Chapter 2 - The Woman Roman Could Not Ignore
Claire pulled the handle.
Locked.
She tried again.
“Hello?”
No answer.
The service hallway was narrow and windowless, lit by fluorescent fixtures that hummed overhead.
Her phone showed one bar of service.
Claire called hotel security.
The call failed.
She tried Tasha.
Nothing.
Then footsteps came from the far end.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Claire backed away.
A shadow crossed the wall.
Her pulse jumped.
The corner opened onto a second service stairwell.
The dark-suited man stepped into view.
Silver tie.
Same cold expression.
“Give me the vial.”
Claire tightened her grip around the napkin.
“I already gave it to security.”
He smiled.
“No, you didn’t.”
Claire glanced toward the locked door behind her.
“You locked me in?”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
He took one step closer.
Claire raised her phone.
“I took pictures.”
His smile vanished.
That was a lie.
But it worked.
He stopped.
Then the fire door behind him burst open.
Two men in black suits entered.
Claire recognized one from the ballroom.
Roman Vale’s security.
The man with the silver tie spun around.
Too late.
One guard grabbed him.
The other came toward Claire.
“Ms. Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Vale sent us.”
Claire almost laughed from sheer disbelief.
“From the hospital?”
“He noticed you weren’t in the ballroom when his team returned.”
The guard nodded toward the vial.
“May I?”
Claire handed it over.
Silver Tie struggled.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
The first guard shoved him against the wall.
Claire studied him.
“Who are you?”
He said nothing.
The guard answered.
“Andrew Pell. Private consultant.”
“For whom?”
The guard looked at Pell.
“That’s what we’re going to find out.”
At 11:42 p.m., Claire sat alone in a waiting room at St. Catherine Medical Center wearing her stained waitress uniform.
She should have gone home.
She had told herself that three times.
But Elena Vale had nearly died in front of her.
Claire wanted to know whether she had survived.
Roman appeared through a set of double doors.
His jacket was gone.
His sleeves were rolled slightly.
For the first time, he looked less like the terrifying figure from the stories and more like a son who had almost lost his mother.
Claire stood.
“How is she?”
“Stable.”
Claire exhaled.
“They’re keeping her overnight.”
“Good.”
Roman stopped in front of her.
For several seconds, he simply looked at her.
Claire crossed her arms.
“If you’re going to apologize for grabbing me, now would be a convenient time.”
A flicker passed through his eyes.
Almost amusement.
Almost.
“I was going to thank you.”
“You can do both.”
“I’m sorry.”
Claire blinked.
She had not expected that.
Roman Vale did not look like a man who apologized often.
“You were trying to protect her,” Claire said.
“I was wrong.”
“Yes.”
His eyebrow lifted.
Claire immediately wished she had swallowed that word.
Then Roman gave the smallest exhale through his nose.
“You don’t scare easily.”
“I scare constantly.”
“You hide it well.”
“No. I just keep moving while scared.”
That answer seemed to stay with him.
Roman sat.
After a moment, Claire sat two chairs away.
“What happened?” she asked.
Roman’s expression hardened.
“The hospital confirmed severe anaphylaxis.”
“To what?”
“They don’t know yet.”
“And Reeves?”
“He claims he has no idea why my mother reacted.”
Claire leaned forward.
“That vial I found wasn’t normal.”
“I know.”
“Who was Pell?”
“Someone who worked for a medical consulting company my mother’s foundation hired six months ago.”
Claire frowned.
“That convenient?”
“No.”
Roman looked at her.
“Very inconvenient.”
She understood what he meant.
Dangerous.
Intentional.
“You think somebody tried to hurt her.”
“I think somebody changed something in her medication.”
“Why?”
Roman was silent.
Claire watched him.
“What?”
“My mother controls the Vale Family Foundation.”
Claire waited.
Roman continued.
“It holds charitable funds, properties, and voting rights in several companies.”
“How much money?”
“Enough.”
“Enough to kill someone over?”
His silence answered.
Claire looked down at her hands.
She thought about leaving.
She thought about the message.
YOU SAVED THE WRONG WOMAN.
“Someone texted me.”
Roman turned sharply.
Claire showed him.
His jaw tightened.
“When?”
“Before your men found me.”
“Why didn’t you tell them?”
“I was busy not being murdered in a service hallway.”
Roman looked at her.
“Fair.”
He took her phone carefully.
“May I send this to my security team?”
Claire nodded.
His fingers moved over the screen.
Then he stopped.
“What?”
Roman showed her the message metadata.
The sender number had vanished.
Not blocked.
Gone.
“That’s weird,” Claire said.
“It’s deliberate.”
Roman returned the phone.
“Claire.”
The way he said her name made her look up.
“You can’t go home alone tonight.”
She almost laughed.
“You’re not telling me where I’m allowed to go.”
“I’m telling you the person who threatened you knows your name, workplace, and location.”
“I have locks.”
“They had access to a private ballroom with two hundred screened guests.”
That stopped her.
Roman stood.
“I can arrange a hotel suite with security.”
“I’m not staying in some mafia safe house.”
“It’s the Four Seasons.”
Claire stared at him.
“That is the most ridiculous sentence anyone has ever said to me.”
His mouth moved.
A tiny smile.
Then it disappeared.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
Roman’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
His expression changed.
“Where?”
Claire stood.
Roman looked at her.
“What happened?”
He ended the call.
“Pell escaped.”
“How?”
“One of the vehicles transporting him was hit.”
Claire’s stomach dropped.
“Is your man okay?”
“Yes. Injured.”
“And Pell?”
“Gone.”
Roman called another number.
“Lock down my mother’s floor. Nobody enters without my authorization.”
He hung up.
Claire stared at him.
“This is bigger than a doctor changing medicine.”
“Yes.”
A nurse emerged.
“Mr. Vale?”
Roman turned.
“Your mother is awake.”
He looked at Claire.
The nurse added, “She’s asking for both of you.”
Inside the private room, Elena looked pale but alert.
Roman took her hand.
Claire stood near the door.
Elena pointed weakly.
“Come closer.”
Claire obeyed.
“Did Roman frighten you?”
Claire looked at Roman.
“He tried.”
Elena smiled.
“My son has spent forty-three years practicing.”
Roman sighed.
“Mother.”
Her smile faded.
She looked at Claire.
“There’s something you need to know.”
Roman leaned closer.
Elena swallowed.
“Before dinner, Malcolm gave me a new vitamin injection.”
Claire and Roman exchanged a look.
“Why?” Roman asked.
“He said my bloodwork was low.”
“Did you ask what it was?”
“I trusted him.”
Elena closed her eyes briefly.
“When he left, another man came into my dressing room.”
“Who?”
“I didn’t know him.”
Claire’s pulse increased.
“What did he do?”
“He asked whether I had changed my will.”
Roman became completely still.
Elena looked at her son.
“I told him that was none of his concern.”
“What did he say?”
Elena hesitated.
“He said I wouldn’t need to worry about it after tonight.”
Silence.
Roman’s face emptied of emotion.
Claire had seen anger before.
This was worse.
“Did you see him in the ballroom?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Elena looked toward the doorway.
Then terror entered her face.
The door had opened.
Dr. Reeves stood there.
But he wasn’t alone.
Behind him was a woman in a cream suit carrying a leather folder.
Roman stared at her.
The woman smiled faintly.
“Hello, Roman.”
His voice dropped.
“Isabella.”
Claire looked between them.
May you like
Elena’s fingers tightened around Roman’s hand.
And Claire realized the woman standing beside Dr. Reeves was someone the entire Vale family already knew.
