Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Wasn’t Supposed to Matter
Darkness changed the Castellano mansion.
During daylight, it looked expensive.
At night, without electricity, it became something else.
A maze of shadowed corridors, locked doors, and whispered orders.
Marin stood completely still.
Somewhere nearby, Bruno barked.
A bodyguard shouted for everyone to stay down.
Dominic’s hand closed around Marin’s arm.
“Move.”
He pulled her behind the heavy desk just as another explosion of glass came from the windows.
Marin dropped beside him.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
“What is happening?”
“Someone outside the perimeter.”
“That doesn’t answer anything.”
“It answers enough.”
Dominic spoke into a small radio.
No response.
“Communications are down,” he muttered.
Bruno crawled beneath the desk and pressed against Marin’s leg.
She wrapped one arm around the puppy.
“You said someone tried to kill you.”
Dominic looked toward the broken window.
“The bullet missed.”
“That’s your comforting version?”
Another bodyguard entered from the corridor.
“Sir, external power line has been cut. Security feed is offline. East gate compromised.”
Dominic’s face became unreadable.
“How many?”
“Unknown.”
“Staff?”
“Being moved to the lower safe rooms.”
Dominic looked at Marin.
“Go with them.”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“No?”
“Bruno won’t leave you.”
“That is not your concern.”
“He is currently sitting on my foot.”
As if proving her point, Bruno leaned harder against her.
Dominic almost smiled.
Almost.
Then another man appeared.
“Mr. Castellano, we need to move.”
Dominic nodded.
“Marin goes downstairs.”
A guard reached toward her.
She followed.
But before she left the office, something caught her attention.
A tiny blinking light beneath the lip of Dominic’s desk.
Marin stopped.
“What is that?”
Dominic turned.
The light flashed again.
Red.
Small.
Almost invisible.
Marin crouched.
“Don’t touch it,” Dominic said sharply.
She didn’t.
Instead, she leaned closer.
A small black device had been taped beneath the desk.
Dominic’s expression hardened.
One of the guards swore.
“A transmitter,” he said.
Dominic looked toward the broken window.
“So they knew where I was standing.”
The realization chilled everyone.
The sniper had not guessed.
Someone had planted a tracker inside Dominic’s private office.
Someone with access.
Someone inside the mansion.
Marin thought instantly of the warning on the document.
Your house has a traitor.
Dominic looked at every face in the room.
Then at Marin.
“You saw that because you clean.”
She nodded.
“No one else noticed?”
“Apparently rich people don’t look under furniture.”
One bodyguard gave her an incredulous stare.
Dominic’s mouth twitched despite the danger.
“Take her downstairs.”
This time Marin obeyed.
The safe area beneath the mansion looked nothing like the basement she had cleaned earlier that week.
Behind a disguised wine-storage wall was a reinforced corridor leading to several rooms stocked with emergency supplies.
Housekeepers, chefs, gardeners, administrative staff, and drivers gathered silently.
Victoria stood near the entrance, issuing instructions.
When Marin entered carrying Bruno, Victoria’s gaze immediately sharpened.
“What happened upstairs?”
“I don’t know.”
“Were you with Mr. Castellano?”
Marin hesitated.
Victoria saw the answer.
Something cold passed through her face.
Before she could speak, one of Dominic’s senior guards entered.
“Nobody leaves until we clear the estate.”
Whispers spread.
Victoria stepped forward.
“This staff has been screened.”
“Screen them again.”
Marin lowered Bruno to the floor.
The puppy immediately ran toward Rosa.
Marin leaned against the wall.
Her hands began shaking.
Only now, away from Dominic’s office, did the fear catch up.
Someone had fired a rifle at a man standing ten feet away from her.
She had heard the bullet.
Seen the glass explode.
Seen blood on Dominic’s hand.
“You okay?”
Rosa touched her shoulder.
Marin nodded too quickly.
“I’ve had better Fridays.”
Rosa squeezed her hand.
