Chapter 3 - The Man Who Disappeared
I grabbed Lily before I grabbed anything else.
She was sleeping in my bed, one arm wrapped around the stuffed rabbit she had owned since infancy.
The doorknob moved again.
Locked.
Thank God.
I carried her into the bathroom, closed the door, and called 911.
Then I called the second number I never thought I would use.
Dominic had given it to all senior household staff.
For emergencies only.
He answered on the first ring.
“Claire?”
“There’s someone outside my apartment.”
His tone changed instantly.
“Where’s Lily?”
“With me.”
“Lock yourself in.”
“I already did.”
“Do not open the door for anyone.”
“I called the police.”
“Good.”
A sound came from the living room.
Glass.
Breaking.
My breath stopped.
“Dominic.”
“I heard it.”
“Someone’s coming in.”
“Claire, listen carefully.”
The bathroom felt too small.
Lily stirred against me.
“Take your daughter into the tub. Stay low. Don’t unlock that door.”
“What are you going to—”
“Two men are three minutes away.”
“What men?”
“Mine.”
That should have frightened me.
Instead, it made me breathe again.
The apartment went quiet.
Then footsteps crossed the living room.
Slow.
Measured.
Not someone trying to hide.
Someone who wanted me to know he was there.
The bathroom doorknob rattled.
Lily woke.
“Mommy?”
I covered her mouth gently.
“Shh.”
The handle moved again.
Then a man said through the door, “Claire.”
My blood froze.
I knew that voice.
Not well.
Not recently.
But I knew it.
“Claire, open the door.”
My knees almost gave out.
Evan.
My missing husband.
“Who is that?” Dominic asked through the phone.
I could barely speak.
“My husband.”
Silence.
Then Dominic said, “Do not open that door.”
Evan spoke again.
“I know Dominic Moretti is on the phone.”
My eyes widened.
“How?”
“Tell him Sofia kept the second ledger.”
Dominic inhaled sharply.
“What did he say?”
I repeated it.
Dominic swore.
That was the first time I had ever heard him lose even that much control.
Evan continued.
“Claire, you don’t understand who you’re working for.”
I almost laughed.
Of course I understood.
Everybody in Boston understood.
The problem was that I no longer understood my husband.
“You disappeared for four years.”
“I was keeping you alive.”
“By abandoning me pregnant?”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
“I’m sorry.”
The words hit something raw inside me.
Four years.
Four years of hospital visits alone.
Four years of explaining to Lily why other children had fathers at preschool events.
Four years wondering whether he was dead.
And now he was standing outside my bathroom.
“I’m not opening the door.”
“Claire—”
“No.”
A loud crash sounded from the front of the apartment.
Men shouted.
Evan cursed.
Footsteps ran.
Then silence.
Dominic said, “Stay where you are.”
A moment later someone knocked on the bathroom door.
“Ms. Bennett? Anthony Russo. Mr. Moretti sent me.”
I waited.
Dominic said, “Open it.”
I unlocked the door.
A broad man in a dark coat stood outside.
I had seen him at the Moretti house.
Dominic’s head of security.
“The intruder escaped through the fire stairs.”
My chest tightened.
“Evan?”
Anthony looked at me.
“We didn’t see his face.”
“He’s my husband.”
“That’s what Mr. Moretti said.”
Within twenty minutes, Dominic arrived himself.
He walked into my wrecked apartment and stopped beside the broken window.
Lily sat wrapped in a blanket on the sofa.
She saw him.
“Leo’s daddy.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Bad guy broke Mommy’s window.”
“I see that.”
“Can you fix it?”
Anthony coughed to hide what might have been a laugh.
Dominic crouched.
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
She accepted this as sufficient and returned to her rabbit.
Dominic stood.
“You’re coming to the house.”
“No.”
His brows lifted.
“I’m not moving into a mafia boss’s house because my missing husband broke into my apartment.”
“You’re not moving in.”
“Good.”
“You’re staying until we know who is watching you.”
“That sounds remarkably similar.”
He stepped closer.
“Someone photographed you and your daughter leaving my home. Your husband appears after four years and mentions something Sofia kept hidden. This is connected.”
“You knew Evan’s name.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me why.”
Dominic looked at Lily.
“Not here.”
Two hours later I sat in Dominic’s private study while Lily slept in the room beside Leo’s.
A folder rested on the desk.
Dominic opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Evan.
Younger.
Standing beside Sofia Moretti.
My stomach turned.
“When was this?”
“Five years ago.”
“What was he doing with your wife?”
“He worked security.”
I stared at Dominic.
“For you?”
“For Sofia.”
