Chapter 2 - The Man Waiting Outside the Gates
For three seconds, the Santoro estate disappeared into darkness.
Then emergency lights activated along the baseboards.
The grand foyer transformed.
Gold became red.
Beauty became threat.
Leo pulled Tessa behind the marble staircase just as another distant gunshot sounded outside.
“Stay close.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to yet.”
“I absolutely do.”
He glanced at her.
Even in emergency lighting, irritation flashed across his face.
“You always argue during gunfire?”
“I’ve never had gunfire before.”
“Then trust the person who has.”
That was difficult.
But at that moment, it was practical.
Leo guided her through a concealed door beneath the staircase.
Tessa had cleaned that staircase for months.
She had never known the panel existed.
Beyond it was a narrow corridor lined with concrete rather than marble.
No paintings.
No crystal.
No old money.
This was the skeleton beneath the mansion.
Leo locked the hidden door behind them.
“Where are we going?”
“The security room.”
“You have a security room?”
He looked at her.
She exhaled.
“Stupid question.”
“Extremely.”
Under any other circumstances, she might have smiled.
They moved quickly down the corridor.
Leo’s phone vibrated continuously.
He answered in short sentences.
“East perimeter.”
“Keep the main house sealed.”
“No return fire unless you have identification.”
Then:
“I want Davis alive.”
Tessa stopped walking.
Leo turned.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“You suspected.”
“Yes.”
“And you let me think I was going on a date.”
“I wanted you to cancel.”
“Because of him or because of the dress?”
His silence answered.
Tessa stared in disbelief.
“You are impossible.”
“Later.”
“There better be a later.”
His expression softened.
“There will be.”
The security room contained six monitors.
Tessa saw the estate from angles she had never imagined.
Gardens.
Driveway.
Servants’ entrance.
Front gates.
One screen showed Greg’s Subaru abandoned between two stone pillars.
Driver door open.
No Greg.
Another showed two dark vehicles blocking the road outside.
Men moved between trees.
Tessa covered her mouth.
“My God.”
Leo stepped toward the screen.
“Where is he?”
One guard answered through the radio.
“Davis left his vehicle before the first shot. Cameras lost him near the north hedges.”
“He’s inside the property?”
“Possibly.”
Tessa felt suddenly exposed despite concrete walls.
“Why would Moretti use Greg?”
Leo’s eyes remained on the monitors.
“To get close to you.”
“But why me?”
“Because Moretti cannot get close to me.”
“So he decided to use the maid?”
Leo turned.
“You’re not just the maid.”
“That isn’t comforting right now.”
A camera flickered.
For half a second, a figure appeared near the service wing.
Tessa leaned forward.
“Wait.”
Leo stopped.
“What?”
“Go back.”
The technician replayed the footage.
The figure crossed again.
Beige coat.
Medium height.
Tessa whispered:
“Greg.”
Leo’s face hardened.
“He’s already inside.”
Tessa’s lungs tightened.
“He knows where my room is.”
Leo looked at her.
“How?”
“I told him.”
His anger flashed.
Not at her.
At himself.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Tessa.”
“You are not leaving me in a bunker while a man I dated searches my room.”
“That is exactly what I’m doing.”
“I have my father’s documents in there.”
“What documents?”
“Medical records. Financial paperwork.”
Leo stopped.
“What financial paperwork?”
“Care facility invoices. Banking information.”
Leo went still.
“Does it include account numbers?”
“Yes.”
“And your address?”
“My old apartment address.”
“What else?”
“Emergency contacts.”
Leo’s expression darkened further.
“Your father’s facility?”
“Yes.”
He cursed quietly.
“I’m going with you.”
“No.”
“You already put guards near my father. Clearly you think he could be involved.”
“That’s why you stay here.”
“Leo.”
He moved closer.
“Tessa, this is not a control issue.”
She lifted one eyebrow.
“Terrible timing for that sentence.”
His mouth twitched despite himself.
Then his face became serious.
“I cannot protect you if you’re wandering through the house.”
“You don’t own responsibility for me.”
“No.”
He paused.
“But I would like the chance to keep you alive.”
Something in the way he said it quieted her.
Leo motioned toward one guard.
“Marco stays with her.”
Then he left.
Tessa stood in the security room watching the cameras.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
Her anxiety grew.
She watched guards sweep hallways.
Nothing.
Then one monitor showed the staff corridor.
Leo entered the frame.
Another man followed.
Tessa leaned closer.
Greg.
But Greg was not running.
He was holding his hands up.
Leo shoved him against the wall.