Hours passed.
By midnight, the power returned.
By one, the security team had found evidence that someone had entered through a service passage using a staff access code.
By two, Marin was called upstairs.
Dominic waited in the library.
His injured hand was bandaged.
Three men stood nearby.
Victoria was there too.
“Sit,” Dominic said.
Marin looked at the chair.
He noticed.
“This one is permitted.”
She sat.
Dominic remained standing.
“You noticed the transmitter.”
“Yes.”
“Have you seen anyone beneath my desk?”
Marin frowned.
“Besides me?”
A bodyguard almost smiled.
Dominic did not.
“This is serious.”
“I know.”
Marin thought carefully.
She cleaned the office only twice.
Rosa normally handled it.
Then something surfaced in her memory.
“Victoria.”
The estate manager’s shoulders stiffened.
Dominic looked at Marin.
“What about her?”
“I saw her in your office yesterday.”
Victoria’s eyes flashed.
“I manage this house.”
Marin raised a hand.
“I’m not accusing you.”
“Then choose your words carefully.”
Dominic turned toward Victoria.
“Let her speak.”
Marin continued.
“She wasn’t under the desk. But she was arguing with someone on the phone.”
Victoria went still.
Dominic’s attention sharpened.
“What did you hear?”
“I didn’t mean to listen.”
“What did you hear?”
Marin swallowed.
“She said, ‘You promised this would be finished before the board meeting.’ Then she saw me and hung up.”
Victoria laughed once.
“This is absurd.”
“Who were you speaking with?” Dominic asked.
“My attorney.”
“At eleven thirty in the morning?”
“Yes.”
“About what?”
Victoria’s composure cracked.
“A personal matter.”
Dominic studied her.
Victoria had worked for the Castellano family for eight years.
She knew every room.
Every schedule.
Every entrance.
Marin suddenly regretted speaking.
Victoria turned toward her.
“You have been here less than a week. You know nothing about this family.”
“No,” Marin said quietly. “I don’t.”
“Then stop pretending you do.”
Dominic’s voice became colder.
“That is enough.”
Victoria stared at him.
Something passed between them.
History.
Pain.
Something Marin did not understand.
Victoria left.
Dominic dismissed the guards.
Marin stood.
“Am I done?”
“Not yet.”
She sat again.
Dominic looked at her.
“Why did you come toward the office after the shot?”
Marin blinked.
“I heard Bruno.”
“That is not a sufficient reason to run toward gunfire.”
“I wasn’t thinking.”
“That much is obvious.”
“Thanks.”
Dominic sat opposite her.
“You could have been killed.”
“So could you.”
His expression changed.
“People have been trying to kill me for twenty years.”
“That doesn’t make it normal.”
“For me, it does.”
The answer unsettled her more than the gunshot.
She looked at the bandage on his hand.
“Does it hurt?”
Dominic glanced at it.
“No.”
“That means yes.”
“You are unusually comfortable contradicting me.”
“I’m unusually uncomfortable pretending.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Dominic asked, “Why do you need this job?”
Marin stiffened.
“What?”
“You tolerate Victoria. You take assignments nobody else wants. You nearly chased my dog through a meeting for a piece of paper. Why?”
She could have lied.
Instead she told him.
“My brother is twenty. Eli. Our mom died two years ago. He’s studying electrical engineering at community college and wants to transfer next year. I promised her I’d help him finish.”
“Your father?”
“Left when we were kids.”
“And you?”
“What about me?”
“What did you want?”
The question surprised her.
Nobody had asked in years.
Marin looked down.
“I wanted to open a bakery.”
Dominic’s eyebrow lifted.
“A bakery.”
“Don’t sound so disappointed.”
“I’m not.”
“I trained as a pastry chef for eighteen months. Then Mom got sick. Plans changed.”
“You gave it up.”
“I postponed it.”
There was a difference.
She needed there to be.
Dominic nodded slowly.
“Good.”