“You said you only heard his name.”
“I lied.”
“At least you’re admitting it.”
“Sofia hired him without telling me.”
“Why?”
“She believed someone inside my organization was stealing from us.”
I sat very still.
“Did you know?”
“Not until after she died.”
Dominic opened another file.
Bank records.
Photographs.
A copy of a police report.
“Sofia suspected money was being moved through one of our shipping companies. She asked Evan to investigate.”
“And then?”
“Three weeks later, Sofia died.”
My throat tightened.
“And Evan vanished months after that.”
“Almost a year.”
“What happened between?”
“We thought the investigation died with Sofia.”
“You never asked him?”
“He told me he found nothing.”
“And you believed him?”
“No.”
“Then why didn’t you—”
“He disappeared before I could question him again.”
My pulse accelerated.
“So Marco knew Evan?”
Dominic’s eyes met mine.
“Yes.”
Everything inside me went cold.
“Why didn’t you say that earlier?”
“Because I wasn’t sure how much you knew.”
“I knew nothing.”
“I believe that now.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
It sounded simple.
From Dominic, simple meant something.
I looked at the photograph again.
Sofia was smiling.
Evan stood several feet behind her.
They looked like strangers.
But appearances had already fooled me once.
“What is the second ledger?”
Dominic leaned back.
“My father kept handwritten financial records. Sofia discovered someone had created another set.”
“For stolen money?”
“Possibly.”
“And she kept it?”
“I never found it.”
“Maybe Evan did.”
“Maybe.”
I thought of the message.
YOUR HUSBAND DIDN’T LEAVE YOU.
“He said he was protecting us.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Men say that when they want forgiveness without accountability.”
The words surprised me.
“You sound experienced.”
His eyes shifted toward a photograph of Sofia.
“I’ve made my own mistakes.”
Before I could ask, the study door opened.
Leo stood there.
Barefoot.
“Dad?”
Dominic softened immediately.
“What’s wrong?”
“I heard talking.”
“You should be asleep.”
“Lily snores.”
I blinked.
“She does not.”
Leo smiled.
A real smile.
Tiny, but real.
Dominic saw it too.
“Come here.”
Leo walked over.
Dominic placed an arm around him.
“Can I ask you something?”
Leo nodded.
“Did Uncle Marco ever talk about a man named Evan?”
Leo’s smile disappeared.
I leaned forward.
“Leo?”
He looked at me.
“That’s Lily’s dad.”
My heart stopped.
“How do you know?”
Leo looked confused.
“Uncle Marco showed me his picture.”
Dominic went rigid.
“When?”
“A long time ago.”
“How long?”
“Before my birthday.”
“What did he say?”
Leo’s face tightened as he tried to remember.
“He said if I ever saw him, I should tell him.”
“Tell him what?”
Leo lowered his voice.
“That Daddy still doesn’t know.”
Dominic and I exchanged a look.
“Know what?” I asked.
Leo shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Dominic stood.
“Where did Marco show you the photograph?”
“In Grandma’s old room.”
Dominic frowned.
“That room has been locked for years.”
Leo stared at him.
“No, it hasn’t.”
“Yes, it has.”
Leo shook his head again.
“Uncle Marco has a key.”
Dominic walked immediately toward the hall.
I followed.
The room belonged to Dominic’s late mother.
At the far end of the second floor, behind double wooden doors.
Dominic took a key from a cabinet.
He unlocked them.
The bedroom was dark.
Dust lay across the furniture.
Nothing seemed disturbed.
Leo pointed toward an old wardrobe.
“There.”
Dominic opened it.
Empty clothing rails.
He ran a hand along the back panel.
A click sounded.
The wood shifted.
Behind it was a narrow compartment.
Inside sat a black metal box.
Dominic pulled it out.
There was no lock.
He opened the lid.
Inside were photographs.
Financial papers.
A flash drive.
And a sealed envelope.
Dominic picked it up.
His face changed.
“What?” I whispered.
He turned the envelope toward me.
My name was written across the front.
CLAIRE BENNETT.
Below it, in Sofia Moretti’s handwriting, were five words.
IF EVAN DISAPPEARS, FIND HER.
Dominic broke the seal.
A photograph slid onto the floor.
I bent to pick it up.
Then I saw who stood beside Sofia and Evan.
Marco Moretti.
And on the back, Sofia had written one date.
The date she died.
Beneath it was one sentence:
“Marco knows the car was meant for Dominic.”
Before either of us could speak, the lights in the mansion went out.
A second later, Anthony shouted from downstairs.
May you like
“DOMINIC!”
Then came the sound of a gunshot from somewhere inside the house...
