Chapter 6 - The Maid Who Knew Too MuchMave woke with a headache and the taste of chemicals in her mouth.
Concrete floor.
Cold air.
Metal chair.
Her wrists were tied.
She lifted her head.
An abandoned warehouse stretched around her.
Stacks of rusted shipping containers divided the interior.
Rain tapped against the roof.
A man sat across from her.
Older.
Silver hair.
Expensive coat.
He looked like Leo in small ways.
The eyes.
The jaw.
The stillness.
Dominic Castiglion.
“You look disappointed,” he said.
“I expected horns.”
Dominic smiled.
“I understand why Leo likes you.”
“Does he?”
“Very much.”
Mave tested the rope.
Tight.
“You kidnapped a housekeeper. That must look excellent on your criminal résumé.”
“You are not a housekeeper.”
“I assure you, I've cleaned things in Leo's basement that would challenge that opinion.”
Dominic laughed.
“Evelyn had the same mouth.”
Mave stopped.
“You knew my mother.”
“Very well.”
“She hated you.”
“That is one interpretation.”
“She recorded you threatening to kill her.”
Dominic's smile faded.
“Your mother misunderstood ambition.”
“You tried to murder a child.”
“Leo survived.”
“That isn't a defense.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“Do you know what your mother cost me?”
“Apparently several decades of hiding.”
“She destroyed my future.”
“No. You did that yourself.”
His eyes hardened.
Mave recognized the look.
It was a Castiglion expression.
Leo wore it when men disappointed him.
On Leo, it frightened her.
On Dominic, it disgusted her.
“You think Leo is different?” Dominic asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he hates what he is capable of.”
Dominic smiled.
“And you believe that saves him?”
“No.”
Mave leaned forward as far as the ropes allowed.
“His choices save him.”
Dominic studied her.
“You've changed him.”
“Maybe he was already changing.”
“Sentiment makes men weak.”
“That sounds like something lonely people say.”
Dominic slapped her.
Mave's head snapped sideways.
Pain burned across her cheek.
She slowly looked back.
“That all?”
Dominic's expression darkened.
“You should be afraid.”
“I am.”
The answer surprised him.
Mave continued.
“But fear isn't obedience.”
For the next hour, they left her alone.
That was their mistake.
Housekeepers noticed things.
Maintenance flaws.
Cheap repairs.
Loose fixtures.
People who spent their lives in offices rarely understood how buildings failed.
Mave did.
Her chair was bolted to the floor.
But one bolt was rusted.
She rocked the chair slowly.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Metal groaned.
She stopped whenever footsteps passed.
Then continued.
Eventually, the bolt loosened.
Mave twisted her wrists.
The rope cut her skin.
She kept moving.
Outside the warehouse, engines arrived.
Dominic returned.
“He came.”
Mave's heart stopped.
“Leo?”
“Alone.”
She closed her eyes.
Idiot.
Dominic smiled.
“You thought he would choose an empire over you.”
“I thought he would cheat.”
Dominic frowned.
Mave smiled.
“He never follows rules he didn't write.”
A distant explosion shook the building.
Dominic turned.
Mave laughed.
“See?”
Gunfire erupted.
Dominic swore and left.
Mave rocked the chair violently.
The rusted bolt snapped.
She fell sideways.
Pain shot through her shoulder.
She dragged the chair toward a broken metal shelf.
The sharp edge cut the rope.
Once.
Twice.
Footsteps approached.
Mave freed one hand.
A guard entered.
“What are you—”
She swung the loose chair leg into his knee.
He fell.
Mave grabbed his keys and ran.
The warehouse had become chaos.
Smoke filled the far end.
Men shouted.
Mave crouched behind a container.
Then someone grabbed her.
She nearly screamed.
“Mave.”
Leo.
She turned.
His face was bruised from the kidnapping.
His eyes looked wild.
“You came.”
He pulled her against him.
For several seconds, neither cared about the gunfire.
“You're bleeding.”
“Not mine.”
“Your shoulder?”
“Later.”
“Your side?”
“Mave.”
She touched his face.
“You came.”
“I told you.”
“What?”
“I would keep you alive.”
Another shot cracked nearby.
Carmine appeared.
“Beautiful reunion. We need to leave.”
Mave stared.
“You weren't alone.”
Leo looked almost offended.
“Of course not.”
“I knew it.”
Carmine handed Mave a jacket.
“Can we celebrate her understanding of your personality outside?”
They moved toward the loading bay.
Then Dominic stepped from behind a container.
Gun raised.
Everyone froze.
