Chapter 1 - The Woman at the Side Door
Six days earlier, Margaret Romano entered her son's mansion through the servants' entrance.
She had once entered through the front doors.
There had been a time when every member of the household knew her footsteps, when fresh flowers appeared in her bedroom each Monday, when Angelo Romano would hear her arriving and come down the main staircase with his arms open.
That world had disappeared with her husband.
Angelo had been dead for fourteen months.
Since then, the Romano mansion had slowly become unfamiliar.
Not because Dominic wanted it that way.
Her son had spent much of the past year traveling between New York, Chicago, and London trying to stabilize Romano Holdings after Angelo's death.
Dominic believed the mansion remained a safe place for his mother and his daughter.
Margaret had not found the courage to tell him otherwise.
She carried a small paper bag of strawberries toward the kitchen.
Her old handbag hung from her shoulder.
The leather was cracked near the clasp.
One handle had been repaired with thread.
Valeria Hale hated it.
Margaret had never understood why.
"You're using that entrance again?"
Margaret stopped.
Valeria stood at the opposite end of the hall wearing a fitted burgundy dress.
Everything about her looked expensive.
Everything about Margaret looked tired.
"I didn't want to interrupt the meeting in the foyer," Margaret said.
Valeria smiled thinly.
"There was no meeting."
Margaret understood.
She had been lied to by the guard outside.
Again.
Valeria approached.
"Lucian has important investors coming tonight. Perhaps stay upstairs."
"This is my son's home."
"Exactly. Dominic's home."
Valeria emphasized the name.
Not yours.
She did not need to say it.
Margaret tightened her grip on the strawberries.
A small voice came from the breakfast room.
"Nana!"
Emma Romano appeared around the corner.
Her pale pink dress bounced around her legs as she hurried toward Margaret.
Margaret's expression softened instantly.
She knelt.
Emma threw both arms around her neck.
For the first time that morning, Margaret smiled.
"My beautiful girl."
Emma pointed at the strawberries.
Margaret opened the bag and handed her one.
Valeria watched with irritation.
"Dominic said she isn't supposed to eat before lunch."
"One strawberry will not hurt her."
"You're not her mother."
Margaret looked up.
"No. I'm her grandmother."
The smile disappeared from Valeria's face.
Emma sensed the change and moved closer to Margaret.
Valeria glanced at the battered handbag.
"Why do you still carry that disgusting thing?"
"Because it belongs to me."
"I could have one delivered today. Italian leather. Something appropriate."
Margaret stood.
"I don't want another one."
Valeria's gaze lingered on the bag.
Too long.
Margaret noticed.
It was the first time she wondered whether Valeria's hatred of it had nothing to do with its appearance.
Footsteps sounded upstairs.
Lucian Hale came down the staircase while speaking into his phone.
He had worked beside Dominic for eight years.
After Angelo's death, his influence had grown rapidly.
Romano Holdings handled luxury hotels, commercial real estate, shipping investments, and a private family foundation worth more than most people would earn in several lifetimes.
Lucian oversaw financial restructuring.
Valeria managed the charitable foundation.
Together, they had access to almost everything.
Almost.
Lucian ended the call when he saw Margaret.
"You're here."
Margaret frowned.
"I live ten minutes away, Lucian. Why wouldn't I be?"
His eyes moved toward the handbag.
There it was again.
That same look.
Not disgust.
Recognition.
"Dominic asked me to review some paperwork with you," Lucian said.
"What paperwork?"
"Routine trust documents."
"I signed the trust documents after Angelo died."
"These are updates."
"I'll read them when Dominic returns."
Lucian smiled.
"Dominic is busy."
"So am I."
She took Emma's hand.
Lucian's smile disappeared.
"Margaret."
Something in his tone made her stop.
"You should sign them soon."
Margaret turned.
"Why?"
"For everyone's protection."
She looked at him for several seconds.
Then she said, "People usually say that when they're trying to protect themselves."
Valeria's eyes narrowed.
Margaret walked away with Emma.
Only when they had disappeared into the kitchen did Valeria speak.
"She knows something."
Lucian kept staring after her.
"No."
"You saw the bag."
"I saw it."
"What if Angelo gave it to her?"
Lucian's jaw tightened.
"We searched the house after the funeral."
"Not that bag."
Lucian looked toward the kitchen.
May you like
For the first time that morning, genuine fear crossed his face.
"Then we search it now."
