Chapter 1 - “Then,” Gabriel said, “we have a problem.”Harper stared at him.
For a moment, she didn't understand.
She had expected anger. Maybe disgust. Maybe the cold dismissal of a wealthy man discovering his maid had brought trouble into his house.
Instead, Gabriel Ashford looked like a man who had just found a missing piece of a puzzle.
A dangerous puzzle.
Harper forced herself away from the marble counter.
“You don't have a problem, Mr. Ashford.”
“I do now.”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“Tell me where he is.”
“I don't know.”
“Where does he work?”
“You already know.”
“Tell me anyway.”
“Precinct 12.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“Where does he live?”
Harper shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“When did you last see him?”
“Three days ago.”
Gabriel went still.
“What happened three days ago?”
Harper looked down.
She wished she hadn't answered.
“Nothing.”
“Harper.”
“I said nothing.”
He stepped closer.
She instinctively backed away.
Gabriel noticed.
Something flickered in his expression.
Not anger at her.
Anger at the fact that she had learned to fear footsteps approaching from behind.
He stopped moving.
“You're afraid of me.”
Harper swallowed.
“Everyone is afraid of you.”
“That's not what I asked.”
She had no answer.
Gabriel looked at the bruising visible above her collar.
“Three years,” he said quietly. “And nobody stopped him?”
“No.”
“Doctors?”
“One charity clinic.”
“Police?”
Harper laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Derek is police.”
Gabriel's gaze hardened.
“Did he break your ribs?”
“Yes.”
“How many times?”
“I don't remember.”
That answer seemed to hit him harder than the others.
Gabriel glanced toward the bloody cloth.
Then he noticed something Harper had missed.
A thin strip of black fabric was caught beneath the edge of the bathroom cabinet.
He crouched.
Picked it up.
Examined it.
Harper's heart stopped.
She recognized it.
Derek had worn a black tactical jacket three nights ago.
Gabriel turned the fabric over.
There was a tiny silver emblem stitched into it.
A wolf.
Harper frowned.
“What is that?”
Gabriel's expression became unreadable.
“You've seen this before?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He folded the fabric into his palm.
“Go home.”
Harper blinked.
“What?”
“Go home. Tonight.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“My brother.”
“Where is he?”
“At our apartment.”
Gabriel took out his phone.
Harper immediately stepped forward.
“No. Please.”
He ignored her.
“One of my men is going to your apartment.”
Her stomach dropped.
“No.”
“To make sure your brother is safe.”
“You can't send your men there.”
“Why?”
“Because if Derek is watching me, he'll see them.”
Gabriel stopped.
That sentence changed everything.
“Why would Derek be watching your apartment?”
Harper didn't answer.
Gabriel lowered the phone.
“Harper.”
She closed her eyes.
“I think he knows about Noah.”
“Knows what?”
“That my brother has the medical records.”
Gabriel's expression darkened.
“Medical records?”
Harper opened her eyes.
She had gone too far.
“My brother has leukemia.”
Silence.
Gabriel didn't move.
Harper immediately regretted telling him.
“He was supposed to receive treatment this week,” she whispered. “But the money…”
“Stop.”
She looked at him.
Gabriel's voice was calm.
“Don't explain your poverty to me.”
“I wasn't.”
“You were.”
She looked away.
He picked up his phone again.
This time, Harper didn't stop him.
“Victor,” Gabriel said. “Go to Brighton. Apartment 4B. Don't approach the building until I tell you. I want eyes on every entrance.”
A pause.
Then Gabriel's expression changed.
“Harper's brother is inside.”
Harper watched him.
For the first time, she realized something terrifying.
Gabriel wasn't asking whether he could help.
He was already doing it.
He ended the call.
Harper whispered, “Why?”
“Because Derek Lawson has crossed into my territory.”
“I don't belong to you.”
“No.”
Gabriel's eyes met hers.
“You belong to yourself.”
The words stunned her.
Before she could respond, his phone rang again.
He answered.
“Talk.”
Victor's voice came through the speaker.
Harper couldn't hear everything.
But she heard three words.
“Someone is already there.”
Gabriel's face turned cold.
“How many?”
“Two.”
“Armed?”
“Yes.”
Harper stopped breathing.
“Noah…”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Don't move.”
Then he walked out of the bathroom.
Harper followed.
“Mr. Ashford!”
He turned.
“Stay behind me.”
She didn't know why.
She did anyway.
They reached the staircase.
Gabriel's men were already moving through the hallway, weapons hidden beneath their jackets.
One of them rushed toward Gabriel.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“There was a third man.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“Where?”
“He got away.”
“Description?”
The man hesitated.
“Police uniform.”
Harper felt the floor disappear beneath her feet.
Gabriel slowly looked at her.
“What?”
“I know that uniform.”
Her voice was barely audible.
Gabriel's eyes sharpened.
“Whose?”
Harper's lips trembled.
“Derek's.”
Gabriel turned to his men.
“Lock the house down.”
Every door clicked shut.
Security alarms activated.
Harper suddenly understood.
Derek hadn't merely discovered where she lived.
He had discovered where she worked.
He had followed her here.
And maybe he had known all along who employed her.
Gabriel stepped toward her.
“Harper.”
She looked up.
“You said you hadn't seen him in three days.”
“Yes.”
“Then why was his man in your apartment tonight?”
She stared at him.
“I don't know.”
Gabriel reached into his coat.
He pulled out the strip of black fabric.
“There is something else you don't know.”
He held it up.
“The wolf isn't Derek's symbol.”
Harper frowned.
“Then whose is it?”
Gabriel's eyes went darker.
“My father's.”
Harper felt a chill move through her body.
Gabriel's father had been dead for eleven years.
Everyone knew that.
Everyone except, apparently, the person who had been watching her.
Gabriel leaned closer.
“Someone wants you to think Derek is the only monster in this story.”
A loud crash exploded from the third floor.
Everyone froze.
Then came a gunshot.
Harper screamed.
Gabriel grabbed her wrist.
“Stay here.”
“Who was that?”
His men rushed upstairs.
Another shot.
Then silence.
Gabriel looked toward the ceiling.
For the first time that night, Harper saw something she'd never expected to see on the face of the most feared man in Boston.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
Then a voice echoed through the house.
A man's voice.
Cold.
Familiar.
“Harper.”
She froze.
Gabriel's head snapped toward the staircase.
The voice came again.
“Tell Mr. Ashford I said hello.”
Harper knew that voice.
May you like
Derek.
And then every light in Ashford House went out.
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