Chapter 2 - The Maid Who Knew Too Much
"Do not touch that watch."
Hazel Brooks froze beside the leather sofa.
Damian Romano’s security chief, Marcus, had not raised his voice.
He did not need to.
The warning in his tone was enough.
Hazel slowly lowered her hand.
The broken watch sat on the dark wooden desk between them.
A small object.
Almost meaningless.
But the moment Damian turned it over and saw the two words engraved beneath the cracked metal, the entire room changed.
Because Hazel knew that look.
She had seen it before.
Not in Damian.
In people who received bad news.
In people who realized something they wished they had never discovered.
"What does it say?" Marcus asked.
Damian did not answer immediately.
His thumb traced over the scratched surface.
The engraving was small.
Almost hidden.
Two words.
Find Hazel.
Her breath stopped.
The room became painfully quiet.
Hazel stared at the watch.
"No."
Damian looked at her.
"You recognize it."
It was not a question.
Hazel swallowed.
She hated that he could read her so easily.
"It belonged to Wyatt."
Marcus glanced at Damian.
"Wyatt Brooks?"
Hazel looked at him.
"You know him?"
Nobody answered.
And that silence scared her more than any answer could have.
Damian placed the watch down.
"Start from the beginning."
Hazel shook her head.
"I already told you."
"No."
His voice remained calm.
"Not the version you told me because you were afraid."
She looked away.
The problem with Damian Romano was that he never forced people to talk.
He simply waited.
And somehow, waiting felt worse.
Hazel wrapped her arms around herself.
"Wyatt wasn't always like this."
Damian remained standing.
"Like what?"
"Like someone who disappears."
The memory came back too quickly.
Wyatt laughing in their tiny apartment.
Wyatt promising everything would be okay.
Wyatt saying he had found a way to make enough money so they could finally stop struggling.
She had believed him.
Because she wanted to.
Because sometimes people believed the things they needed to be true.
"He told me he found an opportunity," Hazel whispered.
Marcus crossed his arms.
"What kind of opportunity?"
"I don't know."
Damian’s eyes narrowed.
"You don't know?"
Hazel looked frustrated.
"I mean I knew he was borrowing money. I knew he was desperate. But he never told me who he borrowed from."
"Frankie Sullivan."
She nodded.
"Yes."
"And he left you with the debt."
Hazel looked down.
"Not just the debt."
The room went silent again.
Damian noticed.
"What else?"
She hesitated.
Then she reached into her maid uniform pocket.
From inside, she pulled out a folded piece of paper.
Marcus immediately stepped forward.
Damian stopped him with a look.
Hazel placed the paper on the desk.
"I received this yesterday."
Damian opened it.
The message was short.
Too short.
Friday. Noon. Bring what Wyatt took. Or we take what he left behind.
Hazel watched Damian’s expression.
For the first time since she met him, she saw something dangerous.
Not anger.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
"What did Wyatt take?" Damian asked.
"I don't know."
"Think."
"I don't know!"
Her voice cracked.
The frustration finally broke through.
"I don't know what he did. I don't know why these people think I have something. I don't know why everyone keeps looking at me like I’m hiding some huge secret."
The room became quiet.
Hazel immediately regretted raising her voice.
Especially at Damian Romano.
But he did something unexpected.
He didn't punish her.
He didn't threaten her.
He simply looked at her.
Like he understood.
"You are not hiding something."
It sounded like a statement.
Not a question.
Hazel blinked.
"You believe me?"
Damian looked at the watch.
"I believe you don't know what you are involved in."
That answer should not have comforted her.
But it did.
Because for the first time in months, someone wasn't accusing her.
Someone was trying to understand.
Marcus stepped closer.
"There is more."
Damian looked at him.
"Tell me."
Marcus hesitated.
"The watch was recovered from one of Sullivan’s storage locations."
Hazel looked confused.
"Then why did Wyatt have it?"
Marcus looked at her.
"Because Wyatt wasn't working alone."
A cold feeling moved through her chest.
"What does that mean?"
Marcus didn't answer.
Damian did.
"It means your ex-boyfriend was closer to Frankie Sullivan than you knew."
Hazel shook her head.
"No."
"Why are you so sure?"
