Chapter 3 - The Secret Nicholas Had Been Chasing
Nicholas ordered the mansion locked down.
Every gate.
Every entrance.
Every vehicle.
Nobody entered.
Nobody left.
Khloe sat in the study while Enzo interrogated the captured attacker.
Nicholas remained near the window.
“You knew they were coming,” he said.
Khloe shook her head.
“I suspected.”
“Who?”
“The Vescari organization.”
Enzo entered.
His expression was grim.
“He's dead.”
Khloe looked up.
“What?”
“He bit down on something before we could stop him.”
Nicholas's jaw tightened.
Khloe closed her eyes.
“Then they know I'm here.”
“Who are the Vescari?” Nicholas asked.
She looked at him.
“The people who destroyed my family.”
Silence.
She finally told him everything.
Her real name was Katarina Rossi.
Her father had been the head of the Rossi network.
But the Rossi family had refused to cooperate with a powerful European alliance.
The result had been war.
Her family had been betrayed from inside.
Someone had sold their locations.
Someone had opened the gates.
Someone had given their enemies access to everything.
Khloe's father was murdered.
Her brother vanished.
Her mother was killed.
And Khloe had escaped through a hidden tunnel beneath the estate.
Nicholas listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he asked:
“Why become a servant?”
“Because nobody looks at servants.”
His expression changed slightly.
“That was the point.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was looking for you.”
“No.”
Nicholas stepped closer.
“I've spent five years searching for the woman who saved my life.”
Khloe looked at him.
“I didn't know it was you.”
He reached into his pocket.
Then placed the silver lighter on the desk.
Khloe stared at it.
She recognized it instantly.
“You kept it.”
“For five years.”
“Why?”
“Because you were the first person who ever saved me without asking for anything.”
Her eyes softened.
Then hardened again.
“You should stop looking for me.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone around me dies.”
Nicholas leaned forward.
“Then I'll make sure I don't.”
Their eyes locked.
For a moment, the room became strangely quiet.
Then Enzo entered.
“We have a problem.”
Nicholas turned.
“What?”
“The Vescari aren't targeting Khloe.”
Khloe's face went pale.
“Then who?”
Enzo placed photographs on the desk.
The first showed Senator Hayes.
The second showed several shipping executives.
The third showed members of Nicholas's organization.
And the fourth showed—
Khloe's father.
On the back was a handwritten message.
THE ROSSI GIRL DOESN'T KNOW WHAT SHE CARRIES.
Khloe stared at it.
“What does that mean?”
Nicholas looked at her.
“You may be carrying something your father never told you about.”
Khloe shook her head.
“No.”
Enzo placed another photograph on the table.
It showed a young Khloe.
Around fourteen years old.
Standing beside her father.
Behind them was a steel vault.
Nicholas pointed to the background.
“What's that?”
Khloe stared.
Then her memory returned.
A locked room.
A red door.
Her father once telling her:
If anything happens to me, never open it.
She had forgotten.
Until now.
“There was something beneath the estate,” she whispered.
“What?”
“A vault.”
Nicholas stood.
“Then we're going to Sicily.”
Khloe looked at him.
“You can't.”
“Why?”
“Because if the vault still exists, everyone who wants what's inside will come after us.”
Nicholas smiled without humor.
“Good.”
“Good?”
“Yes.”
He picked up his coat.
“I've been looking for a reason to end this war.”
Khloe stared at him.
“And now?”
May you like
Nicholas looked directly into her eyes.
“Now I have one.”