“Drop them.”
Leo's weapon lowered slowly.
Carmine did the same.
Dominic aimed at Mave.
“You always did have your father's weakness.”
Leo moved slightly in front of her.
Dominic laughed.
“Look at you.”
“What do you want?” Leo asked.
“The ledger.”
“It's gone.”
Dominic's smile disappeared.
“What?”
“I sent copies to three attorneys and a federal prosecutor.”
Dominic's face changed.
Mave looked at Leo.
“You did?”
“Yesterday.”
“You didn't tell me.”
“You were sleeping.”
Dominic shouted, “You're lying.”
Leo shrugged.
“Shoot me and find out.”
Dominic's hand trembled.
Mave realized something.
He was losing control.
Men like Leo became colder when threatened.
Men like Dominic became louder.
“You won't shoot him,” Mave said.
Dominic looked at her.
“Be quiet.”
“You need him.”
“I need his shares.”
“And killing him starts a succession fight.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
Mave continued.
“You spent thirty years trying to take a company. You're not going to destroy it tonight.”
“Mave,” Leo warned.
She ignored him.
“Your problem was never Leo's father.”
Dominic's gun shifted toward her.
“Your problem was that everybody chose Salvatore over you.”
The words landed.
Dominic's face twisted.
“Shut up.”
“Your brother.”
“Mave.”
“Your organization.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Even my mother.”
That did it.
Dominic swung the weapon directly at her.
Leo moved.
A shot exploded.
Mave screamed.
Dominic fell.
Carmine had fired.
Silence.
Leo looked down at himself.
No blood.
Mave looked at Carmine.
Carmine lowered his weapon.
“I was tired of listening to him.”
Dominic was alive.
The bullet had struck his shoulder.
Leo approached.
For years, he had imagined killing the man responsible for his father's death.
Dominic looked up.
“Do it.”
Leo aimed.
Mave watched.
Carmine watched.
Dominic smiled.
“You're your father's son.”
Leo's finger tightened.
Then he lowered the gun.
“No.”
Dominic's smile vanished.
Leo looked at Carmine.
“Call the prosecutor.”
Carmine blinked.
“Which one?”
“The honest one.”
“We know an honest prosecutor?”
“One.”
Mave almost laughed.
Dominic stared.
“You can't turn me over.”
“I can.”
“You're Castiglion.”
“So are you.”
Leo's voice was quiet.
“That's why this ends here.”
Sirens approached in the distance.
Mave stepped beside Leo.
Dominic looked at her.
“You ruined him.”
Mave shook her head.
“No.”
She took Leo's hand.
“I reminded him he had a choice.”
Leo looked at her.
The warehouse doors opened.
Federal agents flooded inside.
For the first time in decades, Dominic Castiglion was placed in handcuffs.
But the war wasn't finished.
Because Sergei Volkov was still free.
And Carmelo Vescari had disappeared.
Three days later, Mave sat beside Leo in the private clinic.
He was being treated for the tranquilizer injury and reopened stitches.
“You're glaring at the doctor,” she said.
“He hurts me.”
“He's stitching you.”
“Same thing.”
The doctor left.
Mave leaned against the bed.
“Dominic is talking.”
Leo raised an eyebrow.
“Already?”
“He wants immunity.”
“He won't get it.”
“He claims Volkov ordered the attacks.”
“Partly true.”
“And Carmelo?”
Leo's expression hardened.
“Missing.”
Mave sighed.
“Meaning someone is still out there.”
“Yes.”
She looked at the window.
“I can't live like this forever.”
Leo became still.
Mave immediately realized how it sounded.
“Not with you.”
He looked away.
“I mean this.”
She gestured toward the armed men outside.
“The guards. The guns. Wondering whether cars are following me.”
Leo said nothing.
Mave touched his hand.
“I love you.”
His eyes returned to her.
“But?”
“No but.”
“There is always a but.”
“I love you, and I want a life with you.”
She tightened her fingers around his.
“But I need it to be a life.”
Leo understood.
“You want me out.”
“I want you alive.”
“Mave—”
“You once told me you wanted to design buildings because you liked things that stayed where you put them.”
He smiled faintly.
“You remember.”
“I remember everything.”
She looked around.
“You built an empire because your father died.”
“Yes.”
“Maybe surviving him means you don't have to keep it.”
Leo looked toward the city.
For the first time, he considered something that had once been impossible.
Walking away.
Not running.
Choosing.
He looked at Mave.
“What if I don't know who I am without it?”
May you like
She smiled softly.
“Then we'll find out.”
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