Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Isabelle couldn't sleep.
She lay in a guest bedroom inside the Moretti estate while rain tapped against the windows.
The mansion was enormous.
Too enormous.
Every hallway seemed to contain another locked door.
Every shadow seemed to contain a guard.
Yet the strangest thing wasn't the armed men.
It was Vincent.
He had personally ordered security outside her bedroom.
He had instructed the kitchen to prepare meals suitable for pregnancy.
He had even ordered a nurse to remain nearby.
But he had not spoken to her since the ultrasound.
At six in the morning, Isabelle found him in the library.
He stood beside a wall of windows, holding a glass of whiskey.
"You should be sleeping," he said.
"So should you."
He turned.
His eyes were colder than before.
"You know the Falcone family?"
"No."
"Your mother?"
Isabelle shook her head.
"My mother died eighteen months ago."
"Your father?"
"I never knew him."
Vincent placed the glass down.
"Then why would they have your mother's necklace?"
"I don't know."
"Think."
"I am."
"Think harder."
Anger flashed through Isabelle.
"I nearly died last night."
"I know."
"My baby almost died."
"I know."
"And you're interrogating me like I'm the enemy."
Vincent stared at her.
"Because everyone around me eventually becomes one."
She stared back.
"Maybe that's because you treat everyone like one."
Silence.
Something almost resembling amusement touched his mouth.
"You aren't afraid of me."
"I am terrified of you."
"Then why talk to me like that?"
"Because I'm tired."
That answer silenced him.
Isabelle sat down.
"I have been working sixteen-hour shifts because my mother's medical bills destroyed me. I found out I was pregnant after she died. I don't have family. I don't have savings. I don't have anyone."
She looked at him.
"And last night, strangers tried to kill me."
Vincent's expression softened by a fraction.
"I understand."
"No, you don't."
"I lost my wife."
Isabelle went still.
"And my child."
The words were barely audible.
"Five years ago."
For the first time, Isabelle understood why Vincent had reacted so violently to her pregnancy.
He hadn't saved her because she was a stranger.
He had saved her because he couldn't watch another pregnant woman die.
"I didn't know."
"You weren't supposed to."
Another silence.
Then Vincent walked toward her.
He stopped several feet away.
"Who is the father?"
Isabelle looked down.
"I don't know."
Vincent's eyebrows lifted.
"That's impossible."
"I know who I was with."
"Who?"
Isabelle hesitated.
"Daniel."
"Last name?"
"Stanton."
"Where is he?"
"He died."
Vincent's expression changed.
"How?"
"Car accident."
"When?"
"Six months ago."
Vincent stared at her.
Six months.
Seven-month pregnancy.
Something didn't add up.
"Was he involved with the Falcones?"
"I don't know."
"Was he involved with organized crime?"
"No."
Vincent's phone rang.
He answered.
"Moretti."
Dominic's voice came through.
"We found the captured shooter."
"Where?"
"He's dead."
Vincent's eyes hardened.
"Who killed him?"
"He did."
"What?"
The line went quiet.
Then Dominic said:
"He swallowed something before we could question him."
Vincent's jaw tightened.
"What did you find?"
"A photograph."
He sent it.
Vincent opened the image.
It showed Isabelle.
Pregnant.
Standing outside the Starlight Diner.
The photograph had been taken two weeks earlier.
But someone had written something on the back.
Vincent read it.
SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHO HER BABY'S FATHER REALLY IS.
He looked toward Isabelle.
She saw his expression.
"What?"
Vincent didn't answer.
He handed her the phone.
Isabelle read the message.
Her face drained of color.
"I told you."
Vincent stepped closer.
"What?"
"I don't know who Daniel really was."
"What do you mean?"
"After he died, I found a second phone."
Vincent's attention sharpened.
"Where?"
"I gave it to the police."
"Did they find anything?"
"They said it was empty."
Vincent's eyes darkened.
"That's a lie."
"How do you know?"
"Because nobody leaves an empty phone behind if someone is watching them."
He turned toward Dominic.
"Find it."
Dominic nodded.
Vincent looked back at Isabelle.
"And find Daniel Stanton."
Isabelle swallowed.
"He is dead."
May you like
Vincent's voice dropped.
"Then find out who wanted us to believe he was."
