Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN WHO WOULD NOT LEAVE
Victoria walked toward them slowly.
“Is there a problem?”
Eric backed away.
“No, ma’am.”
Beatrice kept her face neutral.
“Dropped tray.”
“There’s no tray.”
Beatrice looked at the empty floor.
“Then I suppose I’m losing my mind.”
Victoria smiled.
“I’ve been saying that for weeks.”
Eric escaped toward the kitchen.
Victoria stopped in front of Beatrice.
“You should be careful who you trust.”
“So should you.”
Beatrice regretted it immediately.
Victoria tilted her head.
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing.”
“No.”
Victoria stepped closer.
“You’ve become very brave.”
Beatrice felt fear.
She just did not show it.
“Maybe.”
“Do you know what happens to employees who confuse affection with importance?”
“Usually they find better jobs.”
Victoria laughed.
“You really think Leo sees you?”
Beatrice said nothing.
“He sees what you do for Lily.”
Victoria’s gaze swept over her.
“That is not the same thing.”
Beatrice had heard crueler words.
The problem was that this one touched something she had tried very hard not to think about.
Leo’s gratitude mattered too much.
His quiet smiles mattered too much.
The way he sometimes came into the kitchen after midnight and drank coffee while she finished baking Lily’s lunch snacks mattered too much.
Beatrice hated that Victoria could see it.
“You’re right.”
Victoria seemed surprised.
Beatrice stepped aside.
“I’m an employee.”
She walked away.
Victoria called after her.
“Exactly.”
Beatrice did not turn around.
She found Mateo ten minutes later.
“Eric says Arthur Kensington paid him.”
Mateo’s expression darkened.
“For the note?”
“Yes.”
“Where’s Eric?”
“Kitchen.”
“No, he isn’t.”
Beatrice frowned.
“He just went there.”
Mateo checked his phone.
“His badge exited the east gate six minutes ago.”
Beatrice stared.
“You track staff badges?”
“I track everyone.”
“That is creepy.”
“It keeps people alive.”
“Apparently not Dr. Price.”
Mateo did not appreciate that.
They found Leo in his study.
He listened while Beatrice explained.
When she finished, his face was dangerous.
“You kept a threat from me.”
Beatrice crossed her arms.
“I told Mateo.”
“I’m not Mateo.”
“No.”
“You work in my home.”
“Yes.”
“My daughter depends on you.”
“Yes.”
“Someone threatened you because of her.”
“Probably.”
Leo stood.
“And you decided I did not need to know?”
“I decided you would overreact.”
His eyes widened.
Mateo suddenly found the bookshelf fascinating.
“Overreact?”
“You would have sent me away.”
“Yes.”
“There.”
Leo stared at her.
“That isn’t overreacting.”
“It is if that’s what they want.”
Leo stopped.
Beatrice continued.
“Victoria wants Lily isolated.”
“She wants me gone.”
“Every time Lily trusts someone, Victoria finds a way to create distance.”
Leo’s expression changed.
“You think this is about control.”
“I think Lily remembers something.”
“And as long as I’m here, she feels safe enough to say it.”
Mateo nodded reluctantly.
“She may be right.”
Leo turned on him.
“You let her stay after receiving a threat?”
Mateo shrugged.
“You try making her do anything.”
Leo looked back at Beatrice.
For a moment, anger almost won.
Then he exhaled.
“You are not leaving the estate alone.”
“Fine.”
“You do not enter any room alone with Victoria.”
“Fine.”
“You carry this.”
He opened a drawer and removed a small panic button.
Beatrice looked at it.
“What does it do?”
“Calls Mateo.”
“Can it order pizza?”
“No.”
“Then it seems limited.”
Mateo laughed.
Leo did not.
But his mouth twitched.
He handed it to her.
Their fingers touched.
For one second, neither moved.
Then Lily rushed into the study.
“Daddy!”
Leo turned immediately.
“What happened?”
She held a photograph.
“I found Mommy.”
Beatrice’s heart jumped.
“What do you mean?”
Lily placed the photograph on Leo’s desk.
It showed Sofia at a charity gala.
Beside her stood a younger Victoria Kensington.
Leo stared at it.
The date printed on the back was eighteen months before the bombing.
Victoria had lied.
Not about one meeting.
She had known Sofia for years.
Leo flipped the photograph over again.
Something was written on the back in Sofia’s handwriting.
If anything happens to me, ask Victoria about Haven House.
Mateo swore.
Beatrice looked at Leo.
“What’s Haven House?”
Leo’s face had gone pale.
“I don’t know.”
Mateo pulled out his phone.
“I do.”
They turned to him.
He looked stunned.
“Haven House was a shelter Sofia secretly funded.”
“For what?”
Mateo swallowed.
“Women trying to escape powerful men.”
Leo looked down at Sofia’s handwriting.
May you like
Mateo continued.
“And Arthur Kensington was one of the men she was helping someone escape from.”
