Chapter 4 - THE PROMISE WAS A LIE
Evelyn had Amelia on the floor before the SUV finished turning.
“Stay down.”
She pulled the curtains closed and reached beneath the kitchen cabinet.
Amelia stared as Evelyn removed an old revolver.
“You have a gun?”
“I was married into the Vale family for fourteen years.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“It answers it perfectly.”
Despite the fear hammering through her chest, Amelia almost laughed.
Then the SUV disappeared.
Evelyn called Miles.
Not Roman.
“You tell him only what he needs to know,” she warned.
Miles arrived ninety minutes later alone.
When Amelia opened the door, he stopped.
For several seconds, Roman’s second-in-command looked strangely emotional.
“You look okay.”
“I am.”
“Roman doesn’t.”
“That isn’t why I called.”
“I know.”
She handed him the photograph.
Miles studied it.
Then he looked at Evelyn.
“How long has she been here?”
“None of your business.”
“Aunt Evelyn—”
“Still none.”
Miles sighed.
“You two understand Roman is going to discover I was here.”
Evelyn smiled sweetly.
“Then lie better.”
Amelia folded her arms.
“Who kidnapped us?”
“We’re working on it.”
“Who knew enough about Roman to know he’d choose Vanessa?”
Miles hesitated.
Amelia noticed.
“You suspect her.”
“We suspect everyone.”
“That means yes.”
Miles sat at the kitchen table.
“We found payments to one of the kidnappers.”
“From Vanessa?”
“No. From a company connected to her late father.”
Amelia frowned.
“Anthony has been dead for eleven years.”
“Exactly.”
The company was controlled by a man named Gabriel Marino.
Anthony’s younger brother.
Vanessa’s uncle.
Roman had driven Gabriel out of Baltimore eight years earlier after discovering he was stealing from the Marino organization.
Now Gabriel was back.
But something still didn’t fit.
“Why kidnap Vanessa?” Amelia asked.
Miles looked at her.
“To make Roman choose.”
“Why?”
“That’s what we don’t know.”
Amelia thought about the photograph.
Then remembered something.
“The kidnapper knew about my pregnancy.”
Miles nodded.
“That wasn’t public.”
“Roman’s inner circle knew.”
“Yes.”
“My doctor.”
“Yes.”
“Household staff.”
“Yes.”
“And Vanessa.”
Miles’ eyes narrowed.
“How?”
Amelia’s stomach tightened.
“Three days before the kidnapping, Vanessa came to dinner.”
She remembered the moment clearly.
Amelia had declined wine.
Vanessa had looked at her stomach.
Then at Roman.
“You’re pregnant?”
Roman had smiled.
It had been one of the happiest expressions Amelia had ever seen on him.
Vanessa had smiled too.
But now Amelia remembered how long it had taken.
“Find out when Gabriel returned to Baltimore.”
Miles made a call.
Ten minutes later, he had an answer.
“Six weeks before the kidnapping.”
“And when did Vanessa first contact him?”
“We don’t know that she did.”
“Find out.”
Miles left before sunset.
Roman was waiting when he returned.
He stood beside Miles’ car in the underground garage.
“Where were you?”
Miles stopped.
Roman looked at the passenger seat.
A disposable coffee cup sat there.
The logo belonged to a café in St. Michaels.
Miles cursed silently.
Roman held out his hand.
“Keys.”
“No.”
Roman stared.
“I’m trying to respect her choice.”
“By helping her hide?”
“Yes.”
“Is she safe?”
Miles hesitated.
That was enough.
Roman’s entire posture changed.
“What happened?”
“Roman—”
“What happened?”
Miles handed him the photograph.
Roman read the message.
His face became frighteningly calm.
“Where is she?”
“I promised—”
“My wife and daughter are being watched.”
Miles froze.
“Daughter?”
Roman looked down at the photograph.
Amelia was leaving an ultrasound clinic.
In her hand was a small pink gift bag.
Roman’s expression broke for half a second.
“She’s having a girl.”
He should have been there.
The realization nearly brought him to his knees.
Miles placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t make this about what you lost.”
Roman looked at him.
“Make it about what she needs.”
Two hours later, three unmarked vehicles quietly surrounded Evelyn’s cottage.
Roman did not enter.
Amelia discovered him at midnight.
She woke thirsty, walked toward the kitchen, and noticed a figure beyond the curtains.
Roman was sitting on the hood of a black SUV across the road.
Alone.
He had found her.
Yet he had not crossed the property line.
Amelia opened the front door.
Roman immediately stood.
Neither moved closer.
“You promised not to come after me,” she said.
“No. You asked me not to.”
“That sounds like a technicality.”
“It is.”
Despite herself, she almost smiled.
Roman noticed.
For one heartbeat, he looked like the man she married.
Then the distance returned.
“You know about the baby.”
“Yes.”
“It’s a girl.”
“I know.”
His voice cracked slightly.
Amelia hated that it affected her.
“Why are you here?”
“Someone found you.”
“I noticed.”
“My people will stay outside.”
“I don’t want guards in the house.”
“They won’t enter.”
“I don’t want you in the house.”
Roman nodded.
“I know.”
That surprised her.
“You’re leaving?”
“Yes.”
He started toward the SUV.
“Roman.”
He turned.
She hated the question before asking it.
“Did Vanessa know Gabriel was back?”
Roman’s face changed.
“We don’t know.”
“Find out.”
“I will.”
He opened the car door.
Then Amelia said, “Roman?”
He looked back again.
She rested a hand over their daughter.
“If you ever have to choose again…”
He waited.
“Choose the person who didn’t ask you to make a promise.”
Roman stood motionless.
Then he nodded.
The next morning, Vanessa Marino disappeared.
But unlike Amelia, she left something behind.
A laptop.
Inside it, Miles found hundreds of deleted messages.
All sent to Gabriel.
The earliest was dated eight months before the kidnapping.
May you like
And the first message changed everything.
Uncle Gabriel, I think Roman married the wrong woman. Help me make him remember who he belongs to.