“Good?”
“People who give up permanently are difficult to trust.”
Marin smiled.
“You have a motivational-poster side. That’s disturbing.”
He almost laughed again.
The next morning, the mansion remained locked down.
Everyone was questioned.
Access records were reviewed.
And something strange happened.
Dominic asked Marin to remain on the property until the investigation ended.
Victoria objected immediately.
“She is temporary staff.”
“She may have seen something useful.”
“She has already provided her statement.”
Dominic’s gaze did not leave Victoria.
“She stays.”
By evening, Marin had been moved into a guest room larger than her entire apartment.
She called Eli.
“You’re staying where?”
“At work.”
“Your work has guest rooms?”
“Apparently.”
“What exactly are you doing again?”
“Cleaning.”
“Marin.”
“What?”
“You sound weird.”
“I’m tired.”
She didn’t mention bullets.
Or mafia rumors.
Or the dangerous man who remembered her name.
Especially that.
The following afternoon, Marin was carrying towels through the second-floor corridor when she passed Victoria’s office.
The door was partly open.
A man’s voice came from inside.
“You’re losing control.”
Marin stopped.
Victoria answered.
“I told you not to come here.”
“You said Castellano would sign.”
“He was supposed to.”
“Then make him.”
Marin’s pulse jumped.
She should leave.
Instead, she moved closer.
The male voice continued.
“If Dominic discovers what you transferred, both of us are finished.”
Marin’s breath caught.
The floorboard beneath her foot creaked.
Silence inside.
The door opened.
Victoria stood there.
Behind her was a man Marin had never seen.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
Cold eyes.
Victoria looked directly at Marin.
“How much did you hear?”
Marin forced a confused expression.
“Hear?”
“You were listening.”
“I was carrying towels.”
The man stepped closer.
“Who is she?”
Victoria’s gaze remained on Marin.
“The problem I warned you about.”
Marin’s stomach tightened.
Then Bruno came racing down the hallway.
He barked.
The silver-haired man stepped backward.
Marin seized the moment.
“Bruno!”
She bent, scooped up the puppy, and walked away.
She did not run.
Not until she reached the stairs.
Dominic was in the downstairs office with three attorneys.
Marin opened the door without knocking.
Every man looked up.
Dominic saw her face.
He immediately stood.
“What happened?”
Marin closed the door behind her.
“There’s a man upstairs with Victoria.”
Dominic’s expression turned cold.
“Describe him.”
“Sixties. Silver hair. Gray suit. Expensive watch. Looks like he hasn’t enjoyed anything since 1987.”
One attorney went pale.
Dominic noticed.
“Who?”
The attorney swallowed.
“Charles Vane.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Marin looked between them.
“Who is Charles Vane?”
Dominic answered quietly.
“The man trying to take my company.”
Upstairs, a door slammed.
A car engine started outside.
Dominic crossed to the window.
A black sedan sped through the estate gate.
His security team ran toward it too late.
Marin stood beside him.
“What did Victoria transfer?”
Dominic turned sharply.
“You heard that?”
“Part of it.”
The attorney closed his folder.
“Dominic, we have to assume the acquisition attack is connected.”
Marin frowned.
“What acquisition?”
Dominic looked at her.
For the first time, she saw something more dangerous than anger in his face.
Betrayal.
“My father built Castellano Holdings forty years ago. Someone has been quietly purchasing debt connected to our properties. If they gain control before Monday’s board vote, they can force a restructuring.”
“And Charles Vane?”
“He wants the company.”
“And Victoria?”
Dominic didn’t answer.
He didn’t have to.
That night, Victoria disappeared.
Her room was empty.
Her phone was disconnected.
And twenty-three million dollars was missing from a Castellano corporate account.
Every piece of evidence pointed directly toward her.
Except one.
A handwritten note was found inside her desk.
It contained only three lines.
Dominic will blame me.
May you like
He is supposed to.
Ask the maid what Bruno found.
