Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Took His Daughter
Nobody moved.
One hundred guests stood beneath the glittering chandeliers, watching the most powerful man in the room hold a child everyone had believed dead.
Dominic pressed his lips to Sophie's forehead.
"You're safe now, little star."
She clung to him.
"Promise?"
"I promise."
He looked toward Marco Bellini, his head of security.
"Lock the exits. Nobody leaves until the police arrive."
Vanessa let out a strangled laugh.
"You're calling the police over a child who could have been coached by anyone?"
Dominic's eyes hardened.
"Then you shouldn't be worried."
Two guards approached her.
She stepped backward.
"Dominic, listen to me. This is a setup."
"Who brought my daughter to the ballroom?"
Vanessa looked at Hannah.
"The maid. She's been stealing from us for months."
Hannah stared at her in disbelief.
"That's a lie."
"Search her room!" Vanessa shouted. "You'll find money and jewelry. She's been planning this."
Dominic didn't look away from Vanessa.
"If Hannah stole anything, we can deal with it later. Right now, my daughter needs a doctor."
Sophie shook her head frantically.
"No hospital."
Dominic softened his voice.
"Why, sweetheart?"
"They said if I went back, you wouldn't find me."
"Who said that?"
Sophie pressed her face against his shoulder.
"The lady."
Dominic glanced at Vanessa.
"Take her to the east sitting room," he ordered Marco. "Keep her separate from Sophie."
Vanessa's composure finally broke.
"You can't do this to me! We're engaged!"
Dominic looked at the ring on her finger.
"Not anymore."
He removed the ring himself and placed it on the table beside the cake.
The guests stared as Vanessa began screaming.
"You'll regret this! You have no idea what you're doing!"
Dominic carried Sophie away.
In the sitting room, Hannah helped the child settle onto a sofa. A physician who had attended the party examined her discreetly.
Sophie was underweight, dehydrated, and exhausted. She had a small scar near her hairline and bruises of different ages on her arms.
The doctor exchanged a grave look with Dominic.
"She needs a full examination. But she appears stable enough to remain calm here until arrangements are made."
Dominic sat beside his daughter.
"Can I ask you some questions, sweetheart?"
Sophie nodded.
"Where have you been?"
"A house."
"What house?"
"I don't know. It had a big fence. The windows had locks."
Dominic swallowed.
"Who lived there?"
"The lady who said she was my aunt."
Vanessa had no children and no siblings that Dominic knew of.
"Did she tell you her name?"
Sophie hesitated.
"Sometimes she was Miss Vanessa. Sometimes she was Mrs. Sterling."
Dominic felt the room spin.
"How long were you there?"
Sophie held up three fingers.
"Three birthdays."
"Did anyone else visit?"
"A man with a silver watch."
Dominic thought of his uncle, Vincent Moretti, who wore an antique silver pocket watch that had belonged to his grandfather.
He forced himself to remain calm.
"Did he ever hurt you?"
Sophie shook her head.
"He told me to be quiet. He said Daddy was dangerous."
Dominic closed his eyes briefly.
"Did he say why?"
"He said you would take me away if you knew I was alive."
Dominic wrapped an arm around her.
"Nobody is taking you away from me again."
Sophie studied his face.
"Are you angry with me?"
The question cut deeper than any threat he had ever faced.
"No, sweetheart. Never."
"Because I couldn't come home?"
Dominic pulled her close.
"You never had to earn your way home. You were always my daughter."
She began to cry.
"I tried to find you."
He held her while she sobbed.
When she finally fell asleep, Dominic stepped into the corridor with Hannah.
"How did you find her?"
Hannah took a folded note from her pocket.
"This was delivered to the servants' entrance this afternoon. It said a child would be waiting outside the ballroom. It asked me to bring the cake and the bracelet."
"Who delivered it?"
"A courier. He wore a cap and kept his face down."
"Why did you believe it?"
Hannah looked toward the sleeping child.
"Because the note included a photograph of the bracelet. And because it said Sophie would be frightened of Vanessa."
Dominic unfolded the note.
There was one additional line at the bottom.
Ask your fiancée what happened to the original fire report.
Dominic read it twice.
Then he called Marco.
"Find the original report from the fire three years ago. Not the copy in our files. The one held by the fire department."
Marco hesitated.
"Sir, that case was closed."
"Then reopen it."
Dominic looked through the doorway at his daughter.
Someone had stolen three years of her life.
May you like
Someone had convinced her that her own father had abandoned her.
And whoever had done it had been close enough to Dominic to know exactly how to hurt him.