"Because Wyatt was scared of people like him."
Damian watched her carefully.
"Scared people still make dangerous choices."
She hated that he was right.
Because deep down, she knew something had been wrong.
Wyatt had changed during the final weeks before he disappeared.
He stopped sleeping.
He stopped answering questions.
He started hiding his phone.
And once, when she walked into their apartment unexpectedly, she saw him standing with a man she had never met.
A man wearing a silver ring shaped like a snake.
She had asked who he was.
Wyatt had smiled too quickly.
"Nobody."
But Hazel remembered the man's eyes.
Cold.
Empty.
Like he was looking through her instead of at her.
"Did Wyatt ever mention a name?" Damian asked.
Hazel looked up.
"What name?"
"Anyone connected to Sullivan."
She shook her head.
Then stopped.
Because suddenly, she remembered.
"There was someone."
Damian became still.
"Who?"
Hazel looked uncomfortable.
"He called him 'the accountant.'"
Marcus exchanged a look with Damian.
"That matters."
"Why?"
Damian didn't answer.
And that scared her.
Because Damian Romano was not a man who avoided answers.
Not unless the answer was dangerous.
Hazel looked between them.
"What is happening?"
Damian walked toward the window.
The city stretched beneath them.
Millions of people.
Millions of lives.
And somehow, hers had become connected to a war she never knew existed.
"Your ex stole something from Frankie Sullivan."
"I told you, I don't have anything."
"I know."
"Then why are they after me?"
Damian turned around.
His expression was unreadable.
"Because Wyatt made them believe you do."
Hazel felt her knees weaken.
She sat down.
"Why would he do that?"
Nobody answered.
Because maybe nobody knew.
Or maybe they did.
The thought terrified her.
Hours passed as Damian’s team searched through every piece of information connected to Wyatt.
Hazel stayed in the study.
She wasn't allowed to leave.
At first, she thought it was because Damian didn't trust her.
Then she realized something.
He had placed two guards outside the door.
Not to watch her.
To protect her.
That was harder to understand.
A man like Damian Romano was not supposed to protect someone like her.
Especially not a maid.
Especially not someone who had accidentally fallen asleep in his arms.
The memory made her face heat up.
She looked away.
She hoped nobody noticed.
Damian noticed.
Of course he did.
"You are embarrassed."
Hazel looked at him.
"No."
"Another lie."
She sighed.
"You really do that a lot."
"Do what?"
"Notice everything."
A small pause.
Then Damian said:
"Only things that matter."
The words stayed between them.
Hazel looked at him.
For a moment, she forgot who he was.
She forgot the rumors.
The danger.
The fear.
She only saw the man who had let a frightened woman sleep beside him without making her feel unsafe.
Then Marcus returned.
And the moment disappeared.
"We found something."
Damian immediately stood.
"What?"
Marcus held a folder.
"Wyatt's last financial transfer."
Hazel looked confused.
"Financial transfer?"
Marcus opened the folder.
"The day before he disappeared."
Damian took the papers.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then stopped.
Hazel watched his face change.
"What is it?"
Damian didn't answer.
"Damian?"
He looked at her.
And for the first time, she saw something she had never seen before.
Concern.
Real concern.
"Wyatt didn't borrow sixty thousand dollars."
Hazel frowned.
"Then what did he do?"
Damian placed the document on the table.
"He transferred two hundred thousand dollars."
Her heart dropped.
"To who?"
Marcus looked at Damian.
Neither man spoke.
Hazel stood.
"Tell me."
Damian’s jaw tightened.
Then he said the name.
The name that made Marcus look away.
The name that made Hazel realize Wyatt had dragged her into something much bigger than debt.
"To someone inside this estate."
Hazel stared.
"What?"
Damian didn't move.
Because the impossible truth was sitting right in front of them.
Someone in his own house had helped Wyatt disappear.
Then the lights in the study suddenly went out.
Complete darkness.
Hazel heard footsteps.
Not outside.
Inside.
Someone whispered her name from the hallway.
"Hazel..."
Damian immediately reached for his weapon.
Marcus moved toward the door.
The handle slowly turned.
May you like
And the person standing outside whispered one more word...
"Wyatt."
