Chapter 2 - The Woman He Had Never Really SeenJulius began his investigation quietly.
He started with Roco.
Roco Vance had been beside him for eleven years.
He knew the casino accounts.
The warehouses.
The private banking arrangements.
The names of the people who owed the Santoro and Castellano families money.
He also knew Julius's habits.
That made him dangerous.
Julius spent three days watching him.
Roco met with Sabrina every afternoon.
Always in public.
Always somewhere crowded.
Always carefully.
The meetings looked innocent.
Lunch.
Shopping.
Coffee.
But Julius knew better.
He had men follow Roco.
Then Sabrina.
Then both together.
Each trail led toward the same place.
A financial company called Avalon Meridian.
It existed on paper.
It had offices.
It had employees.
It paid taxes.
But no one could explain why nearly seventy million dollars moved through it every quarter.
Julius ordered an audit.
The audit disappeared.
He ordered another.
That auditor resigned.
Then Julius understood.
He had an enemy inside his own company.
Possibly several.
That night, he sat alone in the penthouse dining room.
He didn't notice Dileia entering.
She placed a cup of tea on the table.
He looked up.
“What is that?”
“Tea.”
“I didn't ask for tea.”
“I know.”
“Then why bring it?”
“You've had coffee all day.”
He stared at her.
“How do you know?”
“I clear the cups.”
That answer should have annoyed him.
Instead, it made him pause.
She noticed everything.
Just like he had started noticing her.
“What's your name?”
She looked genuinely surprised.
“You know my name.”
“No.”
“You signed my payroll.”
“I sign hundreds of documents.”
“My name is on them.”
He studied her.
“Dileia.”
“Yes.”
“Dileia what?”
“Marsh.”
The surname meant something.
He couldn't place it.
“Have we spoken before?”
“Not really.”
“Why?”
“People don't usually speak to housekeepers.”
“I'm speaking to you now.”
She smiled faintly.
“Then I suppose that's progress.”
Julius almost smiled.
Almost.
She turned to leave.
“Wait.”
She stopped.
“What?”
“Do you like the job?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm good at it.”
“That's all?”
“No.”
He waited.
“I can work nights.”
“Why does that matter?”
“My sister needs treatment.”
That was the first time Dileia had given him anything personal.
Julius remembered the file.
A younger sister.
Emma Marsh.
Julius had no idea why he knew her name.
He would later discover that one of his foundation's anonymous medical grants had once helped a child at the same clinic.
He didn't know it had been Emma.
“What's wrong with her?”
Dileia's expression changed.
“Her heart.”
He looked away.
“I'll see what I can do.”
Dileia shook her head.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You don't know what I was going to offer.”
“I know.”
“What?”
“You were going to pay.”
“Yes.”
“I don't want money from you.”
That surprised him.
“Why?”
“Because then I would owe you.”
“You wouldn't.”
“Yes, I would.”
He leaned back.
“Do you think everyone who helps you wants something?”
“No.”
“But you think I do.”
“I don't know what you want.”
He stared at her.
Neither spoke.
Finally, he said:
“Fair.”
She nodded.
“Good night, Mr. Castellano.”
“Good night, Dileia.”
She left.
Julius watched the door.
He realized something.
He had spent two years walking past her.
Yet after one conversation, he knew more about her than he knew about most of the people who surrounded him.
That irritated him.
It also fascinated him.
Meanwhile, Dileia returned to the staff quarters and found a small envelope beneath her door.
No name.
Inside:
STOP ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT ROCO VANCE.
Her heart stopped.
She immediately knew someone had discovered why she had taken the job.
She burned the note.
But she did not burn the memory.
That same night, she searched the old staff records.
She found a name.
Samuel Marsh.
Her father.
His old employee badge was attached to one document.
Security consultant.
Ror—no.
Castellano Enterprises.
Dileia stared.
Her father had worked for Julius's father.
Then why had Roco been involved?
She kept searching.
A second document appeared.
Payment authorized to Samuel Marsh.
Six months after his supposed death.
Dileia's breathing stopped.
Her father may have survived.
But if he had—
where was he?
The following morning, Dileia accidentally overheard Roco speaking in the service corridor.
“I don't care where the old man is.”
A second voice answered.
“He can identify the account structure.”
“Then find him before Julius does.”
Dileia froze.
The old man.
She knew.
Her father was alive.
And someone was hiding him.
She quietly recorded the conversation on her phone.
Before she could leave, Roco turned.
Their eyes met.
Dileia's heart pounded.
Roco smiled.
“You heard something?”
She lowered her gaze.
“No.”
He walked toward her.
“You should be careful, Dileia.”
She looked up.
“I always am.”
He smiled.
“That is exactly why you're dangerous.”
He left.
Dileia waited until his footsteps disappeared.
Then she called Julius.
He answered immediately.
“What?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Where?”
“The library.”
“Now.”
She went.
She closed the door.
Then played the recording.
Julius listened.
His face became colder with each word.
When it ended, he looked at her.
“Who told you to investigate Roco?”
“No one.”
“Then why were you listening?”
She hesitated.
“My father.”
“What about him?”
“He may be alive.”
Julius stood.
“What was his name?”
“Samuel Marsh.”
The color drained from his face.
He remembered.
Not the man.
The file.
A security consultant connected to an old investigation.
Julius had been seventeen then.
His father had told him one sentence.
Never let Samuel Marsh fall into the wrong hands.
Julius had forgotten the name.
Now it had returned.
And with it came something worse.
A realization.
May you like
His own family had once known Dileia's father.
And someone had spent years making sure she never learned the truth.
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