Chapter 2 - The Man in the Dark

I drew my pistol before the hidden figure could move.

"Come out."

A hand appeared first.

Then Elias stepped from behind an old cabinet, one palm pressed against his ribs. Blood soaked through his white shirt.

"Mr. Rossi," he whispered. "Please don't shoot."

I lowered the gun. "Who did this to you?"

He looked toward the steel door.

"Your mother."

The words hit harder than a bullet.

I grabbed his shoulder. "Where is Grace?"

"She was here. For months."

I stared at the bed, the restraints, the scratched message.

"Why?"

"Mrs. Rossi said your wife had become a security risk. She told the staff Grace was unstable. Dangerous. She ordered everyone to stay away from the west wing."

"And you believed her?"

Elias flinched.

I hated the answer before he gave it.

"At first."

"At first?"

"Then I heard her crying."

I closed my eyes for half a second.

Grace crying alone while I sat in hotel suites and negotiated cease-fires over expensive whiskey.

"When was she moved?"

"Three nights ago. I tried to help her. That's when they caught me."

"Who is they?"

Footsteps sounded in the corridor.

Slow. Controlled.

My mother appeared in the doorway with two guards behind her.

Neither guard looked at me.

That told me everything.

"Elias," Vittoria said quietly. "I was disappointed to learn you survived."

I stepped between them.

"Tell your men to lower their weapons."

"They're protecting this family."

"From whom? My wife?"

Her gaze moved to the words on the wall.

For the first time, I saw it.

Not confidence.

Fear.

She had not expected me to find the cell.

"Grace was sick," she said. "She became paranoid near the end of her pregnancy. She accused people. She threatened people. I protected her from herself."

I pointed at the restraints.

"By chaining her to a bed?"

"By keeping her alive."

Elias made a sound that was almost a laugh.

My mother looked at him.

"Be careful."

He raised his head. "Tell him about the baby."

Everything inside me stopped.

I turned to him.

"What baby?"

Elias's eyes filled.

"Your son was born in this room."

I heard my mother say his name, sharp and furious.

But I was already looking under the bed.

There, half hidden beneath the steel frame, was a tiny plastic hospital bracelet.

BABY BOY ROSSI.

Born seventeen days ago.

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