Chapter 5 - Do Not Trust Roman
Roman read the message twice.
His face revealed nothing.
“Did you put that phone there?”
“No.”
“When was Lily’s bag out of your sight?”
“The staff room.”
“Anyone could have accessed it.”
Another message appeared.
ASK ROMAN WHAT HAPPENED AT LAKE GENEVA.
Roman immediately turned the phone facedown.
Too late.
“What happened at Lake Geneva?”
“Nothing relevant.”
I laughed bitterly.
“My daughter’s supposedly dead father just warned me not to trust you.”
“I noticed.”
“Then answer.”
Roman walked toward the windows.
Ten years earlier, the Callahan family owned a secluded property near Lake Geneva.
Caleb was nineteen.
Roman was twenty-eight.
Their father, Sebastian, was still alive.
One winter night, a meeting became an ambush.
Sebastian was killed.
Caleb disappeared for three days.
Roman survived.
“Vincent found Caleb afterward,” Roman said.
“Where?”
“He never told me.”
“And you accepted that?”
“I was recovering from three gunshot wounds.”
I looked at him.
“Who attacked you?”
“We never proved it.”
“Who benefited?”
His eyes shifted toward the empty doorway Vincent had walked through.
Another message arrived.
Roman killed our father.
I looked at him.
Roman’s expression became completely still.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Would Caleb believe you did?”
“Yes.”
That answer surprised me.
Roman explained that Sebastian had planned to hand much of the family operation to Caleb eventually.
Roman opposed it.
He wanted Caleb outside their world.
Father and son fought constantly.
Hours before Sebastian died, Roman threatened him publicly.
“Caleb heard me.”
“So he thought you did it.”
“For years.”
“And Vincent?”
“Consoled him.”
The architecture of the lie became visible.
Vincent had raised Roman.
Protected Caleb.
Controlled what each brother knew.
Then Roman’s men recovered another surveillance clip.
Vincent leaving the building through an underground maintenance tunnel.
Someone waited for him.
Black SUV.
Passenger door opened.
A man stepped out.
Caleb.
Alive.
Roman stared at the screen.
I stopped myself from crying.
He was alive.
That should have been everything I wanted.
Instead, I felt betrayed twice.
Roman reached for his coat.
“I’m finding him.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“He’s Lily’s father.”
“And if this is a trap?”
“Then apparently I’m already inside it.”
Roman looked at me for a long moment.
Then nodded.
We left Lily with Roman’s housekeeper and four guards.
Before leaving, I kissed her forehead.
“Mommy’s coming back.”
Roman stood behind me.
Something painful crossed his face.
In the elevator, I asked:
“You love her already, don’t you?”
He stared forward.
“She’s Caleb’s.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
The doors opened.
Roman never answered.
Then his phone rang.
Vincent.
Roman put it on speaker.
“You want Caleb?” Vincent asked.
“Yes.”
“Bring Emily.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“Why?”
Vincent laughed softly.
“Because Caleb didn’t hide from Emily for eighteen months.”
May you like
Pause.
“He hid Emily from you.”
