Chapter 4 - THE PRICE OF AN INVITATION
The air in the foyer suddenly felt heavy, as if the atmospheric pressure had plummeted before a violent storm.
Nora clutched the crumpled photograph in her hand, her knuckles turning white. She could feel the heat radiating from Adrian’s back as he shielded her. His posture had changed completely. The polished, aristocratic guest was gone. In his place was a predator, utterly still and coiled for violence.
Vincent paused at the edge of the marble floor. He didn’t look at the chandeliers. He didn’t look at the waiters.
His eyes scanned the crowd and locked instantly on Adrian.
A slow, terrifying smile spread across Vincent’s face. It didn’t reach his cold, dead eyes.
“Take the boy upstairs,” Adrian ordered, his voice barely a whisper. “Now, Nora.”
“I’m not leaving you here,” she said, her heart hammering against her ribs.
“You are taking Leo to the bridal suite, locking the door, and staying away from the windows,” Adrian said, not breaking eye contact with Vincent. “Go.”
Nora grabbed Leo’s hand. The eight-year-old was surprisingly compliant, sensing the absolute gravity in the adult voices. They backed away slowly, slipping behind a towering floral arrangement just as Vincent began to walk toward the center of the room.
Nora didn’t go upstairs. She couldn’t.
She pulled Leo into the shadow of the grand staircase, peering through the wooden balusters.
Vincent stopped ten feet from Adrian. His two heavy-set men flanked him, their hands resting ominously in their coat pockets.
“Adrian,” Vincent said loudly, his voice carrying over the string quartet. “What a beautiful surprise. I didn’t know you enjoyed country weddings.”
“Anniversary,” Adrian corrected smoothly. His voice projected calm authority, drawing zero attention from the oblivious guests laughing near the bar. “And it’s a private event, Vincent. You aren’t on the list.”
“I’m a friend of the family,” Vincent chuckled. He reached into his pocket.
Nora held her breath, terrifying images of guns flashing through her mind.
But Vincent didn’t pull a weapon.
He pulled out a heavy, tarnished silver rosary.
He wrapped it slowly around his knuckles, the beads clinking softly against each other.
Adrian’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. Even from her hiding spot, Nora could see the muscles in his jaw ticking.
“Such a tragedy about Julian,” Vincent murmured, admiring the silver cross dangling from his fist. “He was always so reckless. Driving too fast on those mountain roads. A tragic accident.”
Nora felt a sickening realization wash over her.
Julian. Adrian’s brother.
Vincent hadn’t just come to crash a party. He was taunting Adrian with a dead man’s possessions.
“If you are here to gloat, you’ve made a fatal miscalculation,” Adrian said, his tone dropping to a lethal quiet.
“I’m not here for you, Adrian,” Vincent said, dropping the rosary back into his pocket. “I’m here for my business partner. I believe he’s upstairs fetching something for me. I’ll just wait by the bar.”
Vincent tipped his head mockingly and walked past Adrian, his men following close behind.
Adrian didn’t move. He stood like a statue in the foyer, his eyes tracking Vincent’s reflection in the massive mirror above the fireplace.
“Aunt Nora?” Leo whispered, tugging her hand. “Why is that bad man here?”
“I don’t know, buddy,” she breathed.
“Is it because of Grandma and Grandpa’s money?”
Nora snapped her head down to look at her nephew. “What money, Leo?”
Leo looked guilty, kicking his toe against the floorboard. “Mom was yelling on the phone yesterday. She said Uncle Mark took all of Grandma’s retirement money and put it in a bad house. She said they were all going to be poor.”
Nora felt the blood drain from her face.
A bad house.
Bellweather House.
The pieces slammed together with terrifying clarity. Mark hadn’t just pawned a watch. He had stolen her parents’ life savings to invest in this venue, and when the investment failed, he had borrowed from the mob to cover it up. And now, to pay off Vincent and erase the evidence, Mark was going to burn the building down with the insurance code on that photograph.
She wasn’t just a divorced daughter at a party. She was standing in a massive, elegant trap.
“Leo, listen to me,” Nora said, crouching down to his eye level. “I need you to go upstairs to the bridal suite, lock the door, and do not open it for anyone except me or Mr. DeLuca. Do you understand?”
“What are you going to do?”
“I have to find Uncle Mark.”
Before Leo could argue, a hand clamped down on Nora’s shoulder.
She shrieked, spinning around.
It was Chloe.
Mark’s pregnant new wife was pale, trembling, and looking over her shoulder with wide, terrified eyes.
“Chloe? What’s wrong with you?” Nora asked.
“You have to help me,” Chloe whispered frantically. She grabbed Nora’s arm, her perfectly manicured nails digging into Nora’s skin. “He’s going to leave me here.”
“Who? Mark?”
“Yes!” Chloe sobbed quietly, pulling Nora deeper into the alcove under the stairs. “He told me to wait in the car, but he took his passport. He’s leaving the country, Nora.”
“He has my parents’ money,” Nora said fiercely. “Where is he?”
“In the manager’s office down the hall. But you can’t let Vincent see you.” Chloe’s voice broke. “Vincent is my uncle.”
Nora stared at her, stunned. “Your uncle? You’re Vincent’s niece?”
“He made Mark marry me to keep an eye on the investment!” Chloe cried. “I didn’t want this! But now Mark is running, and if Vincent finds out Mark stole from him too, my uncle will kill us both.”
Chloe shoved her hand into her purse and pulled something out.
She grabbed Nora’s wrist and slapped a heavy, icy object into her palm.
Nora looked down.
It was a blindingly bright diamond bracelet. Thick, custom-made, and easily worth a hundred thousand dollars.
“What is this?” Nora asked, horrified.
“Hide it,” Chloe begged, tears spilling down her cheeks. “If Vincent sees it, he’ll know I took it.”
“Took what? It’s a bracelet!”
“Look at the clasp, Nora!”
Nora turned the heavy jewelry over. The clasp was unusually thick. She pressed a small latch, and a tiny, concealed USB drive popped out of the metal casing.
“It’s all the offshore accounts,” Chloe whispered. “Vincent’s money. Mark’s transfers. It proves everything. I stole it from Mark’s briefcase so I’d have leverage, but if my uncle catches me with it, I’m dead.”
Before Nora could process the weight of the drive in her hand, a booming voice echoed through the hallway.
“Ladies and gentlemen! If the Hayes family could please gather in the library for the anniversary photograph!”
The photographer.
Nora looked up. Across the foyer, Helen was waving frantically at her.
“Nora! Come on! Don’t ruin this!” Helen shouted.
Chloe gasped and sprinted away, disappearing into the crowd toward the bathrooms.
Nora stood frozen, holding the diamond bracelet with the damning flash drive. She looked toward the library, then toward the manager’s office where Mark was supposedly packing his bags.
Suddenly, Adrian was beside her.
He didn’t ask if she was okay. He looked down at the diamonds in her hand, then at the terror in her eyes.
“They’re calling for the picture,” Adrian said softly.
“Adrian,” Nora choked out. “Mark has my parents’ money. And Vincent wants this drive.”
Adrian reached out and gently closed her fingers over the bracelet.
“Put it in your pocket,” he commanded. “Keep your chin up. Walk into that room, and take the photograph.”
May you like
“But Mark—”
“I will handle Mark,” Adrian said. The lethal coldness had returned to his eyes. “Go stand with your family. I am right behind you.”
