Chapter 8 - THE GRANDMOTHER'S SECRET
Victor crossed the room so quickly Marco stepped between them.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Marco.”
“Not until we know what she means.”
Margaret stood shaking beside the sofa.
Finn had been taken upstairs by Harper.
Victor's rage filled the room.
“You sent Gabriel after Elena?”
Margaret looked at him.
“I sent him to bring her home.”
Victor went still.
“What?”
“She called me.”
Margaret's voice cracked.
“Three days before the crash. She was terrified. She said she had discovered something about Gabriel and wanted to leave Chicago with Finn.”
Victor's face turned gray.
“She wanted to leave me?”
“She wanted to survive.”
The words struck hard.
Margaret continued.
“I didn't understand what she had found. Gabriel called me later. Said Elena was unstable. Said you were worried she'd disappear with the child.”
“I never said that.”
“I know that now.”
Margaret wiped her eyes.
“He told me if I gave him her location, he'd bring her to me so everyone could calm down.”
Victor's hands curled.
“You told him where she was.”
“Yes.”
“And then she died.”
Margaret nodded.
“I saw them arguing in the restaurant parking lot. I realized something was wrong. Elena put Finn in her car and drove away.”
“You followed?”
“I tried. Gabriel stopped me.”
Finn's memory.
The red lady yelling.
Margaret had been there.
Not as killer.
As witness.
“Why didn't you tell me?” Victor asked.
Margaret laughed bitterly.
“You?”
She pointed at him.
“You would have murdered me.”
Victor didn't deny it.
“And Gabriel threatened my husband. My other daughter. Everyone.”
Margaret lowered her voice.
“So I stayed silent.”
“For five years.”
“Yes.”
Victor looked sick.
Margaret's eyes hardened.
“And you spent five years punishing me by keeping my grandson away.”
“You knew something about his mother's death!”
“And you made the house she died trying to escape even more dangerous!”
Victor moved.
Marco blocked him again.
“Enough.”
Victor's voice was almost inhuman.
“Get her out.”
Margaret lifted her chin.
“No.”
“You are not staying near Finn.”
“The investigators are here because I filed for emergency guardianship.”
Silence.
Victor stared.
“You did what?”
Margaret's hands trembled, but her voice did not.
“I thought you were failing him.”
Victor stepped closer.
“You leaked the story?”
“No.”
“Did Gabriel contact you?”
“No.”
“Then withdraw it.”
Margaret hesitated.
Victor saw.
“Withdraw it.”
“I will when I believe Finn is safe.”
Harper appeared on the stairs.
“He isn't safe.”
Everyone turned.
Victor's face changed.
Harper continued.
“Not yet.”
“Harper.”
“She isn't wrong.”
Margaret looked surprised.
Victor looked betrayed.
Harper hated that expression because some small part of her still cared what he thought.
She walked down.
“Finn is frightened all the time. Half this house carries weapons. He knows words a five-year-old shouldn't know. He feels responsible for managing your emotions.”
Victor stared.
“You think she should take my son?”
“No.”
Margaret frowned.
Harper turned to her.
“You kept a secret about his mother's death for five years. You are not exactly a safe option either.”
Marco almost smiled.
Harper looked between them.
“You both love Finn.”
Neither answered.
“You also both use love to justify control.”
That landed.
Harper continued.
“And Gabriel knows it.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“He wants us fighting over custody.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because while everybody is watching each other, nobody watches him.”
Marco's phone buzzed.
He checked it.
“She's right.”
He turned the screen.
A message from security.
The child welfare investigators' vehicle had been searched.
A tracking device was attached beneath the rear bumper.
Gabriel wasn't simply watching the Rossi house.
He was watching everyone connected to Finn.
The emergency custody hearing was scheduled for Monday.
Forty-eight hours.
Victor's attorneys insisted they could crush Margaret's petition.
Harper hated the word crush.
She stayed because Finn asked.
Not as employee.
Not as family.
As the person he trusted enough to sleep.
Victor moved out of the master suite voluntarily and into the guest wing so Finn could have Harper nearby without forcing her into close proximity with him.
That surprised everyone.
Including Harper.
