Chapter 1 - DO THE FACE AGAIN
Vincent Castalano remained crouched in front of my three-year-old daughter for so long that I was certain he was deciding which one of us to fire first.
Then he spoke.
“Do it again.”
I blinked.
Mia blinked.
Renzo Moretti made another strangled noise behind his tablet.
Vincent pointed at his own face.
“The face.”
Mia’s eyes lit up.
She lowered her eyebrows.
Pressed her lips into a hard line.
Folded her arms.
Then tilted her chin exactly the way Vincent did whenever somebody delivered bad news.
For three silent seconds, the most feared man in the Castalano estate stared at a thirty-two-pound toddler impersonating him.
Then Vincent laughed.
Not a polite chuckle.
A real laugh.
Short.
Surprised.
Almost rusty.
Renzo turned away immediately, shoulders shaking.
One of the guards coughed into his fist.
The other suddenly found the ceiling fascinating.
I was still waiting for my heart to restart.
Vincent stood.
“Mia.”
She looked up.
“Yes?”
“How old are you?”
“Three.”
“That explains the complete absence of self-preservation.”
“Vincent,” Renzo muttered.
Mia pointed at him.
“He laughs funny.”
Renzo gave up.
The entire room cracked.
Even Vincent smiled again.
I should have been relieved.
Instead, humiliation rushed through me.
“Mr. Castalano, I’m sorry. This won’t happen again.”
Vincent looked at me.
“What won’t?”
“Bringing her.”
His expression shifted.
“Why is she here?”
I explained.
Babysitter sick.
Emergency daycare too expensive.
No one else available.
Missing a shift meant falling behind on rent.
I hated how desperate the explanation sounded.
Vincent listened without interrupting.
Then he said:
“You hid a three-year-old in the laundry room?”
When phrased that way, my parenting sounded questionable.
“I had snacks.”
Renzo actually laughed out loud.
Vincent looked at him.
Renzo stopped.
Then Vincent turned toward me again.
“Take her to the breakfast room. Maria will find something for her to do.”
I stared.
“I’m not fired?”
“Not yet.”
Mia tugged his pant leg.
Everyone froze again.
“What?”
She whispered something.
Vincent leaned down.
Mia cupped both hands around his ear.
Then she pointed beneath his enormous oak desk.
Vincent’s expression changed completely.
The laughter disappeared.
“What did you say?”
Mia repeated it louder.
“The shiny man put something under your table.”
Nobody moved.
Vincent looked at Renzo.
Renzo was no longer smiling.
“What shiny man?” Vincent asked.
Mia pointed toward the hallway.
“The one with the red rock.”
She tapped her finger.
“A ring?”
She nodded.
Vincent stood slowly.
Renzo moved around the desk and crouched.
His hand disappeared beneath the heavy wood.
Then he pulled something loose from the underside.
A black flash drive.
Taped where nobody would see it.
I felt the room change.
Vincent stared at the drive.
Then at my daughter.
“How did you see this?”
Mia shrugged.
“I followed him.”
My stomach dropped.
“You followed a stranger?”
“He had shiny shoes.”
Apparently that explained everything.
Vincent handed the drive to Renzo.
“Lock the estate.”
My mouth went dry.
Then Renzo examined the small piece of black plastic.
There was a handwritten label on one side.
One word.
May you like
REED.
My last name.
