The Maid Who Walked Past A Fortune

I didn't scream. I didn't cry. The sight of the decapitated bear pinned to my bed triggered a survival instinct so deep it bypassed fear entirely and went straight to ice-cold rage.

I pulled the hunting knife free, grabbing the bear and the note, and bolted across the hall to Leo’s room.

He was still asleep, his chest rising and falling rhythmically beneath his superhero blanket. I locked his door, engaged the deadbolt, and pulled a heavy oak chair under the handle. Only then did I pull out my phone and dial the number Adrian had given me for emergencies.

He answered on the first ring. "What is it?"

"Someone was in my room," I kept my voice a harsh whisper, staring at Leo to ensure he didn't wake. "They left a threat against Leo. Adrian, they want him."

There was a fraction of a second of dead silence on the line. Then, "Lock the door. Do not open it for anyone but me. I am five minutes away."

The phone clicked dead.

Those five minutes were the longest of my life. I paced the floor, the hunting knife gripped tightly in my hand. I thought about Grant and Caroline. I thought about the silver watch. Grant was orchestrating all of this. He wanted to force Adrian’s hand, make him look weak to the syndicate, and take control.

Heavy, urgent footsteps pounded down the hallway.

"Nora!" Adrian’s voice barked through the thick wood.

I shoved the chair away and unlocked the door. Adrian stormed in, flanked by two massive men I didn't recognize. Adrian’s eyes scanned the room, landing on Leo, then on me. He saw the knife in my hand, the shredded bear, and the note.

His face hardened into a mask of pure, terrifying violence.

"Sweep the house," Adrian ordered the two men. "Full lockdown. Nobody leaves. If anyone tries, break their legs."

The men nodded and disappeared. Adrian closed the door and turned to me. He gently took the knife from my shaking hand and tossed it onto the desk. Then, without a word, he pulled me against his chest.

The embrace was startling. He was solid, warm, and completely overwhelming. I could hear his heart hammering against his ribs.

"You did good," he murmured into my hair, his voice rough. "You kept him safe."

I pulled back slightly, looking up into his dark eyes. "It’s Grant, Adrian."

Adrian stiffened. "Explain."

I told him everything. I told him about hiding in the closet, hearing Grant and Caroline plotting. I told him Grant wanted to overthrow him and use Leo as collateral.

Adrian’s jaw clenched so tight I thought his teeth would crack. "Grant has been trying to undermine me for months. He thinks my father's old ways—the blood, the fear—are the only way to rule. But turning on family? Threatening a child?"

Adrian walked over to the desk and pulled a small security tablet from a hidden drawer. "If Grant was in the family wing, he had to bypass the cameras. I installed a secondary system last month that he doesn't know about."

He tapped the screen rapidly, pulling up the footage from the hallway outside my room from thirty minutes ago.

We watched in silence. But the man who walked up to my door, picked the lock, and went inside wasn't Grant.

It was one of Adrian's most trusted security guards. A man named Silas.

Adrian froze. "Silas has been with my family for twenty years."

"Watch," I whispered, pointing at the screen.

A moment later, Silas stepped out of my room. He walked down the hall and stopped. The camera angle shifted slightly, and another figure stepped into the frame, handing Silas a thick envelope of cash.

It was Caroline Wells.

"She bought him," I breathed. "Grant is using Caroline to do his dirty work so his hands stay clean."

Adrian’s eyes burned with a dark, lethal fire. He set the tablet down. "Stay here with Leo. Lock the door again."

"What are you going to do?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly.

"I'm going to teach my cousin that the old ways he loves so much," Adrian said softly, "apply to traitors, too."

He turned to leave, but I grabbed his arm. "Adrian, wait." I needed to know. I couldn't hold it back anymore. "Before you go... ten years ago, a man named Arthur Bennett went to prison for your family. He was my father."