Chapter 6 - Whispers of the Empire
The news of the Romano house cleaning spread through Chicago like a shockwave.
Adrien Romano,
the man who never blinked,
had fired his entire senior management staff.
He had replaced them with people who knew the difference between a servant and a human being.
Rumors swirled in the backrooms of the city's most powerful clubs.
"He’s gone soft,"
some whispered over cigars.
"He’s let a maid and a child take over the mansion,"
others laughed.
But those who knew Adrien well were not laughing.
They knew that a man who finally has something to love is the most dangerous man on earth.
Adrien sat in his office,
looking at a report on the Gable woman.
She had been skimming money from the household accounts for years.
She had been mistreating the staff to keep them quiet.
He felt a cold,
calculated anger.
He had been so focused on the world outside that he had let a snake nest in his own hearth.
A small knock came at the door.
The heavy mahogany shifted,
and a small head poked inside.
Lucia was holding a book,
her eyes wide as she took in the massive library.
"Can I sit here?"
she asked.
"Mama is sleeping."
Adrien looked at the millions of dollars worth of contracts on his desk.
He looked at the child.
"Yes,"
he said,
pointing to the large,
leather armchair by the fire.
"You may sit there."
She scrambled up into the chair,
her feet dangling high above the floor.
She opened her book and began to read aloud,
her voice a soft,
steady murmur in the room.
Adrien found himself listening to the rhythm of her voice instead of the voice in his head.
He found himself working faster,
wanting to finish so he could see what happened next in her story.
The empire was still there,
but it felt different.
It felt like it had a purpose beyond just existing.
It felt like a shield.
As the sun began to set,
casting long,
golden fingers across the office,
Adrien realized he wasn't alone anymore.
He hadn't been alone since he opened the door to the shoe room.
The silence was gone,
replaced by the life of a three-year-old girl.
May you like
And for the first time in his life,
Adrien Romano didn't want the silence back.
