Chapter 2 - The Ghost of the Vale Family Secret
The tension in the upstairs hallway was suffocating.
The name on the prescription bottle read: Elena Vale.
I stood against the wall, clutching my apron with trembling fingers.
Two years ago, Matteo’s father, the legendary patriarch Carmine Romano, had died suddenly of heart failure in this very house.
At the time, everyone believed it was natural.
Carmine was seventy-five.
He had a history of cardiac complications.
His passing had thrust Matteo into absolute leadership of the Romano syndicate, an empire spanning shipping yards, real estate, and private security across three states.
To solidify peace among rival factions, an engagement had been arranged between Matteo and Alessandra Vale, the daughter of a prominent old-money banking dynasty.
For eighteen months, Alessandra had ruled this mansion like a queen in waiting.
She looked down on the staff.
She treated us like invisible shadows.
And she especially disliked me because Mrs. Romano often preferred my company over hers.
Now, Alessandra’s face had lost every trace of color.
“Matteo, listen to me,” she stammered, her voice shaking violently. “Elena is my distant cousin. She has nothing to do with this.”
“Then why are her heart medications hidden in my mother’s bathroom?” Matteo asked.
His voice wasn’t loud.
It was low, dark, and lethal.
“I don’t know!” Alessandra cried, taking another step backward. “Maybe the cleaning staff put it there! Maybe Claire put it there to frame me!”
Matteo didn’t even look at her excuses.
He turned his dark gaze toward me.
“Claire.”
“Yes, Mr. Romano?”
“When you picked up my mother’s pills yesterday, did you see anyone else in the pharmacy?”
I thought back carefully.
I remembered the cold wind outside the local apothecary in downtown Chicago.
I remembered waiting in line at four o’clock.
“Yes,” I said steadily. “A woman in a dark gray trench coat was speaking to the head pharmacist near the private consultation booth. She was arguing about a custom dosage.”
“Did you see her face?”
“She wore dark sunglasses and a silk scarf, but she had a distinct gold bracelet—three interlocking serpents.”
Matteo’s jaw clenched so tightly that a muscle jumped beneath his skin.
He glanced at Alessandra’s wrist.
Alessandra instinctively pulled her sleeve down to cover her arm.
On her wrist sat the exact same bracelet: three interlocking gold serpents.
It was an heirloom passed down through the Vale family women.
“Lock her in the guest suite,” Matteo ordered his head of security, a towering man named Marco.
“Matteo! You can’t do this to me! My father will destroy your business ties!” Alessandra shrieked as Marco took her firmly by the elbow.
“Take her phone. Disconnect the landline. Station two men outside the door,” Matteo said, ignoring her completely.
Alessandra was dragged down the hall, her heels scuffing against the polished oak floors until the door slammed shut.
Matteo turned to his mother.
He knelt down beside her wheelchair, his hard demeanor softening into profound tenderness.
“Ma. Are you alright?”
Mrs. Romano touched his cheek with her frail, wrinkled hand.
“I am fine, Matteo. But your father... your father’s heart did not fail on its own.”
Tears welled in the old woman’s eyes.
“That night two years ago, Carmine felt tired after dinner. Alessandra brought him tea. An hour later, a woman came to the side door. I saw them whispering in the dark. I thought it was just family business. But now... looking at this bottle...”
Matteo closed his eyes for a long, heavy moment.
The realization that his father had been murdered in cold blood inside their own home was settling over him like a storm cloud.
When he opened his eyes, they burned with a dangerous, icy fire.
He stood up and looked directly at me.
“Claire.”
“Yes, sir?”
“You are no longer a maid in this house.”
My breath caught in my throat.
Panic flared in my chest.
Was he firing me?
Was he getting rid of me because I knew too much about the mafia’s dark secrets?
“Mr. Romano, please,” I whispered. “I need this job. My brother’s tuition—”
“You misunderstand me,” Matteo interrupted softly.
He stepped closer, his imposing height towering over me, smelling of cedarwood, rich leather, and expensive tobacco.
“Starting tonight, you are my mother’s full-time private medical aide. Your salary is quadrupled. You will prepare every meal she eats. You will administer every drop of medicine she takes.”
May you like
He paused, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my heart race.
“And you will stay by my side until we uncover every person involved in this conspiracy.”
