Chapter 2 - The Message From an Enemy
Nadine did not open the door.
“Who was he?”
“My driver,” Celeste whispered.
“The replacement?”
“Yes.”
“Why would your driver give me Adrian Vale’s number?”
“Because I asked him to.”
Nadine stared at the wood between them.
“You?”
“I knew you might need somewhere to run.”
The words struck harder than the kiss.
“You knew before tonight?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Nadine unlocked the door.
Celeste slipped inside and immediately locked it again.
Her makeup was smeared. The glamorous woman from downstairs was gone.
“Tell me everything.”
Celeste looked toward the baby monitor.
Then she walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
Nadine followed.
“Dante has been moving money,” Celeste whispered over the running water. “A lot of it.”
“What does that have to do with you?”
“I found records.”
“How?”
“He used my design company.”
Nadine frowned.
Celeste owned a small interior-design firm.
“He moved money through your business?”
“Without telling me. When I discovered it, I confronted his accountant.”
“And?”
“He disappeared.”
Nadine felt cold.
“Celeste.”
“I got scared. I went to Dante.”
“And he kissed you?”
Celeste looked ashamed.
“He told me I was confused. Then he said he could protect me if I stopped asking questions.”
“That doesn't explain the kiss.”
“I had a recording device in my necklace.”
Nadine stared at her.
“I needed him to admit something.”
“So you kissed my husband?”
“I let him think I would.”
Nadine slapped her.
The sound was sharp.
Celeste touched her cheek.
Neither spoke.
“I deserved that,” she whispered.
“You deserved worse.”
“I know.”
“Did he know about the recorder?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Where is it?”
Celeste reached beneath her dress.
The necklace was gone.
Her face changed.
“Oh God.”
“What?”
“It was here.”
“Downstairs?”
Celeste nodded.
They both understood.
If Dante found it—
A knock came.
“Nadine?”
Dante.
Celeste went white.
Nadine pointed toward the dressing room.
Celeste hid.
Nadine turned off the shower and opened the bedroom door slightly.
Dante stood outside holding the necklace.
“This belongs to your sister.”
Nadine looked at it.
“Then give it to her.”
“I would.”
His eyes moved past Nadine.
“If I knew where she was.”
Nadine forced a shrug.
“Not my problem.”
Dante studied her face.
For six years, Nadine had loved those eyes.
Tonight they felt like searchlights.
Finally he smiled.
“Get some sleep.”
He walked away.
Nadine closed the door.
Celeste emerged.
“He knows.”
“Yes.”
“We have to leave.”
Nadine looked at her belly.
“We?”
Celeste nodded.
“I’m not leaving you here.”
Nadine almost told her she had lost the right to pretend they were sisters.
Then she remembered the fear in Celeste’s face downstairs.
“Adrian said sunrise.”
Celeste stared.
“You called him?”
“Yes.”
“Then we may have less time than that.”
They spent twenty minutes creating a plan.
Nadine climbed into bed.
Celeste hid inside the service passage behind the dressing room, a forgotten corridor once used by household staff.
At 1:13 a.m., Dante entered.
Nadine pretended to sleep.
He stood beside the bed for almost a minute.
Then he bent and kissed her forehead.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Nadine kept breathing evenly.
He left.
At 2:05, the security rotation changed.
At 2:11, Celeste returned.
They moved.
No jewelry.
No suitcase.
No lights.
Only Nadine’s purse and a coat over her maternity gown.
The service stairs brought them into the kitchen.
The maid from earlier was waiting.
Nadine stopped.
The maid handed her car keys.
“Take mine.”
“Why are you helping me?”
The young woman looked toward the hallway.
“Because I heard Mr. Castellano tell someone you weren't allowed beyond the gates.”
Nadine took the keys.
“Thank you.”
They reached the garage.
Celeste opened the maid’s small sedan.
Then the lights came on.
A man stood behind them.
The bodyguard from the foyer.
Nadine shielded her stomach.
He reached inside his jacket.
Celeste gasped.
The guard pulled out an envelope.
“Take this.”
Nadine hesitated.
“What is it?”
“Proof.”
“Of what?”
“Why Dante is really afraid of Adrian Vale.”
He handed it to her.
“Go.”
The gate opened thirty seconds later.
Nobody followed.
For the first time in six years, Nadine drove away from Dante without telling him where she was going.
They had gone twelve miles when Celeste screamed.
Headlights appeared behind them.
Three black SUVs.
Nadine pressed the accelerator.
Her phone rang.
Dante.
She ignored it.
Again.
Ignored.
Then a message.
DANTE: COME HOME.
Another.
DANTE: THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE KISS.
Then:
DANTE: THEY ARE COMING FOR OUR BABY.
Nadine’s blood went cold.
Ahead, a black sedan blocked the road.
Celeste grabbed the dashboard.
“Nadine!”
The SUVs closed behind them.
Men stepped from the sedan ahead.
Nadine slammed on the brakes.
One of them approached her window.
She recognized him from photographs.
Adrian Vale’s second-in-command.
He opened her door.
“Mrs. Castellano, you need to come with us.”
Behind them, the first SUV stopped.
May you like
Dante stepped out.
And raised a gun…