No weapon.
No violence beyond restraint.
The microphone feed activated.
“I came inside because they started shooting!”
Greg’s voice cracked.
“I thought your guards were going to kill me!”
Leo searched him.
Nothing.
Tessa frowned.
Greg looked terrified.
Not dangerous.
Terrified.
Leo said something too quiet for the camera.
Greg answered.
“I didn’t know what the money was for.”
Leo froze.
Tessa’s pulse accelerated.
Money.
So Greg knew.
Marco tried to stop her when she headed toward the door.
“Ms. Jenkins—”
“I’m not staying here.”
“Mr. Santoro ordered—”
“He isn’t my employer tonight.”
Marco looked deeply unhappy.
But Tessa walked out.
She followed the corridor back toward the service wing.
By the time she arrived, Greg sat in a chair surrounded by three armed men.
Leo stood nearby.
Greg’s face changed when he saw her.
“Tessa!”
She stopped.
He looked relieved.
“Tessa, thank God. Tell them I’m not—”
“Why did Moretti pay you twenty-five thousand dollars?”
Silence.
Greg’s face emptied.
Tessa felt her heart break in a strangely calm way.
“So it’s true.”
“It isn’t what you think.”
“What should I think?”
Greg looked at Leo, then back at her.
“I never knew who Moretti was.”
“You took twenty-five thousand dollars without asking questions?”
“It was consulting.”
“For what?”
“Financial risk analysis.”
Leo laughed once.
Cold.
Greg flinched.
“They hired me through a third party.”
Tessa folded her arms.
“And meeting me?”
Greg’s silence returned.
Her stomach dropped.
“Oh, God.”
“I liked you.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“I really liked you.”
“Did they tell you to meet me?”
He looked down.
That was enough.
Tessa turned away.
The humiliation was worse than fear.
For three months she had believed someone ordinary saw her.
Not Leo’s maid.
Not the woman caring for a sick father.
Not the curvy girl who hid in oversized uniforms.
Just Tessa.
Now even that had been manufactured.
Leo stepped forward.
“Tessa.”
“Don’t.”
He stopped instantly.
Greg stood.
One guard pushed him back into the chair.
“Tessa, please.”
She looked at him.
“What did they ask you to do?”
“At first? Nothing. Just talk to you.”
“About what?”
“Work.”
“What specifically?”
“The house. Your routine. Who comes and goes.”
Tessa closed her eyes.
Every coffee.
Every conversation.
How many times had she casually complained about working late?
How many times had Greg laughed and asked if the mansion really had a wine cellar?
How many times had she answered?
“You used me.”
“I never wanted anyone hurt.”
“They’re shooting outside!”
“I didn’t know that would happen!”
Leo stepped between them.
“Who gave you tonight’s instructions?”
Greg hesitated.
Leo’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“Wrong moment to protect them.”
“A man named Carter.”
“Full name.”
“I don’t know.”
“What were you supposed to do?”
Greg’s face drained.
“Take Tessa to dinner.”
“That’s all?”
“No.”
Tessa’s skin prickled.
Greg swallowed.
“They wanted me to keep her away from the estate until midnight.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
A radio crackled.
“Boss.”
Leo picked it up.
“Go.”
“We found something in the library.”
Tessa looked at him.
“What?”
The guard’s answer came through static.
“Small device under the desk.”
Leo’s expression changed instantly.
“Do not touch it.”
“It’s not explosive.”
“What is it?”
“A transmitter.”
Tessa remembered polishing the desk that afternoon.
Every inch.
“Under the desk?”
“Yes.”
Leo looked at her.
Tessa suddenly remembered his words.
You missed a spot.
She had thought he was watching her.
Maybe he had been.
But someone else had been watching too.
Leo spoke into the radio.
“Check every room.”
Greg’s face became pale.
“I didn’t put that there.”
Leo turned toward him.
“Then who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
Greg shook his head frantically.
“I swear.”
Tessa looked toward the hallway.
A terrible possibility formed.
“Leo.”
He turned.
“You said Moretti couldn’t get inside.”
“Yes.”
“Greg didn’t plant it.”
“Probably not.”
“So someone already inside the house did.”
The room became silent.
Leo’s men exchanged glances.
The threat outside suddenly mattered less.
Because Tessa understood something they all understood at the same moment.
Someone inside the Santoro estate had betrayed Leo.
Someone who could enter his library.
Someone who knew Tessa’s schedule.
Someone who knew when she was leaving.
May you like
And somewhere within the enormous mansion, that person was still there.
---
