Chapter 2 - UPSTAIRS
By two in the morning, I had packed everything Lily and I owned into two suitcases.
That sounds dramatic.
It wasn’t.
Six years living in the staff wing teaches you not to collect too much.
A few dresses.
Lily’s stuffed rabbit.
Shoes.
Photographs.
A jewelry box containing earrings my mother left me.
That was our life.
Dominic stood in my doorway watching me zip the second suitcase.
“You don’t need all that.”
I looked up.
“You told me we were moving.”
“To the family floor. Not another country.”
“Mr. Moretti, with all due respect, you just locked down a mansion because somebody tried to murder your son.”
His mouth moved slightly.
Almost a smile.
“Fair point.”
Lily was asleep against his chest.
That was another thing I never expected to see.
Dominic Moretti holding my daughter.
She had refused to walk because she was tired.
He had simply picked her up.
Now her cheek rested against his shoulder, one small hand curled around the collar of his shirt.
He looked uncomfortable.
Not because she was heavy.
Because he clearly had no idea what to do with a sleeping toddler.
“Her rabbit,” he whispered.
“What?”
“She asked for her rabbit before she fell asleep.”
I handed him the stuffed bunny.
Lily hugged it without waking.
Something twisted inside me.
I had spent years seeing Dominic as my employer.
A difficult man.
A dangerous man.
A man surrounded by rules.
But standing there with my daughter in his arms, he looked different.
Human.
That didn’t make him less dangerous.
Sometimes it made dangerous men more complicated.
The private family floor was nothing like the rest of the mansion.
No grand chandeliers.
No marble statues.
No staff wandering around.
It was warm.
Comfortable.
There were family photos on the walls.
Ethan missing his front teeth.
Dominic holding a newborn baby.
A woman laughing beside them.
I stopped.
She was beautiful.
Dark hair.
Kind eyes.
Dominic noticed me looking.
“My wife.”
“I’m sorry.”
“She died five years ago.”
I knew that.
Everyone did.
But staff members learned not to mention Elena Moretti.
“How?”
The question escaped before I could stop myself.
Dominic’s face closed.
“Car accident.”
Then he carried Lily into a guest bedroom.
Ethan was waiting there.
His pajamas were wrinkled.
He looked exhausted.
“Is she okay?”
Dominic nodded.
“She’s sleeping.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“She saved me.”
“Yes.”
He touched Lily’s stuffed rabbit.
“She likes dinosaurs more.”
I smiled despite myself.
“How do you know?”
“She told me.”
Dominic glanced between the children.
“How often do you two talk?”
Ethan shrugged.
“When nobody’s watching.”
That hit me strangely.
Before I could answer, Marco appeared.
“Dominic.”
His tone changed the room.
Dominic placed Lily carefully on the bed.
“Stay here.”
I crossed my arms.
“My daughter is involved.”
“Anna.”
“No.”
He turned.
I had never spoken to him like that.
Neither had many people, judging from Marco’s expression.
“If someone threatened Lily, I deserve to know what you find.”
Dominic stared at me for a moment.
Then nodded.
“Come.”
We entered his office.
Marco closed the door.
“We found the access log.”
Dominic leaned against the desk.
“And?”
“The refrigeration corridor was opened with a staff security card.”
“Whose?”
Marco hesitated.
Mine.
He placed the printed log on the desk.
I stared at it.
ANNA REED.
ACCESS: 7:41 P.M.
My mouth went dry.
“That’s impossible.”
Dominic looked at me.
“I was upstairs.”
“I know.”
“My card was in my apron.”
“Where was the apron?”
“In the staff laundry room.”
Marco nodded.
“We checked.”
“And?”
“Someone removed it from your locker.”
I felt sick.
“So someone used my card.”
“Yes.”
“Which means they wanted it to look like me.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Possibly.”
I stared at him.
“Possibly?”
He didn’t look away.
“You were the only person who knew Lily was in the staff kitchen.”
I took a step back.
“You think I poisoned Ethan?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“Anna.”
“I have taken care of that boy since he was two.”
“I know.”
“I know which medication is in his school backpack. I know what restaurants he can eat at. I know the brand of cookies he likes because I order them!”
“I know.”
“Then why are we even having this conversation?”
Dominic came around the desk.
“Because somebody wants me to ask those questions.”
That stopped me.
“What?”
He pointed to the log.
“They used your card.”
His voice became quieter.
“They chose you.”
Marco nodded.
“And whoever did this knew Anna would have access.”
I looked between them.
“Why frame me?”
Dominic answered.
“Because if Ethan died after eating poisoned food and your card opened the corridor…”
He didn’t finish.
He didn’t need to.
I understood.
I would have been blamed.
My daughter would have lost me.
My whole life would have been destroyed.
Marco’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
Then looked at Dominic.
“We found another problem.”
“What now?”
“One of tonight’s guests wasn’t invited.”
Dominic straightened.
“Name?”
Marco turned the screen toward him.
Dominic’s face changed.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
“Who is he?” I asked.
Dominic kept staring at the photograph.
A man in a tuxedo.
Gray at the temples.
Thin smile.
Then Ethan spoke from behind us.
Nobody had heard him open the door.
He looked at the phone.
“I know him.”
Dominic spun around.
“From where?”
May you like
Ethan pointed to the picture.
“He came to my school last week.”