At 2 a.m., she found Victor in the kitchen.
He wasn't drinking.
He was making toast.
Badly.
“You're burning it.”
“I know.”
“Then why aren't you taking it out?”
“I thought it needed more time.”
“It's black.”
Victor looked at the toaster.
“This appliance is aggressive.”
Harper stared.
Then laughed.
It escaped before she could stop it.
Victor looked at her.
For the first time since she'd left, he smiled.
Not the dangerous half-smile he used during arguments.
A real one.
It changed his entire face.
Harper immediately hated noticing that.
She opened the toaster.
“Finn wants toast?”
“Yes.”
“Nightmare?”
“He asked for you.”
“Why didn't you wake me?”
Victor looked down.
“Because you were sleeping.”
Harper paused.
That simple consideration felt larger than it should.
“What's wrong with him?”
“Sirens.”
Harper followed Victor upstairs.
Finn sat against his pillows.
She started toward the bed.
Then stopped.
Victor was already sitting beside him.
Finn held Victor's hand.
“Do the anchor,” Harper whispered.
Victor looked uncertain.
Finn whispered, “Five things.”
Victor nodded slowly.
“Five things you can see.”
“Dragon.”
“Good.”
“Lamp.”
“Good.”
“Harper.”
Victor looked toward her.
Finn continued.
“Dad.”
His voice softened.
“Mommy's picture.”
Victor's throat moved.
“Four things you can touch.”
Finn touched the blanket.
The dragon.
Victor's hand.
Then his own chest.
Harper watched Victor.
His expression slowly changed as he realized he wasn't fixing Finn's fear.
He was sitting inside it with him.
That was all Harper had ever asked.
By the time they reached one thing Finn knew was true, the boy's breathing had slowed.
Finn thought.
Then looked at Victor.
“You came when I called.”
Victor froze.
Finn smiled sleepily.
“That's true.”
Victor bowed his head.
“Yes.”
Finn fell asleep minutes later.
Harper and Victor stepped into the hall.
He shut the door quietly.
“Thank you.”
“You did it.”
“Because you taught me.”
Harper folded her arms.
“I taught Finn.”
“You taught me too.”
Something passed between them.
Dangerous in a different way.
Victor broke eye contact.
“You should sleep.”
Harper nodded.
She took three steps.
“Harper.”
She stopped.
Victor remained beside Finn's door.
“When I said nobody would want you…”
Harper's shoulders stiffened.
Victor continued.
“I knew it wasn't true.”
She turned.
“That makes it worse.”
“Yes.”
“Why say it?”
He looked ashamed.
“Because I wanted you to feel small.”
Harper's eyes burned.
Victor's voice dropped.
“You made me feel like I had failed Finn. You were right, but I didn't want to feel it.”
“So you tried to transfer the pain.”
“Yes.”
“That is what cruel people do.”
“I know.”
Harper studied him.
“I won't ever let you talk to me like that again.”
“I know.”
“No, Victor. Understand me.”
She stepped closer.
“I spent too many years shrinking myself so other people could feel bigger. I am done.”
Victor met her gaze.
“If I ever do it again, you should walk out before I finish the sentence.”
“I will.”
“I believe you.”
She walked away.
Victor remained alone in the hallway.
For perhaps the first time in his life, the idea that someone could leave him was more frightening than the idea that they might defy him.
At 3:18 a.m., a security alarm activated beneath the mansion.
Not outside.
Inside.
Marco ran into the hall.
Victor met him at the stairs.
“What?”
“Wine cellar motion sensor.”
“Staff?”
“No scheduled access.”
Victor reached for his weapon.
Harper appeared behind him.
“Finn?”
“Lock his door.”
Victor and Marco descended.
The cellar door was open.
No intruder.
Instead, on the stone floor beneath Victor's most expensive bottles, someone had placed a child's red sneaker.
Finn's size.
Beside it was a note.
MONDAY IS TOO LATE.
Victor stared.
Then the house lost power.
Upstairs, Harper screamed.
“FINN!”
Victor ran.
By the time he reached the bedroom, the window was open.
The curtains moved in the night air.
May you like
Finn's bed was empty.
And the green dragon lay torn in half on the floor.
