Chapter 6 - The Unspoken Vow
The small apartment in the west wing of the estate was quiet and warm. A small lamp glowed on the nightstand, casting soft yellow light across the modest room. Lucia was fast asleep under a heavy quilt, her cloth rabbit tucked securely beneath her chin.
Mara sat at the kitchen table in a simple cotton robe, staring blankly at the cold cup of tea sitting between her hands. Her mind was in complete disarray. She had heard the rumors echoing down the hallways twenty minutes ago from the other housekeepers—Dante Romano had canceled the engagement publicly. He had threatened the Senator. He had thrown Celeste Vane out into the rain.
And everyone was saying he had done it because of her.
A soft knock sounded at the door. Not the loud, arrogant banging of Celeste or the security guards, but a low, rhythmic knock.
Mara stood up, her chest tight with anxiety. She smoothed her robe and opened the door.
Dante Romano stood in the hallway. He had removed his tuxedo jacket and black tie, rolling the sleeves of his white crisp dress shirt up to his forearms. He held a thick paper file in his left hand.
"Mr. Romano," Mara breathed, stepping back to let him enter. "You... you shouldn't be here. The guests—"
"The guests are leaving," Dante said smoothly, entering the room. He looked around the small space—impeccably clean, filled with child's drawings, smelling softly of lavender and vanilla. "May I sit?"
"Of course," Mara said quickly, pulling out a wooden chair for him.
Dante sat down, placing the thick paper file on the center of the table. He looked at Mara, noticing the way her hands were tightly clasped together in her lap, her body defensive and frightened.
"You don't need to be afraid of me, Mara," he said quietly.
"I am not afraid of you, sir," Mara whispered, looking directly into his grey eyes for the first time in nineteen months. "I am afraid for you. Senator Vane is a powerful man. Breaking an engagement with his daughter... ruining your alliance... it will cause terrible problems for your business."
A rare, faint smile touched the corner of Dante’s lips. "Are you worried about my business, Mara?"
Mara flushed slightly, lowering her gaze. "I am worried because you were kind to me. No one has been kind to me in a very long time."
Dante’s smile faded, replaced by an intense, unwavering focus. He tapped his fingers against the paper file on the table. "I had Marco run a complete background check on you three hours ago."
Mara stiffened, her body going cold. "Why?"
"Because I wanted to know why a woman with a master's degree in corporate finance was working as a housekeeper in my estate for minimum wage," Dante said quietly. He opened the folder, revealing pages of financial records. "Your husband, Julian Bellini, didn't abandon you, did he?"
Mara swallowed hard, a painful lump forming in her throat.
"He stole three million dollars from the Moretti syndicate," Dante continued smoothly, reading from the document. "And when they caught up with him three years ago, he traded your safety and your daughter's future to save his own skin. He gave them your debt, fled the country to South America, and left you to pay off his interest to predatory loan sharks."
Tears welling in her eyes, Mara buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with quiet, heartbreaking sobs. "I had no choice," she wept softly. "They told me if I didn't pay five thousand dollars every month, they would take Lucia. I took this job because your estate offered free housing, and I could hide her behind your security walls."
Dante stood up from the chair, walked around the table, and knelt beside her. He reached out, gently taking her hands away from her face, forcing her to look at him.
"The loan sharks are dead, Mara," Dante said calmly.
Mara blinked through her tears, confused. "What?"
"Marco and my men visited their headquarters an hour ago," Dante stated without a hint of remorse in his voice. "Your debts are completely erased. The paper trail is destroyed. Julian Bellini was located in Brazil twenty minutes ago; he will never breathe air again after tonight."
May you like
Mara stared at him, her heart stopping in her chest. "You... you killed them?"
"I eliminated a threat to my home," Dante corrected gently, wiping a stray tear from her soft cheek with his thumb. "From the moment you stepped into this estate, you were under my protection. I simply failed to notice how badly you needed it until tonight."
