Chapter 1: The Dead Man's Secret
The dead man's signature was on a storage contract dated nineteen days ago.
And the woman who had just destroyed his car was wearing his engagement ring.
Damian Cross stared at the leather document pouch in Sofia's trembling hands. Around him, the garage had fallen silent. Even the security guards seemed reluctant to breathe.
Six years.
Six years since his younger brother, Ethan, had died on a rain-soaked highway. Six years since Damian had buried the only person who had ever made him feel like something other than the heir to a criminal empire.
And now Ethan's name had appeared on a document that shouldn't exist.
"Give it to me," Damian said.
Sofia hesitated.
Vivian stepped forward.
"Damian, sweetheart, there's no reason to make this more dramatic than it already is.""
He didn't look at her.
"Did I ask you to speak?""
Vivian stopped.
Sofia carefully handed him the pouch. Her fingers were shaking so badly that the brass key inside rattled against the zipper.
Damian pulled out the receipt.
The storage facility was called Northgate Self Storage. The contract number was 614. The signature at the bottom looked unmistakably like Ethan's.
He knew that handwriting better than he knew his own.
"Who found this?"" Damian asked.
"I did," Sofia whispered.
"Where?""
"Under the passenger seat. It must have fallen out when the car hit the column.""
"Did you open the pouch?""
"No.""
Vivian laughed nervously.
"She's lying. She had plenty of time down here before I arrived.""
Sofia's eyes dropped to the concrete.
Damian noticed.
He noticed the torn sleeve, the blood on her lower lip, and the faint red mark spreading across her cheek.
"Security," he called.
Two men immediately approached.
"Nobody leaves this garage. Take Vivian's friends into separate rooms. Get their statements. And find out whether that car was moved before today.""
Vivian's expression hardened.
"You're seriously having your employees interrogated because of a misunderstanding?""
Damian finally turned toward her.
"You drove a car that belonged to my dead brother.""
"I was upset.""
"You stole his keys.""
"I found them!""
"You struck Sofia.""
Vivian's mouth opened.
Then closed.
Damian held up the receipt.
"And apparently, you know something about a storage unit registered under Ethan's name.""
For the first time, Vivian looked genuinely frightened.
"That isn't what you think.""
"Then explain it.""
She glanced toward Sofia.
"Not in front of the help.""
Damian's jaw tightened.
"Her name is Sofia.""
"I know her name.""
"Then use it.""
Vivian's cheeks flushed. She had spent three years believing that becoming Damian's wife would make her untouchable. She had attended private dinners with senators, worn diamonds worth more than most people's houses, and sat beside him at charity galas while his enemies watched from across the room.
But she had never understood something important.
Damian Cross could forgive an insult.
He could forgive a business betrayal if there was something to gain.
He could even forgive a man who tried to kill him, provided that man had the courage to admit it.
What he could never forgive was someone using his dead brother's memory as a weapon.
"Take her upstairs," Damian ordered.
Vivian grabbed his arm.
"Damian, please. You're making a mistake.""
He gently removed her hand.
"The mistake was giving you a key to my house.""
Her face changed.
"You're ending our engagement over a maid?""
Damian looked at Sofia.
She was still sitting on the floor, trying to wipe the blood from her lip with the back of her hand.
"No," he said.
"I'm ending it because I finally see the woman I was about to marry.""
Vivian was escorted away.
Only when the garage doors closed did Damian turn back to Sofia.
"Can you stand?""
"Yes, sir.""
"Don't call me sir.""
She blinked.
"What should I call you?""
"Damian.""
Her expression suggested that calling the most feared man in the city by his first name was considerably more dangerous than she had anticipated.
He offered his hand.
She accepted it.
When she stood, her knees buckled slightly. Damian caught her before she hit the ground.
"Easy.""
"I'm sorry about the car.""
"You're apologizing?""
"It was important to you.""
His eyes moved toward the crumpled roadster.
"That car belonged to my brother.""
"I know.""
"How?""
Sofia went quiet.
Damian studied her face.
"Have we met before you started working here?""
She shook her head too quickly.
"Not that I remember.""
He didn't like that answer.
But before he could question her, his phone vibrated.
A message from his head of security appeared.
*BOSS. WE CHECKED THE STORAGE FACILITY. UNIT 614 WAS PAID FOR IN CASH. THE PERSON WHO SIGNED THE CONTRACT LEFT A SECURITY VIDEO REQUEST.*
Another message followed.
*THE VIDEO SHOWS SOMEONE ENTERING THE FACILITY WEARING ETHAN'S OLD WATCH.*
Damian looked at the receipt again.
Then at Sofia.
"Get her checked by the doctor," he told his head of security.
"Nobody questions her until I'm present.""
Sofia frowned.
"Why would anyone question me?""
Damian folded the receipt and slipped it into his jacket.
"Because somebody went to extraordinary lengths to keep that pouch hidden.""
He paused.
"And I have a feeling this accident wasn't an accident at all.""
Across the estate, behind the closed doors of the west wing, Vivian was already making a phone call.
When the person on the other end answered, she spoke through clenched teeth.
"There's a problem.""
A man's voice responded.
"What kind of problem?""
"Damian found the key.""
Silence.
Then the man asked one question.
"Did he find the photograph, too?""
Vivian looked toward the garage.
"No.""
"Good. Because if he sees the photograph, he'll know who really died that night.""
Vivian closed her eyes.
May you like
"Then we need to get rid of Sofia.""
And downstairs, Damian was about to discover that Sofia had been listening to Ethan's name for far longer than anyone realized.
