Chapter 4 - The House on the Cliffs
The housekeeper appeared at the bedroom door within thirty seconds, her apron strings crooked, her face pale with fright. She had worked for the Romano family for thirty years, since Damian was a violent, hot-tempered boy running the docks. She had never heard him scream like that.
“Mr. Romano—what happened? Are you hurt?”
Damian was standing over the bed, his dark hair wild, his tie undone, the diary clutched in one trembling fist.
“Where does she go?” he demanded. His voice was hoarse, stripped of all its polished authority. “When she leaves this house on Tuesdays. Where does she go?”
Martha blinked, her eyes darting between Damian’s crazed expression and the blue book in his hand. “Mr. Romano, I… Mrs. Romano asked me—”
“Where does she go, Martha?!”
“To the medical center in Tacoma!” Martha blurted out, her hands flying to her mouth, tears springing to her eyes. “She made me swear! She made me swear on my mother’s soul not to tell you!”
Damian’s vision tunneled. “Why? What is wrong with her?”
“Her heart, sir!” Martha was weeping openly now. “Her heart is failing! She’s had two fainting spells in the garden this month alone! I found her collapsed by the hydrangeas two weeks ago, and she begged me—she held my hands and wept, Mr. Romano—she said, ‘Damian is dealing with the cartel, Martha. If he finds out, he’ll think I’m weak, he’ll think I’m an obligation. Please let him have peace.’ She wouldn't even let me call an ambulance! She took a taxi!”
Every word was a nail driven straight into Damian’s skull.
*She begged me.*
*He’ll think I’m an obligation.*
“Who is the doctor?” Damian whispered. His voice was terrifyingly low now. “Give me the name.”
“Dr. Henderson. Advanced Cardiology.”
Damian pulled his phone from his pocket. His hands were shaking so severely he nearly dropped the device. He punched in his private security chief’s number.
“Leo,” Damian growled into the receiver.
“Boss? You’re late for the terminal meeting. Victor is already sitting down with the arbitrators—”
“Cancel it.”
A stunned silence on the other end. “Cancel it? Damian, if we don't show, Victor takes the north berth by default—”
“Let him have the fucking berth!” Damian screamed into the phone, veins bulging across his neck. “Get Dr. Henderson in Tacoma on the line right now. Put his entire clinic on hold. If he refuses, bring him to the estate in the back of an SUV. And find Emma. Where is she? Where is my wife?”
“She… boss, she took her personal sedan twenty minutes ago. She said she was going into the village for groceries.”
Damian hung up.
He didn't wait for his drivers. He didn't grab an umbrella. He sprinted down the grand curved staircase, through the echoing marble foyer, and burst through the heavy front doors into the pouring rain.
May you like
He threw himself into the black Mercedes AMG parked in the courtyard, slammed the pedal into the floorboards, and tore down the cliffside driveway, tires screaming against the slick asphalt.
***
