Chapter 2 - THE NAME I BURIED
My name wasn't Elena Rossi.
That was the first thing I thought when Gabriel said it.
My hands went cold.
For two years, I had been known inside the estate as Anna Bell.
Twenty-four years old.
No family.
No husband.
No children.
No history anyone needed to know.
That was the story I had given the agency that hired me.
That was the story written on my employment records.
Anna Bell.
A woman from a small town in Pennsylvania who needed work.
Quiet.
Reliable.
Forgettable.
It had been a perfect lie.
Until Gabriel Rossi said my real name.
“Elena,” I whispered.
He didn't blink.
“Who are you?”
I looked toward the door.
Two guards stood outside.
There was nowhere to run.
“You already know.”
“I know your name.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
“No.”
Gabriel sat in the chair beside the bed.
“It's not.”
I stared at him.
“How?”
“I have people who investigate threats.”
“I'm not a threat.”
“Then explain the photographs.”
“I can't.”
His jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“Because if I tell you, someone will die.”
“Who?”
I looked at him.
“You.”
His expression didn't change.
But something in his eyes did.
He leaned back.
“Try again.”
I swallowed.
“I came to this house because I needed protection.”
“From whom?”
“I don't know.”
That was the truth.
Mostly.
The truth was more complicated.
Two years earlier, my older brother had disappeared.
His name was Michael.
He had worked for a private security company in Albany.
Three days before he vanished, he called me.
His voice had been strange.
“Elle, if anything happens to me, don't trust the police.”
I had laughed.
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean it.”
“What happened?”
“I found something.”
“What?”
He never answered.
The call ended.
The next morning, Michael disappeared.
His apartment had been emptied.
His car was found abandoned.
The police called it voluntary disappearance.
I knew better.
Six weeks later, someone left a note under my apartment door.
STOP LOOKING FOR MICHAEL.
I should have stopped.
Instead, I found a connection between Michael and the Rossi organization.
That was how I ended up here.
I thought if I got close to Gabriel Rossi, I could find out what had happened to my brother.
But I discovered something I hadn't expected.
Gabriel wasn't the monster everyone described.
He was dangerous.
Absolutely.
But he had rules.
No children.
No drugs near the estate.
No violence against employees.
No women being forced into anything.
And no one touched Leo.
That last rule mattered most.
I watched him now.
“You've been investigating me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you saved my son.”
I frowned.
“That doesn't explain it.”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“Three men came onto my property with military-grade weapons.”
“I know.”
“They bypassed two security systems.”
“I know.”
“They knew Leo would be in the sunroom.”
“Yes.”
“They also knew exactly where you would be standing.”
I stared at him.
“I didn't.”
“No.”
He slid another photograph toward me.
It showed a camera.
Hidden inside the sunroom.
My stomach dropped.
“There was a camera?”
“Two.”
“Why?”
“We don't know.”
I looked at him.
“You think someone was watching Leo.”
“Someone was watching both of you.”
“Why me?”
“That is what I'm trying to discover.”
He stood.
“I want the truth.”
“I don't have it.”
“Then help me find it.”
I looked toward the door.
“What happens if I refuse?”
“You stay here.”
“You're holding me prisoner.”
“Yes.”
“At least you're honest.”
A faint expression crossed his face.
Almost a smile.
It disappeared quickly.
“Rest.”
He walked toward the door.
“Gabriel.”
He stopped.
I had never called him by his first name.
“Why did you save me?”
He turned.
“You saved my son.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
His eyes held mine.
“I don't know.”
Then he left.
That night, I couldn't sleep.
At 2:17 a.m., I heard footsteps.
Slow.
Careful.
Someone stopped outside my room.
The handle moved.
I froze.
The door opened two inches.
A hand slipped inside.
I reached for the metal IV stand.
Then the hallway light came on.
Gabriel stood behind the intruder.
“Don't.”
The man froze.
Gabriel grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
“Who sent you?”
The man said nothing.
Gabriel hit him once.
“Who?”
Still nothing.
Then I saw something.
A small tattoo behind the man's ear.
A black crow.
My heart stopped.
Michael had drawn that symbol in one of his notebooks.
I jumped out of bed despite the pain.
“Wait.”
Gabriel looked at me.
I pointed.
“That symbol.”
The man's face changed.
Gabriel noticed.
“You know it?”
I nodded.
“My brother used to draw it.”
The intruder smiled.
“Your brother?”
His voice was low.
“You're Michael's sister.”
I froze.
Gabriel grabbed him harder.
“What did you do to Michael?”
The man laughed.
“You should ask what Michael did to you.”
Then he bit down.
Gabriel reacted instantly.
Too late.
The man collapsed.
Dead.
A tiny capsule had been hidden beneath his tongue.
Gabriel stared down at the body.
Then at me.
“Now you understand why I can't let you leave.”
I stared at the dead man.
“No.”
My voice trembled.
“I understand why someone doesn't want me to.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“What's the difference?”
I looked at him.
“I didn't come here to spy on you.”
“Then why did you?”
“To find my brother.”
Gabriel went still.
“You think Michael is alive?”
May you like
I whispered:
“I know he is.”
