Chapter 3 - THE MAN WHO REMEMBERED HIS MOTHER
The elevator doors opened.
Tessa stepped into the private dining room.
Immediately, she understood why people feared Ronan Callahan.
The room was silent.
Cold.
Controlled.
Like every detail had been placed exactly where he wanted it.
Ronan stood near the window.
He didn’t turn around.
“Where did you learn that recipe?”
No greeting.
No introduction.
Just a question.
Tessa stayed calm.
“My teacher.”
Ronan finally turned.
“Your teacher?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Eda Boudreaux.”
The name hit him like a bullet.
For the first time, his expression changed.
“You knew Eda?”
Tessa frowned.
“You knew her?”
Ronan walked closer.
“How?”
“She taught me how to cook.”
“When?”
“Six years.”
Ronan stared at her.
“Six years?”
“Yes.”
He looked at the bowl on the table.
Then back at her.
“Do you know what you made?”
Tessa shook her head.
“Not exactly.”
“That recipe belonged to my mother.”
The room went silent.
Tessa’s face changed.
“What?”
“My mother made that dish.”
She looked confused.
“Eda never told me.”
Ronan’s voice became softer.
“She wouldn’t have.”
“Why?”
“Because my mother trusted very few people.”
Tessa looked at the bowl.
Suddenly, the recipe felt heavier.
“Why would she leave it with Eda?”
Ronan didn’t answer.
That bothered Tessa.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Most people would never ask Ronan Callahan that question.
But Tessa did.
And somehow, that surprised him.
Fourteen years ago, his mother, Elena Callahan, died.
The official story was an accident.
A car crash.
A tragic ending.
But Ronan never believed it.
Because three days before she died, she told him something strange.
“Never trust a person who wants you to forget.”
He was only nineteen.
He didn’t understand.
Until now.
Ronan looked at Tessa.
“Did Eda ever mention my mother?”
Tessa hesitated.
“Yes.”
His eyes sharpened.
“When?”
“Before she died.”
“What did she say?”
Tessa looked uncomfortable.
“She said if someone ever asked about the recipe…”
She stopped.
“Continue.”
“She told me not to give it to anyone.”
Ronan froze.
“Anyone?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Tessa looked at him.
“She said…”
A pause.
“She said the recipe was not food.”
Ronan stepped closer.
“What did she mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Before he could answer, the lights went out.
The room became completely dark.
A second later—
A gunshot exploded.
Glass shattered.
Tessa screamed.
Ronan grabbed her and pulled her behind the table.
Another shot.
This time closer.
Someone was inside the room.
Someone had come to finish what they started.
Ronan reached under his jacket.
Tessa stared.
“You have a gun?”
He didn’t answer.
His eyes were fixed on the darkness.
Then a voice came from the corner.
“You should have stayed hungry, Ronan.”
Ronan’s face changed.
Because he recognized the voice.
May you like
And so did the past.
The person standing in the darkness was someone who was supposed to be dead.
