Chapter 2 - The Brother Who Never Came Home
Six years earlier, I buried Nicholas Whitaker beneath a storm-darkened sky.
The police called it a robbery gone wrong. My men called it an ambush. I called it the one failure I would never forgive myself for.
Now Hannah was telling me my dead brother had fathered her daughter.
“Were you and Nicholas together?” I asked.
She nodded, tears gathering in her eyes.
“He wanted to tell you. He said he was going to leave the organization and start over with us.”
“Why didn't he?”
“Because someone warned him that if he left, you'd both be killed.”
I stared at her.
My brother had never told me he wanted out. He had never mentioned a woman, a child, or any threat against his life.
For six years, I had believed he died protecting one of my shipments.
“What does Celeste have to do with this?”
Hannah glanced toward the window.
“She found out about Lily when she was still a baby. She offered me money to disappear. When I refused, she made sure I couldn't keep a steady job.”
My jaw tightened.
“And the heating?”
“She owns the company that manages this building. My payments were suddenly marked overdue, even though I had receipts. Then the maintenance requests stopped being answered.”
I called my head of security, Marcus Reed, and told him to send someone to secure the apartment.
Minutes later, the ambulance arrived.
At the hospital, doctors confirmed Lily had a dangerously high fever and dehydration. They began treatment immediately and told us she would need to remain under observation.
Hannah sat beside her daughter, holding her tiny hand.
I stood outside the room and called Celeste.
“Where are you?”
“Getting ready for our engagement dinner, darling. Why?”
“Did you know Hannah had a child?”
Silence.
Only two seconds, but I heard everything in them.
“Why would I know that?”
“Because you cut her wages and controlled the building where she lives.”
Celeste laughed softly.
“Grant, you're making accusations based on a housekeeper's sob story.”
Then her voice turned cold.
“Be careful. Some children are born carrying secrets that should have stayed buried.”
She hung up.
A moment later, Marcus sent me a photograph from the hospital parking garage.
Someone had been waiting outside Lily's room.
May you like
The man wore a hospital uniform.
And he was holding a photograph of my dead brother.
