Chapter 2 - A KNOCK AT THE HOTEL ROOM DOOR
“Stay on the phone, June.”
Nico’s voice didn’t rise. It dropped, going so dangerously quiet that the silence in the sitting room felt heavy.
He didn’t look at me as he grabbed his coat from the hall chair. He just motioned for me to follow.
My arm throbbed, but I didn’t hesitate. I followed him out the side door and into the damp Chicago night.
His black SUV was running before we even had the doors shut.
“June,” Nico said over the Bluetooth, the tires gripping the wet asphalt. “Is the chain on the door?”
“Yes,” the older woman whispered. “But Nico… he has a piece of paper. He slid it under the door.”
“Don’t touch it.”
“It has a court seal.”
Nico gripped the steering wheel. The tendons in his hands pulled tight against his tattoos.
Two years ago, he had buried the woman he loved. He had spent every day since protecting her daughter.
He wasn’t going to lose her tonight.
“I’m five minutes away,” he said. “If they knock again, call hotel security.”
In the passenger seat, I kept my injured arm cradled in my lap.
Nico glanced at it. “You didn’t have to come.”
“Ruby knows me,” I said quietly. “If she’s scared, she might need someone who isn’t yelling.”
He gave a sharp nod.
We arrived at the Drake Hotel and bypassed the lobby, taking the service elevator Nico knew from hosting charity galas.
When the doors opened on the fourth floor, we heard the voice.
It was a man’s voice. Smooth. Patient.
“June, let’s be reasonable. I just want to see my daughter.”
Nico moved down the carpeted hallway without making a sound.
I stayed two steps behind him.
Outside Room 412 stood a tall man in a tan trench coat. He had light hair and narrow shoulders.
Beside him, clutching a leather purse, was Brielle.
She turned and saw Nico.
Her face went completely pale, but she recovered instantly.
“Nico, darling,” she said, stepping forward. “I was trying to handle this quietly so you wouldn’t be disturbed.”
Nico didn’t look at her.
He looked at the man.
“Marcus,” Nico said.
Marcus smiled, though his eyes darted toward the heavy brass door handle. “DeSantis. It’s been a long time.”
“You have three seconds to step away from my daughter’s door.”
“Technically,” Marcus said, pulling a folded document from his coat pocket, “she’s my daughter.”
“You surrendered your rights when she was born. You took the money. You signed the papers.”
“I did,” Marcus agreed. “But Beth signed something else.”
He held up the paper.
“A guardianship amendment. Dated two weeks before her accident.”
Nico froze.
I watched his broad shoulders stiffen.
“Beth would never leave Ruby with you,” Nico said.
“She didn’t leave her with me,” Marcus said softly. “She named an alternate guardian in case anything happened to you.”
Nico stepped closer. “Show me.”
Marcus handed it over.
Nico unfolded the paper. I watched his eyes scan the lines.
Then he looked up, staring directly at Brielle.
Brielle shifted her weight, suddenly looking fragile. “Nico… I didn’t know how to tell you.”
Nico’s voice sounded hollow. “Beth named you?”
“We were best friends,” Brielle whispered. “Before I loved you, I loved her. She trusted me with Ruby.”
It made no sense.
Beth had died two years ago. Brielle had only started dating Nico ten months ago.
But as Nico stared at the signature, a heavy realization sank in.
If Brielle had guardianship power, she could hand Ruby straight to Marcus.
And that was exactly what she was trying to do.
Nico folded the paper.
He didn’t yell. He didn’t threaten.
He just turned to the door and knocked twice. “June. Open it.”
The door unlatched. June pulled it open, holding an eight-year-old girl in her arms.
Ruby was clutching the quilt I had saved from the trash.
When she saw Nico, she scrambled out of her grandmother’s arms and ran.
Nico dropped the paper, dropped to one knee, and caught her.
He buried his face in her shoulder.
“I got you,” he whispered. “I got you, sweetheart.”
Ruby looked over his shoulder. She saw Brielle.
“Daddy,” Ruby cried, burying her face against his neck. “She took Mommy’s necklace. The silver one with the bird.”
Nico went completely still.
He stood up, holding Ruby against his chest.
He turned to Brielle.
“What necklace?” he asked.
Brielle took a step back, her hand moving nervously to the collar of her silk blouse.
But I didn’t look at Brielle.
I looked at Marcus.
From the pocket of his tan coat, a thin silver chain was dangling over the fabric.
And at the end of it swung a small, tarnished silver bird.
Before I could point it out, Marcus realized what I was looking at.
He shoved the necklace deeper into his pocket and pulled out something else.
A rusted safety deposit box key.
May you like
“You think this is about the kid, DeSantis?” Marcus sneered. “Ask your fiancée what’s really in the box.”
TITLE: The Lie In The Silver Locket
