Chapter 2 - The Mafia Boss Finally Spoke to the Maid, and She Asked Him a Question No One Dared Ask
The estate went into lockdown before midnight.
Guards appeared at every entrance.
The electronic gates were sealed.
Employee phones were temporarily collected.
Damian reviewed every security feed twice.
No breach.
No suspicious vehicles.
No intruders.
Yet someone had accessed restricted files.
That meant the threat was already inside.
At 1:40 a.m., Damian went back to Room 104.
Tessa was asleep in the chair beside Beatrice.
She had apparently stayed after her shift.
Damian stood in the doorway.
“Why are you still here?”
Tessa's eyes opened.
She looked exhausted.
“Your mother woke up.”
“And?”
“She couldn't remember where she was.”
“So you stayed.”
“Yes.”
“You are not paid to do that.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
Tessa looked at Beatrice.
“Because she was scared.”
Damian stared.
“You should go home.”
Tessa stood.
“What time is it?”
“Almost two.”
She sighed.
“I'll clean tomorrow.”
“I didn't say clean.”
He opened the door.
“You're being driven home.”
“I can take the bus.”
“No.”
“Mr. Costa—”
“That wasn't a suggestion.”
She looked at him.
“Do you always order people around?”
“Yes.”
“Must be exhausting.”
Damian almost laughed again.
He turned before she could see.
That night, Tessa went home in one of Damian's armored SUVs.
She lived in a cramped studio above an old bowling alley.
Damian knew because Paul had investigated her.
But seeing it through the car window was different.
The building had cracked walls.
One broken light over the entrance.
A handwritten eviction warning taped beside the elevator.
Tessa noticed Damian looking.
“You don't have to be embarrassed.”
“I wasn't.”
“Yes, you were.”
“I don't get embarrassed.”
“Then you're probably missing out.”
She stepped out.
“Goodnight, Mr. Costa.”
“Damian.”
She looked back.
“What?”
“Call me Damian.”
She hesitated.
“Goodnight, Damian.”
He waited until she entered.
Then he told the driver to leave.
The next morning, a package appeared at Tessa's door.
Inside was a new pair of shoes.
No note.
Tessa returned them.
Damian was informed.
He stared at Paul.
“She returned them?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She said she couldn't accept something she didn't earn.”
Damian looked toward the mansion.
“That woman is impossible.”
Paul almost smiled.
“You're interested.”
Damian's eyes hardened.
“Careful.”
Paul stopped smiling.
“Yes, boss.”
But Damian knew something had changed.
He had started noticing things.
The way Tessa tied her hair.
The way she spoke to frightened people.
The way she never raised her voice.
The way Beatrice relaxed when she entered the room.
And the way she never looked at Damian like she feared him.
That last part bothered him most.
Everyone feared him.
Tessa didn't.
One afternoon, Damian found her in the kitchen.
She was eating a sandwich.
He walked in.
She looked up.
“You're staring.”
“You're eating.”
“Yes.”
“During work hours.”
“Lunch break.”
“I didn't know housekeepers got lunch breaks.”
“We do.”
Damian pulled out a chair.
“Sit.”
She was already sitting.
He frowned.
She raised an eyebrow.
“You're going to have to get used to people not standing every time you enter a room.”
Damian stared at her.
“You have no idea who you're talking to.”
“I know exactly who I'm talking to.”
“And you're not afraid?”
“I probably should be.”
“That isn't an answer.”
Tessa took another bite.
“I've already been afraid of something much worse.”
He understood.
Her sister.
Cancer.
Death.
Loss.
Some fears were greater than violence.
Tessa swallowed.
“My sister was sick for three years.”
Damian said nothing.
“She hated hospitals.”
“So did my mother.”
Tessa looked at him.
For the first time, Damian voluntarily mentioned his mother.
“She said hospitals smelled like people giving up.”
Tessa smiled faintly.
“Your mother sounds smart.”
“She was.”
“Was?”
Damian looked toward the hallway.
“She isn't the same anymore.”
Tessa's expression softened.
“She still is.”
“What?”
“She hasn't disappeared.”
Damian's jaw tightened.
“You don't know that.”
Tessa stood.
“I know what dementia can look like.”
“You had experience?”
“My sister's final treatments caused severe confusion.”
He looked at her.
“She would forget my name.”
“And?”
“I learned that forgetting someone doesn't mean they stopped loving them.”
Damian couldn't answer.
Tessa picked up her tray.
Then she stopped.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you watch your mother on cameras?”
He stared at her.
“Security.”
“No.”
“What do you mean?”
“You watch her because you want to know what happens when you're not there.”
Damian felt exposed.
“You think you know me?”
“No.”
She smiled.
“I think you don't know yourself.”
Then she walked away.
For the rest of the day, Damian couldn't stop thinking about her.
That evening, Paul arrived with another report.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We found the person accessing the records.”
Damian looked up.
“Who?”
“Someone with internal credentials.”
“Name.”
Paul placed a photograph on the desk.
Damian stared.
His expression changed.
It was the head nurse.
She had been selling medical information to a private investigator.
But not for money.
The investigator had been hired by someone connected to the Costa family.
“Who hired him?”
“We're still tracing it.”
Damian's phone buzzed.
An unknown number.
A message appeared.
STOP TRUSTING THE MAID.
Then another.
SHE KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FATHER.
Damian looked toward the hallway.
Tessa was walking toward Room 104 carrying a bowl of soup.
May you like
He stared at her.
For the first time, suspicion entered the room with her.
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