias reached beneath his jacket.
Gun in hand.
Maeve's eyes widened.
“You have a gun?”
Elias glanced at her.
“I own a mafia.”
He moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
He crossed the room in seconds.
Three armed men appeared outside the glass corridor.
Elias fired once.
One man dropped.
Gabriel stormed in.
“Sir!”
“Protect her.”
Elias moved toward the corridor.
Maeve grabbed his sleeve.
“Elias!”
He turned.
For the first time, she saw blood.
Not his.
A guard's.
Elias looked at her hand gripping his sleeve.
Then at her terrified face.
“Stay here.”
He disappeared.
Minutes later, the mansion fell silent again.
Gabriel returned.
“The attackers are dead.”
Maeve exhaled.
“Who sent them?”
Gabriel looked at Elias.
Elias did not answer.
Instead, he bent down.
A small black envelope had been pushed beneath the library door.
He picked it up.
Inside was a photograph.
Maeve's brother entering a hospital.
On the back, written in red ink, were six words.
WE KNOW WHO THE GIRL REALLY IS.
Maeve stared.
Elias's expression became ice.
May you like
Someone had just declared war.
And they knew the secret he had been trying to hide.
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