Chapter 3 - The Secret Her Mother Left Behind
Harper read the sentence three times.
"Where what was?"
Damian took the photograph.
"I don't know."
"That's becoming a popular answer."
Mrs. Gable looked sick.
Damian noticed.
"You recognize this picture."
"No, sir."
"Don't lie to me."
Mrs. Gable's shoulders collapsed.
"Harper's mother worked here."
Harper felt the floor disappear beneath her.
"What?"
"Twenty-seven years ago."
Harper stepped toward her.
"My mother was a nurse."
"Later. Before that, she worked for your father."
Damian became completely still.
"Doing what?"
Mrs. Gable looked between them.
"Accounting."
Damian swore quietly.
Harper laughed once, without humor.
"My mother couldn't balance her own checkbook."
"She wanted you to believe that."
Mrs. Gable explained that Evelyn Reed had once maintained private financial records for Damian's father, Vittorio Costa. She vanished shortly before federal investigators raided three Costa businesses.
No charges stuck.
But millions disappeared.
"So Claudia knew my mother?" Harper asked.
"I don't know."
Damian did.
"Her father did."
Claudia's father, Senator Richard Vale, had been a young prosecutor when Vittorio Costa was investigated.
Harper stared at Damian.
"Your family and hers have been connected for decades."
"Apparently."
"And you're marrying her?"
"That arrangement predates my understanding of several things."
"That's romantic."
His eyes narrowed.
"You enjoy doing that."
"What?"
"Speaking to me like I'm normal."
"Would you prefer terrified silence?"
"No."
For the first time, Harper believed him.
They searched Evelyn's photograph.
Damian noticed a silver key hanging from her necklace.
Harper's hand instinctively touched her own chest.
Damian saw.
"What?"
Harper reached beneath her uniform.
A tiny silver key hung from a chain.
"My mother gave me this before she died."
Damian stared.
"She told me it opened nothing important."
"Parents lie."
"So do mafia bosses."
"Frequently."
Harper almost laughed.
At two in the morning, Damian drove her to her apartment.
The door was open.
Harper stopped.
"I locked it."
Damian pulled her behind him.
Two guards appeared from the stairwell as if summoned from air.
Inside, everything had been destroyed.
Mattress slashed.
Cabinets emptied.
Her mother's photographs scattered.
Someone had searched for something.
Harper entered the bedroom.
On the mirror, written in red lipstick:
GIVE IT BACK.
Damian's face darkened.
"You're not staying here."
"I don't take orders from you."
"Tonight you do."
"No."
"Someone broke into your home."
"And moving into a mafia compound sounds safer?"
"Marginally."
Despite herself, she smiled.
It vanished when Damian lifted a photograph from the floor.
Evelyn stood holding baby Harper.
Behind them was a bank.
Printed on the building was a number:
Harper touched the key around her neck.
"Safe-deposit box."
Damian nodded.
The bank still existed.
At nine the next morning, they entered together.
Box 317 opened with Harper's key.
Inside was no money.
Only a flash drive, a handwritten ledger, and a sealed letter.
Harper opened it.
My darling Harper,
If you are reading this, someone has discovered what I protected.
Never trust the person wearing Vittorio Costa's ring.
Harper looked up.
Damian slowly raised his right hand.
On it sat his father's black signet ring.
The security alarm suddenly screamed.
Damian turned toward the door.
May you like
Smoke poured beneath it.
Someone had locked them inside.
