Chapter 2 - The Man Behind the Locked Door
The voice outside the kitchen door made every muscle in my body tighten.
"Carmine."
Just one word.
But I knew that voice.
And judging by the way Carmine's expression changed, he knew it too.
The kitchen was silent except for the faint sound of the refrigerator humming behind us.
I stood frozen near the sink.
Carmine stood between me and the door.
His hand slowly moved toward the lock.
Not to open it.
To make sure it stayed closed.
"Who is it?" I whispered.
He didn't look back.
"Someone who shouldn't be here."
My heart sank.
Because I understood something at that moment.
Carmine Moretti was not surprised that someone was outside.
He was surprised that someone was brave enough to come close.
The voice came again.
"Carmine, we need to talk."
The mafia boss stared at the door for several seconds.
Then he turned his head slightly.
"Stay behind me."
I almost laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was impossible.
My entire life, I had been the person standing behind everyone else.
Behind my mother's hospital bed.
Behind customers who yelled at me.
Behind people with money and power.
I was always the person who moved aside.
But now Carmine Moretti was telling me to stand behind him.
Like I mattered.
Like protecting me was obvious.
I didn't move.
He noticed.
"You heard me."
"I don't want you getting hurt because of me."
His eyes met mine.
And for the first time, I saw something I never expected to see in him.
Not anger.
Not control.
Fear.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for me.
"That decision isn't yours anymore."
The words hit harder than I expected.
Before I could respond, the lights came back on.
The shadow disappeared from beneath the door.
Carmine waited.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Then he unlocked the door.
I held my breath.
The door opened.
A man stood outside.
He was one of Carmine's security guards.
Older.
Broad shoulders.
Gray hair at his temples.
I had seen him around the estate before.
His name was Victor.
Everyone respected him.
Everyone except Carmine.
Because the look Carmine gave him was not respectful.
It was suspicious.
"Why are you here?"
Victor glanced past him.
His eyes landed on me.
For half a second.
That was all.
But Carmine noticed.
I knew he noticed because his entire expression changed.
"Answer me."
Victor looked away.
"Mr. Moretti, I was checking the security system. The cameras went offline for thirty seconds."
Carmine didn't respond.
"Why was I not informed?"
Victor hesitated.
"Because it was probably a technical issue."
"Probably?"
The single word carried enough weight to make Victor straighten.
I had never seen anyone speak to Carmine casually.
Not even employees who had worked there for years.
"Someone accessed the staff hallway cameras tonight," Carmine said.
My stomach dropped.
Victor looked at him.
"You know that?"
"I do now."
The room went quiet.
Carmine stepped forward.
"Tell me why someone erased footage from my house."
Victor's face changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Enough for me to know Carmine was right.
Someone had been hiding something.
"I don't know."
Carmine stared at him.
"That answer is becoming very popular tonight."
Victor left a few seconds later after Carmine ordered him to check every camera personally.
The door closed.
This time, Carmine locked it again.
I watched him.
"Why did you do that?"
"Because whoever entered the system knew exactly where to look."
I swallowed.
"And they were looking for what?"
He looked at me.
"You."
The word made my chest tighten.
I shook my head immediately.
"No."
"Ivy."
"No."
My voice cracked.
I hated that.
I hated sounding scared.
"They weren't looking for me."
Carmine walked toward the counter.
He picked up something lying beside the sink.
My maid badge.
Or what was left of it.
I hadn't even noticed it had fallen.
The plastic frame was cracked.
One corner was broken.
He turned it over.
His eyes narrowed.
I remembered the words.
The scratches.
The message.
She knows everything.
"You found this before?"
I froze.
"What?"
He held it up.
"The writing."
My face went cold.
"I didn't write that."
"I know."
His answer came immediately.
Too immediately.
"You believe me?"
Carmine looked almost offended.
"Why wouldn't I?"
Because nobody ever did.
That was the truth.
Nobody believed the maid.
Nobody listened to the woman who cleaned their floors.
I looked away.
Carmine placed the badge on the counter.
"Tell me what happened tonight."
I stayed silent.
"Ivy."
My hands started shaking.
Not because I didn't want to tell him.
Because I wanted to.
That was the dangerous part.
I wanted someone to know.
Someone to finally say that what happened mattered.
"I was finishing my shift."
My voice was barely above a whisper.
"I went downstairs because I needed to put away the kitchen supplies."
Carmine listened without interrupting.
"Then someone followed me."
His jaw tightened.
"Who?"
"I didn't see his face."
"Did he touch you?"
The question was quiet.
But the anger behind it wasn't.
I nodded.
Once.
Carmine looked away.
For a moment, I thought I saw something break behind his eyes.
Then it disappeared.
"What happened next?"
"I got away."
"How?"
"I screamed."
The room went silent.
Because we both knew the truth.
A scream in a house filled with guards should have been heard.
But nobody came.
Nobody helped.
Carmine understood that too.
"Why didn't anyone respond?"
I looked down.
"Because someone made sure they wouldn't."
His expression hardened.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
But I did know one thing.
The person who attacked me wasn't just some stranger.
They belonged here.
They knew the house.
They knew the routines.
They knew I would be alone.
Carmine walked to the kitchen island and placed both hands on the marble surface.
He looked like a man trying to control a storm inside his own head.
Then he asked:
"Did he say anything?"
I hesitated.
A memory came back.
The smell of alcohol.
The rough voice.
The words whispered against my ear.
I closed my eyes.
"He said..."
My voice disappeared.
Carmine waited.
"He said nobody would believe a maid."
The silence afterward was heavier than anything.
Because that sentence wasn't just an insult.
It was a warning.
A warning from someone who knew exactly how this world worked.
Carmine picked up my badge again.
He stared at the scratched message.
Then he looked at me.
"How long has this been happening?"
I frowned.
"What?"
"Before tonight."
I didn't answer.
That was my answer.
His expression changed.
"You've been hiding something."
I looked away.
"I didn't want trouble."
His voice became softer.
"Trouble already found you."
Those words stayed with me.
Because he was right.
I had spent months believing silence would keep me safe.
It didn't.
It only made me easier to hurt.
Carmine reached for his phone.
"Who are you calling?"
"My doctor."
I blinked.
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not."
"I don't need a doctor."
"You need someone to look at your injuries."
His eyes hardened.
"And you need to stop pretending this is normal."
I didn't know why those words affected me.
Maybe because I had spent so long convincing myself it was.
Before I could respond, his phone rang.
Carmine looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
Not anger.
Recognition.
I watched his fingers tighten around the phone.
"Who is it?"
He didn't answer.
The phone kept ringing.
Finally, he picked up.
"Speak."
A voice came through the speaker.
I couldn't hear the words.
But I saw Carmine's face.
The color disappeared.
The room became colder.
"Say that again."
A pause.
Then:
"Where did you find it?"
My heart started racing.
Carmine looked toward me.
Not at me.
Through me.
Like he had just realized something impossible.
Then he slowly turned the phone around.
The screen showed a photograph.
A photograph of me.
Taken inside the estate.
While I was sleeping.
May you like
And beneath the image was one message:
"Ivy was never the target."
