Chapter 6 - The Promise That Became a Trap
Rafe reached the apartment with Malik and four security officers.
The nursery door stood open.
The hidden camera was gone.
On the crib mattress lay a folded page torn from Sloane's baby-name notebook.
Someone had written across it in red ink.
You cannot protect what you cannot choose.
Rafe stared at the words.
They echoed the argument that had driven Sloane away.
That wasn't coincidence.
Whoever planned this knew exactly how their marriage was breaking.
Malik's phone rang.
"Tessa is downstairs."
"Bring her up."
When Tessa entered, her face was pale.
Rafe didn't offer comfort.
For the first time, he examined her presence in his life without looking through the lens of an old promise.
"How many times did you call me because you were afraid?" he asked.
She blinked.
"What?"
"During the last six months. How many times did you need me personally?"
"Rafe—"
"Answer."
Tessa looked away.
"At first, I thought someone was following me. Then the threats became real."
"Did you ever tell me to stay with my wife?"
"Yes."
"Did you mean it?"
Tears filled her eyes.
"Not always."
The admission settled heavily between them.
Tessa lowered herself onto the couch.
"When my brother died, you became the only family I trusted. Every time something went wrong, I called you because I knew you'd come."
"And I always did."
"I know."
"Sloane paid the price."
Tessa nodded, crying quietly.
"I was selfish. But I never wanted her hurt."
Rafe believed her.
He also understood that believing her didn't erase the damage.
"From now on, Malik handles your security. I won't abandon you, but I won't make my wife feel abandoned to prove I'm loyal to you."
Tessa wiped her face.
"There's something else."
She removed an old photograph from her purse.
It showed Anthony Calder standing beside Daniel Bennett and a younger Grant Kesler.
All three were smiling in front of a cargo vessel.
"My brother kept this," she said.
"Why?"
"Because before he died, he told me Daniel Bennett had discovered something that could destroy all three men."
Rafe examined the picture.
Written on the back were four words.
May you like
Project Harborlight. Keep it buried.
Then Tessa said, "My brother didn't die in that warehouse fire by accident."
