Chapter 3 – THE CHILD’S DRAWING IN THE DARK

I killed the cabin lights instantly.

“Lily, wake up,” I whispered, shaking her gently. “We have to hide.”

We crept into the narrow pantry closet. I held my breath as the front door creaked open.

Heavy footsteps crossed the floorboards.

“Find them,” a man’s voice ordered. It wasn’t Raymond. It was one of Cassandra’s personal bodyguards.

In the dark closet, Lily shoved a piece of paper into my hand.

“What is it?” I breathed.

“I found it in Cassandra’s purse yesterday,” she whispered back. “I was trying to find my mom’s silver bracelet. Cassandra took it.”

I used the sliver of moonlight filtering through the cracks to look at the paper.

It wasn’t a drawing. It was a birth certificate.

Mother: Cassandra Vale.

Father: Raymond Romano.

The child in the photograph wasn’t a secret. It was a motive. They weren’t just trying to take Gabriel’s empire. They were trying to steal Lily’s inheritance for their own hidden child.

The pantry door knob rattled.

I pushed Lily behind me and grabbed a heavy cast-iron skillet from the shelf.

The door swung open.

Before the bodyguard could raise his flashlight, a massive figure stepped up behind him and smashed him over the head.

The guard collapsed.

Standing over him, bleeding through his torn shirt, was Gabriel.

But he wasn’t alone. And the man beside him made my stomach drop.

Share