Chapter 3 - THE HOUSE WITH TOO MANY SECRETSClaire should have walked away.
Twenty thousand dollars mattered.
Lily mattered more.
She stood outside Dominic’s office listening to two men discuss a threat against the children she had been hired to protect.
Every reasonable instinct told her to pack.
Instead, she knocked.
Silence inside.
Then Dominic opened the door.
His face told her immediately that he knew she had heard.
Beside the fireplace stood a broad-shouldered man in his late forties.
“This is Vincent Salerno,” Dominic said. “Head of security.”
Claire crossed her arms.
“Apparently not a very relaxed head of security.”
Vincent did not smile.
“How much did you hear?”
“Enough.”
Dominic gestured toward the hallway.
“You should go upstairs.”
“No.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“You hired me to keep your sons safe.”
“They are safe.”
“Your security chief just said somebody might target them.”
Vincent and Dominic exchanged a glance.
Claire noticed.
“Who?”
Dominic’s voice hardened.
“Something you don’t need to know.”
“Then I need to leave.”
That landed.
Dominic stared at her.
“You said you wouldn’t disappear.”
“I said I’d say goodbye.”
He seemed almost irritated by the distinction.
Claire continued.
“If there is a credible threat, I need enough information to decide whether staying puts my daughter at risk.”
At the mention of Lily, his expression changed.
“You have a daughter?”
“You didn’t know?”
“My staff handles background checks.”
“Comforting.”
“How old?”
“Eight.”
The same age as his sons.
Dominic looked toward Vincent.
“No one connects Claire or her daughter to us.”
Vincent nodded.
Claire caught the wording.
“Connects us to whom?”
Dominic walked to the window.
“Three nights ago, someone broke into one of my warehouses.”
“You own import companies.”
“I own several things.”
“I bet.”
“They damaged property and left a message.”
“What message?”
Vincent answered.
“Three wooden coffins.”
Claire stopped breathing for a moment.
“Small ones?”
Neither man replied.
That was answer enough.
She hated the world Dominic lived in.
More than that, she hated that three children lived in it without choosing.
“Police?”
Dominic gave her a look.
“Right.”
Claire rubbed her forehead.
“I’m taking tomorrow’s shift because I gave the boys my word.”
“You’re free to leave now,” Dominic said.
“I know.”
“Then why stay?”
“Because Luca almost burned down his room to prove I would.”
Dominic looked away.
Claire added, “But after forty-eight hours, we’re done.”
Something in his face suggested that answer bothered him.
She ignored it.
At breakfast the following morning, the triplets were suspiciously well behaved.
That lasted until Matteo asked, “Do you have kids?”
Claire buttered toast.
“One.”
Three faces turned toward her.
“A boy?” Nico asked.
“Girl.”
“How old?”
“Eight.”
Luca frowned.
“Where is she?”
“With my neighbor before school.”
“You left her alone?”
Claire’s hand stopped.
“No.”
“Then why aren’t you with her?”
“Because adults work.”
“We have lots of money,” Matteo said.
“I’ve noticed.”
“You could bring her here.”
Luca shot him a look.
“What?”
“She might be cool.”
“She’s probably boring.”
Claire smiled.
“She’d destroy you.”
Nico grinned.
That afternoon something remarkable happened.
Nobody attacked Claire.
They played outside.
They built a ridiculous cardboard city.
Nico showed her a book about astronomy.
Matteo asked her twenty-seven questions about sharks.
Luca pretended not to care while staying within six feet of her.
For three hours, they were simply children.
Dominic watched from the library window.
Claire noticed but said nothing.
At five, Vincent entered the yard.
“Mr. Moretti needs the boys inside.”
Luca groaned.
“Why?”
“Now.”
Claire heard the urgency.
“Inside,” she said.
No argument.
That frightened her.
Security shutters began lowering over some windows.
Dominic appeared.
“Claire, come with me.”
“What happened?”
“A vehicle has been sitting near the south gate for forty minutes.”
“That’s enough to lock down the mansion?”
“It has stolen plates.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
Then her phone rang.
Her neighbor, Maria.
Claire answered.
“Hey.”
“Claire?”
Maria sounded nervous.
“There’s a man downstairs asking which apartment is yours.”
Claire went cold.
“What?”
“He says he’s delivering flowers, but he doesn’t have any flowers.”
Dominic heard enough.
He took the phone.
“Maria? Listen carefully. Lock your door. Don’t answer anyone.”
Claire grabbed his arm.
“My daughter.”
“She’s at school?”
“She should be at aftercare.”
Vincent was already moving.
Dominic issued commands with terrifying efficiency.
“Two cars to the school. Call ahead. Nobody touches Lily except Claire.”
Claire’s hands began shaking.
“This is because I’m here.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Don’t lie to me!”
All three boys stood nearby.
She saw their faces.
Fear.
She forced herself to lower her voice.
Dominic stepped closer.
“I will get your daughter.”
Claire looked into his eyes.
“I swear to God, Dominic—”
“I know.”
Twenty-two minutes later, a black SUV entered the property.
Claire ran outside.
Lily jumped from the back seat.
“Mom!”
Claire fell to her knees and crushed her daughter against her.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Why are these guys wearing earpieces?”
Claire laughed and cried simultaneously.
“Long story.”
Lily spotted the mansion.
“Whoa.”
Then three boys appeared in the doorway.
They stared at her.
Lily stared back.
“Triplets?”
“Unfortunately,” Claire said.
Matteo stepped forward.
“I’m Matteo.”
“Lily.”
“I have a remote-control tank.”
“I can climb trees better than any boy in my class.”
Matteo’s eyes widened.
“Prove it.”
Within five minutes they were gone.
Claire watched them run toward the family room.
Dominic stood beside her.
“You can both remain here tonight.”
“After tonight, I’m gone.”
“Yes.”
“You’ll still pay?”
“You stayed forty-eight hours.”
Claire looked at him.
“You really expected me to fail.”
“I expected you to last six hours.”
She almost smiled.
“What happened to the man at my building?”
Vincent approached.
“He disappeared before our people arrived.”
Claire’s small smile vanished.
Dominic looked at her.
“You and Lily will have protection after you leave.”
“No.”
“That isn’t negotiable.”
“She doesn’t belong in your world.”
“Neither do my sons.”
His voice was quieter than she expected.
Claire looked at him.
For the first time, Dominic Moretti didn’t look like the dangerous man newspapers described.
He looked like a father who knew money could build walls but could not guarantee what existed behind them would survive.
That evening Lily ate dinner with the triplets.
For once the dining room filled with laughter.
Dominic sat at the head of the table and watched his sons argue with Lily about whether girls could be astronauts.
Claire caught him smiling.
It vanished when Vincent entered.
He whispered something.
Dominic stood immediately.
“Excuse me.”
Claire followed him.
In the hall Vincent handed him an envelope.
“No return address.”
Dominic opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Claire saw it over his shoulder.
Her.
Walking Lily to school three months earlier.
On the back, written in black ink, were six words.
NOW SHE HAS SOMETHING TO LOSE TOO.
Claire stared.
Then looked at Dominic.
“You said they didn’t know me.”
His face had gone deadly still.
“They shouldn’t.”
“But they do.”
She took the photograph.
Her hands stopped shaking.
Something harder replaced fear.
“Whoever sent this isn’t only watching you.”
Dominic nodded.
May you like
Claire looked toward the room where four children were laughing.
“They’re watching all of us.”
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