Chapter 3 - Safe Within the Fortress
Within twenty minutes, the grand dining hall was deserted. The partially eaten cuts of dry-aged steak and half-empty crystal flutes remained on the white linen, an abandoned banquet of deceit.
Gabriel led Lily and me not toward the servants' quarters where I belonged, but up the grand marble staircase to the third floor—the penthouse suite that had been completely off-limits to domestic staff since the day I arrived.
"Gabe, wait," I said, hesitating at the threshold of the massive double doors. "My clothes... Lily’s shoes... we have soot on us. I’m the maid."
Gabriel stopped and turned. The hard, calculating look he had worn downstairs vanished, replaced by an unbearable agony.
"You are Daniel Vance’s sister-in-law in every way that matters, Rachel," Gabriel said, his voice raw. "Daniel took two bullets in Bucharest to pull me out of an alley when we were twenty-one. When my parents died, your mother-in-law took me in. You don't walk through the servant entrances of this house ever again. Not while I draw breath."
He pushed the doors open.
The suite was warm, smelling of cedarwood and polished leather. Floor-to-ceiling windows looked out over the sprawling estate grounds, where security vehicles were already patrolling the perimeter with high-beam searchlights.
Lily let out a tiny gasp of wonder. In the corner of the enormous living area was a plush cream-colored sofa deep enough to sleep three people.
"Hungry?" Gabriel asked her gently.
Lily peeked out from behind my apron and nodded timidly. "We only had toast this morning."
A muscle in Gabriel’s jaw twitched. He immediately walked to an intercom on the wall. "Cook. Send up tomato soup, grilled sourdough with aged cheddar, roast chicken, and fresh strawberries. Now."
He turned back to us, unbuttoning his tuxedo jacket and tossing it over the back of a lounge chair. He stripped off his cufflinks, rolled up his sleeves, and sat down on the low coffee table directly in front of us, putting himself at eye level with Lily.
"Lily," he said softly. "The night your daddy didn't come home... did he give your mommy something to keep safe?"
I stiffened. "Gabriel, Daniel didn't involve me in business. He kept a wall between his work and our living room."
"Daniel was methodical, Rachel," Gabriel countered, looking at me with intense focus. "He knew that if he was walking into a trap, his phone and his car would be taken. But Daniel always kept an off-site ledger. Three years ago, when the Moretti syndicate tried to skim our narcotics transit fees, Daniel made a physical backup of their distribution codes. He told me: 'If the sky falls, look for the black ribbon.'"
I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth.
"What is it?" Gabriel demanded, leaning forward.
"The teddy bear," I whispered, my heart slamming against my ribs. "The brown bear Daniel bought Lily for her fourth birthday at the carnival. It had a cheap red ribbon around its neck. But two days before he died, Daniel replaced the ribbon with a heavy black grosgrain one. He told Lily to never, ever take that bear out of her backpack."
Gabriel turned sharply to Lily. "Sweetheart, where is that bear?"
Lily’s lower lip trembled. "Miss Vanessa’s guard took my backpack when Mommy brought me to the basement staff lockers this morning. He said kids aren't allowed to have toys in the big house."
Gabriel rose to his feet with an aura so lethal that the ambient temperature of the room seemed to drop. "Which guard?"
"The tall one with the scar across his eyebrow," I answered, shivering. "He answers directly to Vanessa’s father."
Gabriel pulled a secure satellite phone from his pocket and hit speed dial. "Marcus. Bring me Carl. The one with the scar. And Marcus? Bring him in pieces if he gives you a single syllable of resistance."
He hung up, took a deep breath, and knelt beside Lily once more. He reached out with a rough, calloused hand and gently smoothed her tangled curls away from her forehead.
"Nobody hurts you anymore, Lily. Nobody makes your mommy cry anymore. Uncle Gabe is here."
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Lily reached out and touched the small daisy still pinned to his tuxedo lapel. "Daddy said you were a knight."
Gabriel let out a ragged breath, pressing his forehead against the little girl’s tiny hand. "I wasn't a knight, baby. I was late. But I'm here now."
