Chapter 3 - The Green Notebook and the Family Betrayal
The party was dying when Grace walked back into the Romano mansion wearing Luca Romano’s jacket.
Every person who noticed stared.
Grace almost enjoyed that.
Almost.
Luca led her to his private study, where Mrs. Callahan was waiting beside the fireplace.
The older woman looked devastated.
“Grace.”
“Where’s my father’s notebook?”
Mrs. Callahan’s eyes filled.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
Instead of answering, she reached into her apron and handed Luca a folded piece of paper.
He opened it.
Grace watched his expression harden.
“What does it say?”
Luca passed her the note.
IF GRACE BENNETT LEAVES THIS HOUSE WITH THE GREEN BOOK, HELEN BENNETT WILL NOT SEE MORNING.
Grace read it twice.
Her hands became numb.
“When did you get this?”
“Yesterday,” Mrs. Callahan whispered.
“And you told nobody?”
“It said security was compromised.”
Luca’s eyes sharpened.
“You’ve worked for my family twenty-three years.”
“I’ve also watched good men die because they trusted the wrong people.”
Silence settled across the room.
Grace looked at her.
“Where’s the book?”
“Old linen cabinet beside the west stairs.”
Luca turned toward Aaron.
“Get it.”
Aaron left.
Grace sank into a chair.
“I don’t understand. Why would anybody threaten my mother over my father’s cookbook?”
Mrs. Callahan began crying.
“Because it wasn’t only a cookbook.”
Grace slowly stood.
“What are you talking about?”
The study doors opened before the woman could answer.
Victoria Hale entered.
She was still wearing the silver gown from dinner.
“Luca, this is ridiculous. People are leaving and you’re hiding in here with—”
Her gaze found Grace.
Then Luca’s jacket around Grace’s shoulders.
Victoria’s face changed.
“With the maid.”
Luca’s voice became dangerously calm.
“Her name is Grace.”
Victoria laughed.
“Seriously?”
“I reviewed the footage.”
Color drained from her face.
“What footage?”
“The footage of you planting your bracelet.”
Victoria said nothing.
Luca stepped closer.
“The partnership with your father’s firm is suspended.”
“You would risk a ninety-million-dollar project because some employee’s feelings were hurt?”
“No.”
His voice became colder.
“I would risk it because your behavior tells me your family cannot be trusted.”
Victoria’s confidence flickered.
“This is insane.”
Grace studied her.
Something wasn’t right.
When Mrs. Callahan shifted near the fireplace, Victoria glanced at her.
Only for a second.
But Grace saw fear.
“You know about the notebook,” Grace said.
Victoria froze.
“What notebook?”
“The one you just looked terrified to hear mentioned.”
Victoria laughed.
Too fast.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Luca’s phone rang.
Aaron.
He answered.
Then went still.
“Check again.”
Grace felt dread spreading through her.
Luca ended the call.
“The cabinet is empty.”
Mrs. Callahan covered her mouth.
“No.”
“Someone took the notebook less than thirty minutes ago.”
Victoria moved toward the door.
“I don’t need to stay for this.”
Luca blocked her path without touching her.
“You do.”
Grace suddenly remembered her father’s handwriting.
Rows of numbers.
Dates.
Initials.
One sentence he had written inside the back cover.
Keep ordinary things close. Powerful men rarely notice them.
Her heart began pounding.
“My father was an accountant before he opened his restaurant.”
Luca turned.
“What was his name?”
“Samuel Bennett.”
Luca didn’t move.
Mrs. Callahan closed her eyes.
Victoria went pale.
Grace looked between them.
“What?”
Luca walked to his desk, unlocked a drawer and removed an old photograph.
Two men stood outside a warehouse beside the East River.
One was Grace’s father.
The other was a man she recognized from photographs inside the mansion.
Luca’s father.
On the back were four handwritten words.
Samuel kept the proof.
Grace’s breath caught.
“What is this?”
Luca leaned against the desk.
“My father believed someone inside his organization was stealing millions through legitimate companies. Samuel Bennett discovered how.”
Grace felt the room tilt.
“My father owned a restaurant.”
“Later.”
“No.”
“Grace—”
“He died in a car accident.”
Luca’s expression told her everything before he spoke.
“No, he didn’t.”
The room became unbearably still.
Grace shook her head.
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I were.”
“Police investigated.”
“Evidence disappeared.”
She looked at Mrs. Callahan.
The older woman was crying.
“You knew?”
“I knew he was frightened before he died.”
Grace backed away.
“You let me work here for almost a year.”
“I didn’t know you were Samuel’s daughter,” Luca said.
“How could you not?”
“Your application listed Bennett. I knew Samuel by another surname he used professionally. When you mentioned your father’s name tonight, I understood.”
Grace laughed bitterly.
“Convenient.”
Luca accepted the accusation.
“My father was murdered six months after yours.”
Grace stopped.
“What?”
“For years I thought one of our rivals ordered it.”
“And now?”
“Now I think both deaths were connected.”
The doors opened.
Aaron entered holding a tablet.
“We found the man who took the notebook.”
Security footage showed someone in a maintenance uniform leaving the service hall.
His badge displayed Hale Capital’s logo.
Victoria immediately spoke.
“My father’s company employs hundreds of contractors.”
Aaron swiped the screen.
“The vehicle he used is registered to the same shell company as the sedan outside Mrs. Bennett’s apartment.”
Victoria’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Grace stepped toward her.
“Why?”
“I didn’t threaten your mother.”
“But you humiliated me so I’d leave.”
Victoria looked away.
“Who told you to do it?”
Before Victoria answered, an alarm sounded somewhere below the house.
Aaron checked his phone.
His face drained.
“Someone accessed the private records room.”
Luca’s entire posture changed.
“Who has authorization?”
“You. Me.”
Aaron hesitated.
“And Nicholas.”
Grace looked at Luca.
“Who’s Nicholas?”
“My cousin.”
The pain in his voice surprised her.
“Nicholas Romano helped raise me after my father died.”
Aaron stared at the screen.
“His car left through the west service gate eighteen minutes ago.”
Luca looked toward the windows.
“Find him.”
Aaron rushed out.
Grace watched Luca place both hands against the desk.
For the first time, the man everyone feared looked afraid.
Not for himself.
Of betrayal.
Grace approached him.
“You trusted him.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t have to pretend that doesn’t hurt.”
Luca looked at her.
Something passed between them that had nothing to do with money, class or fear.
Two children of dead fathers.
Two adults learning that the past had been lying to them for years.
Grace touched his hand.
His fingers closed around hers.
“I should have protected you tonight,” he said.
“You can’t fix everything by protecting people.”
“I know.”
“Sometimes you have to tell them the truth and let them decide what to do with it.”
He nodded.
“Then decide.”
“What?”
“I can have you and your mother taken somewhere safe. You never have to see me again.”
Grace looked at their hands.
Then released him.
“I want the truth.”
Aaron returned so quickly the door hit the wall.
“We found Nicholas.”
“Where?”
Aaron turned the tablet.
The image came from a security camera outside Helen Bennett’s building.
Nicholas Romano stood near the curb.
Beside him was Grace’s mother.
Grace’s blood went cold.
Helen appeared frightened but unharmed.
Then Luca’s phone buzzed.
A message.
BRING GRACE TO PIER 17 BEFORE SUNRISE.
May you like
COME WITHOUT POLICE.
SHE DESERVES TO KNOW WHAT HER FATHER DIED FOR.
