Chapter 1
On Christmas Eve, I was forced outside into a deadly snowstorm without a coat or boots while nearly sixty wealthy guests celebrated inside a mafia boss's luxurious Aspen mansion. I was only a maid, and his beautiful fiancée had accused me of stealing her diamond earring. When I begged someone to unlock the glass doors, the people inside simply laughed and returned to their champagne. But what Vanessa Crane didn't know was that the most feared mafia boss in Colorado would eventually find me freezing outside—and what he discovered would turn his Christmas celebration into a nightmare.
My name is Elena Brooks. I'm twenty-six, and three months earlier, I'd been teaching tenth-grade English outside Chicago.
Then my father's gambling debts destroyed everything.
Frank Brooks owed money to dangerous lenders, and when the threats started arriving, I abandoned my teaching career to find a better-paying job.
That's how I became a maid at Dominic Vale's Aspen estate.
Dominic was thirty-four, extraordinarily wealthy, and controlled a mafia empire stretching from Denver to Chicago and New York. He owned restaurants, construction companies, private security firms, and enough influence to terrify powerful men.
Everyone feared him.
But the person who made my life miserable wasn't Dominic.
It was his fiancée.
Vanessa Crane.
Beautiful, wealthy, and cruel enough to smile while humiliating someone who couldn't fight back.
Three weeks earlier, Dominic had returned from a business trip at five in the morning. I'd been preparing coffee when he unexpectedly entered the kitchen.
He took one sip.
“This is actually good.”
Four harmless words.
Unfortunately, Vanessa overheard them.
After that, I received the longest shifts, the smallest meals, and every unpleasant assignment the head housekeeper could find.
Then came Christmas Eve.
Dominic's mansion glittered beneath thousands of lights. A twelve-foot Christmas tree stood inside the ballroom while politicians, businessmen, and dangerous associates drank champagne beneath crystal chandeliers.
I was cleaning up broken glass near the terrace when Vanessa approached in a fitted red evening gown.
“You missed a piece.”
I knelt to collect another shard, accidentally cutting my finger.
“Yes, ma'am.”
Her smile tightened.
Then she touched her diamond earring.
Or rather, the place where it should have been.
“My earring is missing.”
I looked up.
“Would you like me to check upstairs?”
“No. I dropped it outside.”
I turned toward the glass terrace doors.
Snow was blowing sideways against the windows. The temperature had fallen below zero, and local authorities had warned everyone to remain indoors.
“Outside?”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“Is that a problem?”
“Ms. Crane, there's a dangerous storm.”
“Was that a refusal?”
Several guests turned to watch.
I swallowed.
“No, ma'am.”
“Then go find it.”
I glanced toward Mrs. Garrison, the head housekeeper, hoping she'd intervene.
She didn't.
“Please,” I whispered. “Can I at least get my coat and boots?”
Vanessa laughed.
“You won't be outside long.”
My stomach tightened.
Then she leaned closer.
“Do you know what happens to employees who steal from Dominic Vale?”
“I haven't stolen anything!”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Then prove it.”
I looked toward the guests, waiting for someone to object.
Nobody did.
Finally, I stepped onto the terrace.
The freezing wind stole my breath immediately.
Behind me, the glass doors closed.
I searched desperately through the snow, my thin uniform offering almost no protection.
Then I heard a click.
I turned around.
The doors were locked.
Through the glass, Vanessa stood holding her champagne.
I rushed toward her.
“Please! Open the door!”
She smiled.
I pounded harder as the cold began numbing my fingers.
Inside, the guests returned to laughing.
May you like
And as my strength slowly disappeared, I had no idea whether Dominic Vale even knew I was outside.
Or what would happen when the most dangerous man in the mansion finally discovered what his fiancée had done.
