Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Foyer
“Stay behind me,” Thomas ordered, drawing his weapon as he stepped out of the SUV.
I didn’t listen. I was done hiding behind men with guns. This was my house.
I pushed past Thomas and walked through the front door, which had been left slightly ajar. The grand foyer was silent, the chandelier casting long, jagged shadows across the marble floor.
Standing by the grand staircase, examining a family portrait on the wall, was a woman.
She turned around as I entered.
She was older than Rebecca, closer to my age. She wore an expensive, tailored suit and had a posture that commanded the room.
It was Gabriel’s lawyer, Diane.
“Margaret,” she said smoothly, not looking at Thomas’s gun. “You’re supposed to be at the hospital.”
“And you’re supposed to call before breaking into my home, Diane,” I replied, walking toward her. “What are you doing here?”
Diane sighed, adjusting her briefcase. “Gabriel called me from the hospital. He said things had accelerated. He asked me to come and retrieve the final documents.”
“What documents?”
“The trust,” she said simply. “For the boy. It needs to be filed today.”
I stared at her. Diane had handled our estate planning for fifteen years. She knew everything.
“You knew,” I said, my voice trembling with a fresh wave of betrayal. “You knew about the boy. You knew about Elena. You knew about the fake funeral.”
Diane didn’t flinch. “I am Gabriel’s attorney, Margaret. I execute his wishes. And his dying wish is to ensure Leo is protected from the Castellano family.”
“Elena already has Leo,” I said flatly.
Diane’s professional calm finally shattered. She dropped her briefcase. “What? When?”
“An hour ago. She called me. She wants the ledger in exchange for Gabriel’s life.”
Diane went completely pale. “Margaret… if Elena has the ledger, she has the power to destroy both families. Gabriel kept it as a dead man’s switch. If he dies, the ledger goes to the FBI, taking the Castellanos down with him.”
Answer one. Open two.
Gabriel wasn’t just hiding the boy. He was holding a nuclear bomb over the Chicago underworld to ensure no one touched his son after he was gone.
“Where is it?” Diane asked, panic edging into her voice.
“I’m going to get it,” I said.
I ran upstairs to my bedroom, leaving Diane and Thomas in the foyer. I went straight to my vanity and opened the velvet jewelry box.
At the bottom lay the vintage pocket watch.
I picked it up. It was heavy. I pressed the small release button on the side. The back popped open.
Inside, where the intricate gears should have been, there was a tiny, folded SD card.
I stared at the little black square. This was it. The leverage. The lives of dozens of men, all resting in my palm.
I walked back downstairs. Diane held out her hand eagerly.
“Give it to me, Margaret. I can take it to the feds right now. We can end this.”
I looked at Diane. Then I looked at Thomas.
Then, I looked at the family portrait on the wall. Gabriel and me, smiling, taken five years ago. A lie wrapped in a gold frame.
“No,” I said.
Diane frowned. “Margaret, be reasonable. Gabriel is dying. Leo is in danger. Give me the card.”
“Elena doesn’t want to destroy the Castellanos,” I said slowly, the realization dawning on me. “She is a Castellano. She wants the ledger to destroy her brother so she can take over the family.”
Diane blinked. “That’s absurd.”
“Is it?” I challenged. “If I give this to the FBI, the Castellanos go to prison, but Gabriel’s empire collapses too. Leo becomes the penniless son of a dead mobster. But if Elena gets it, she uses it to blackmail her brother, take his throne, and raise Leo as the heir to both families.”
I stepped closer to Diane.
“You don’t want me to give this to the FBI, Diane. You want to give it to Elena. Because you work for her.”
A heavy silence fell over the foyer.
Thomas shifted his grip on his gun, aiming it directly at Diane.
Diane didn’t panic. She just smiled, a cold, calculating smile that made her look like a stranger.
“Gabriel was right about you, Maggie,” Diane said softly. “He always said you were sharper than you looked. It’s a shame he kept you in the dark.”
“Why are you doing this?” I demanded.
“Because Gabriel’s era is over,” Diane said simply. “Elena is the future. And if you don’t hand over that drive, Gabriel won’t survive the night.”
Before Thomas could move, the front door swung wide open.
Three men in dark suits stepped into the house, their weapons already drawn and pointed at Thomas and me.
“Give her the drive, Mrs. Romano,” the lead man said.
I tightened my fist around the pocket watch. I was surrounded in my own home, holding the one thing keeping my husband alive.
Then, a small voice broke the tension.
“Don’t hurt her.”
A little boy stepped out from behind the armed men. He had dark hair like Gabriel, and bright green eyes like Elena.
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It was Leo.
TITLE: The Boy in the Hallway
