Chapter 3 - The Enemy Inside Roman’s House
Roman crossed the room immediately.
"Luca."
The boy looked frightened.
"I didn't steal it."
Roman crouched.
"I know."
"It was under my pillow."
Josephine felt cold.
Roman took the document without opening it.
"Who went into your room?"
Luca shrugged.
"I don't know."
"Did anyone give you this?"
"No."
Roman looked at Josephine.
Someone had entered his son's bedroom.
That changed everything.
Roman called Daniel.
Within minutes, the mansion shifted into lockdown.
Staff were gathered.
Doors were sealed.
Every room was searched.
Josephine stayed with the boys.
Roman had stopped asking her to leave them.
Perhaps he finally understood that she wouldn't.
Matteo sat against Josephine's side.
"Are we in trouble?"
"No."
"Then why is Dad doing his scary face?"
Luca whispered, "That's his normal face."
Josephine almost laughed.
Roman heard it from the doorway.
For half a second, the crisis receded.
Then he held up the agreement.
"I need to read this."
Josephine stood.
"So do I."
Roman hesitated.
Then nodded.
They opened it together.
The document was twenty-three years old.
Two men had signed it.
Patrick Tierney.
Dominic Carbone.
Josephine read slowly.
The agreement concerned Elena's unborn child.
It did not identify the father.
Instead, it stated that Patrick Tierney accepted responsibility for protecting Elena and the child from any claim made by the Carbone family.
Josephine frowned.
"Why would Carbone sign away a claim to me?"
Roman continued reading.
His expression hardened.
"Because he received something."
"What?"
"Three businesses."
Marcus, standing near the door, swore quietly.
Josephine looked up.
"My mother traded me for businesses?"
"No," Roman said immediately. "Carbone did."
The distinction mattered.
Roman pointed at another clause.
Patrick had surrendered valuable properties in exchange for Dominic's written promise never to contact Elena or Josephine.
Dominic had broken it.
But one line disturbed Roman more.
Upon Patrick Tierney's death, the protective obligation transfers to his lawful successor.
Roman.
Josephine stared at him.
"You inherited me?"
"No."
"It sounds like it."
"I inherited an obligation."
"I'm a person."
"I noticed."
Despite herself, Josephine smiled.
Roman's gaze held hers a moment too long.
Marcus noticed.
So did Luca.
"Ew," Luca said.
Josephine turned red.
Roman looked genuinely confused.
"What?"
"Nothing," Josephine said quickly.
Daniel entered and ruined the moment.
"We found the breach."
A service door beneath the west staircase had been electronically unlocked from inside.
"Who has access?" Roman asked.
"Senior staff."
"Names."
Daniel handed him a tablet.
Eight people.
Marcus was one.
Daniel was another.
Roman's housekeeper.
His driver.
Two guards.
His attorney.
And—
Roman stopped.
Josephine read over his shoulder.
"Dr. Adrian Cole?"
The boys' pediatrician.
Roman looked toward them.
"He's been treating Luca and Matteo for six years."
Daniel nodded.
"He visited yesterday."
Josephine remembered.
Dr. Cole had spent nearly an hour upstairs.
Luca had complained about stomach pain.
Nothing serious.
Cole had left after dinner.
Or they had assumed he had.
Roman ordered his location checked.
His phone was off.
His apartment was empty.
Then Daniel found something worse.
Cole had accessed Luca's room.
At 2:06 a.m.
Seven minutes before the figure appeared in Roman's office.
Josephine covered her mouth.
"He put the document under Luca's pillow."
"Why?" Marcus asked.
Roman knew.
"To make sure I found it."
"But why steal it first?"
"Because he wanted to know what it said."
Daniel's phone buzzed.
He read the message.
"Carbone just requested a meeting."
Roman's eyes narrowed.
"Where?"
"The old St. Vincent Hotel. Midnight."
"Terms?"
"Bring Josephine and the ledger."
Josephine said, "I'm going."
Roman replied, "No."
"That was fast."
"Because the answer is simple."
"Roman, this man murdered my mother."
"Which is exactly why you're not walking into a hotel he controls."
"You are."
"Yes."
"Why is your life worth less?"
Roman paused.
Nobody usually asked him questions like that.
Josephine stepped closer.
"If we're going to survive this, stop treating me like luggage."
His jaw tightened.
"I'm trying to keep you alive."
"And I'm trying to understand why my mother died."
Their eyes locked.
Roman finally said, "We go together."
Marcus objected.
Roman ignored him.
At eleven thirty, Josephine changed into dark trousers and a coat.
Roman waited downstairs.
His sons came running.
Matteo hugged Josephine.
"Come back."
Her throat tightened.
"I will."
Roman watched her promise something he would have refused to promise himself.
Luca approached his father.
"Bring Jo home."
Roman rested a hand on his son's shoulder.
"I will."
Josephine heard it.
This time Roman promised too.
They arrived at St. Vincent before midnight.
The hotel had been closed for renovation for years.
Roman brought Daniel and four trusted men.
Marcus remained behind with the children.
That had been Roman's decision.
Josephine wondered whether it was trust or suspicion.
Dominic Carbone waited in an old ballroom.
He was sixty-two.
Silver at his temples.
Expensive coat.
Calm smile.
When Josephine entered, he stared at her as if seeing a ghost.
"Elena."
"My name is Josephine."
His smile faded.
"You have her eyes."
"You had her killed."
Roman watched Dominic carefully.
Dominic sighed.
"Your mother made choices."
Josephine's anger rose.
Roman's hand brushed hers.
Not restraining.
Grounding.
"Don't talk about her like that."
Dominic smiled.
"And Roman Tierney speaks for you now?"
"No," Josephine said. "I speak for myself."
That answer pleased Roman more than he showed.
Dominic gestured toward a table.
"Ledger."
Roman placed a leather book on it.
Dominic opened it.
Blank pages.
His smile disappeared.
Roman said, "You didn't think I'd bring the original."
Dominic looked at his men.
Roman's men shifted.
Josephine held her breath.
Dominic raised a hand.
Nobody moved.
"I don't want war."
Roman's voice was flat.
"You sent armed men into my home."
"I sent men to retrieve family property."
Josephine stepped forward.
"I am not property."
Dominic looked at her.
"No. You're leverage."
Roman moved instantly.
He was suddenly between them.
Dominic smiled.
"There it is."
"What?"
"The reason this ends badly."
Dominic leaned back.
"You care about her."
Roman didn't answer.
"Your father cared about Elena too."
Josephine looked sharply at Roman.
Dominic continued.
"Patrick gave away millions to protect her. Everyone assumed generosity."
Roman's face hardened.
"Say what you're trying to say."
Dominic smiled.
"You still haven't discovered who Josephine's father was."
Josephine's pulse raced.
Dominic slid a photograph across the table.
Josephine picked it up.
Her mother stood beside Patrick Tierney.
Patrick's hand rested on Elena's pregnant stomach.
Josephine looked at Roman.
Roman stared at the photograph.
"No."
Dominic's smile widened.
"Ask Gabriel."
A shot-like crack sounded outside—not gunfire, but glass breaking.
Daniel reached for his radio.
Then Roman's phone rang.
Marcus.
Roman answered.
All color left his face.
"What?"
Josephine stepped toward him.
Roman looked directly at her.
May you like
"The boys are gone."
And Marcus had disappeared with them.
