Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO DIED THIRTEEN YEARS AGOThe shooting lasted less than two minutes.
To Tessa, it felt like an hour.
When the emergency lights finally came on, the estate looked like a battlefield.
Broken windows.
Bullet holes in the stone.
A guard bleeding beside the staircase.
Victor stood in the middle of it all with a gun in one hand and blood running down his sleeve.
Paulie approached.
“Three attackers escaped.”
“How many dead?”
“Four.”
Victor looked toward Tessa.
“Is she hurt?”
“No.”
He nodded.
Then his attention returned to Paulie.
“Find Massimo.”
“He won't be far.”
“I don't want assumptions.”
Victor's voice was dangerously calm.
“I want him found.”
Tessa watched him.
Then noticed something.
Victor was shaking.
Barely.
But he was.
Not from fear.
From rage.
She walked closer.
“You knew that voice.”
Victor looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Why did you say he was dead?”
“Because everyone told me he was.”
“You didn't believe them?”
“I was fourteen.”
Tessa stared.
Victor looked toward the dark windows.
“My father was murdered in front of me.”
Her breath caught.
“I watched him die.”
His voice was quiet.
“Massimo was the last person seen with him.”
“But you were told Massimo died?”
“Yes.”
“Then how can he be here?”
Victor looked at the brass key in her hand.
“Maybe he never left.”
Tessa didn't know what to say.
Victor turned away.
Then she noticed a small movement beneath his collar.
A chain.
She reached out instinctively.
Victor caught her wrist.
“What are you doing?”
“You're bleeding.”
He glanced down.
“It doesn't matter.”
“It does.”
She pulled her wrist free.
“You'll make it worse.”
For a moment they stared at each other.
Victor finally allowed her to touch the edge of the bandage.
Her fingers were gentle.
His breathing changed.
Not from pain.
Something else.
Tessa noticed.
She looked away.
Victor suddenly asked, “Why did you come to this house?”
She paused.
“To pay Liam's debt.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Everyone has a reason for entering my world.”
“I already gave you mine.”
“That's the reason you accepted.”
She swallowed.
“What do you want to know?”
“Your mother.”
Tessa's face changed.
“What about her?”
“She worked here.”
Victor's words landed like a blow.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“She never told me.”
“When did she die?”
“Eleven years ago.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“Mine died twelve years ago.”
Tessa frowned.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“She was a housekeeper.”
Tessa nodded slowly.
“At the Romano estate?”
“Yes.”
“Under my father?”
“Yes.”
Victor looked toward the staircase.
“She disappeared the same month Massimo supposedly died.”
Tessa stared at him.
“My mother didn't disappear.”
Victor's voice was soft.
“What did she tell you before she died?”
Tessa hesitated.
“She told me never to trust men who carry the Romano crest.”
Victor went still.
“Our crest?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She wouldn't explain.”
Victor stepped closer.
“What else?”
“She told me I had to protect Liam.”
“From whom?”
“I don't know.”
Victor stared at her.
Then he saw something that made his expression change.
A thin silver chain was visible beneath the collar of Tessa's uniform.
She wore a small pendant.
Victor reached for it.
Tessa stepped back.
“Don't.”
“What is that?”
“My mother's.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“Let me see.”
She removed it.
The pendant opened.
Inside was a tiny photograph.
Victor recognized the face immediately.
His father.
Standing beside Tessa's mother.
But that wasn't the shocking part.
On the other side of the photograph was another man.
Massimo.
And between them stood a little girl.
Approximately three years old.
Tessa stared.
“That can't be me.”
Victor looked at her face.
Then at the child.
Then back again.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
Tessa's voice broke.
“Victor…”
He didn't answer.
She whispered:
“Who is the little girl?”
Victor looked at the photograph.
His voice was barely audible.
“It's you.”
Tessa's world tilted.
And before either of them could speak again, a gunshot cracked from the hallway.
The pendant fell from her fingers.
Victor grabbed her and pulled her down.
The bullet struck the wall directly above them.
Then a voice echoed through the estate.
“Tell her the truth, Victor.”
May you like
Massimo's voice.
“Before I do.”
