Chapter 4 - MADDIE LOOKED AT ROMAN AND SAID, “YOU LIED TO MOMMY”
The back door of Groundwork had been forced open.
Claire saw the damage before the car stopped.
Splintered frame.
Broken lock.
A chair wedged against the inside.
Two of Roman’s men stood near the alley.
No weapons visible.
That mattered because families lived above the neighboring shops.
Roman had apparently given orders.
Quiet.
Claire jumped out.
“Jen?”
“Flower shop.”
She ran next door.
The owner, Mrs. Novak, opened the door before Claire reached it.
“Maddie is in the back.”
Claire found her daughter sitting beneath a worktable surrounded by buckets of roses and baby’s breath.
Jen sat beside her.
Maddie held a cookie.
She looked annoyed more than frightened.
“Mommy.”
Claire dropped to her knees.
Maddie climbed into her arms.
Claire held her.
Hard.
Too hard.
“Mommy, squish.”
“Sorry.”
She loosened her grip but did not let go.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“Did anyone touch you?”
“No.”
“Did you see anybody?”
“No.”
“Did—”
“Mommy.”
Claire stopped.
Maddie touched her face.
“You’re crying.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Because your father was murdered.
Because the man I married found me while searching for evidence.
Because men entered our home.
Because I have no idea which life I thought was real.
Instead—
“I was scared.”
Maddie nodded solemnly.
“Me too.”
Claire kissed her hair.
“I’m sorry.”
Jen explained what happened.
A man approached the rear entrance claiming he was from the gas company.
One of Roman’s security men recognized the van as wrong.
The man tried the door anyway.
When challenged, he ran.
No one had been hurt.
No one had even entered the apartment.
Good.
Still enough.
Claire returned to Groundwork carrying Maddie.
Roman stood near the damaged door.
His jacket was gone.
Sleeves rolled.
He was helping move the broken shelving unit.
That image was so ordinary Claire almost hated it.
Maddie saw him.
Her small body stiffened.
Roman immediately noticed.
He stopped moving.
“Hi, Maddie.”
She stared.
Then looked at Claire.
“Are we going home with him?”
“No.”
Roman’s face changed by half an inch.
Maddie looked back.
“Why?”
Claire had no idea how to explain betrayal to a four-year-old.
Roman answered quietly.
“Because I hurt your mom.”
Claire looked at him.
Maddie frowned.
“Did you push her?”
“No.”
“Did you yell?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
Roman could have chosen an easy answer.
He didn’t.
“I lied to her.”
Maddie became very serious.
“You’re not supposed to.”
“I know.”
“You say lying is bad.”
“Yes.”
“You lied?”
“Yes.”
Maddie looked at Claire.
Then Roman.
“You lied to Mommy.”
“Yes.”
Her face hardened in a way Claire had seen only when preschool stole her crayons.
“That’s mean.”
Roman swallowed.
“Yes.”
Then Maddie did something that made Claire’s chest hurt.
She removed a red gummy bear from the small plastic bag Jen had given her.
Normally she saved those for Roman.
She looked at it.
Then ate it herself.
Roman saw.
Claire saw him see it.
Good.
He deserved that.
Thomas entered through the café.
“Police are outside.”
Claire frowned.
“Police?”
“Attempted break-in.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
Thomas looked at him.
“You can’t keep this internal.”
“I know.”
That answer surprised Thomas.
Police reports were taken.
Security footage copied.
Claire gave a statement.
Roman did not interfere.
Then Claire’s lawyer, Evelyn Ross, arrived.
Claire had called her while driving.
Evelyn was fifty-eight.
Divorce attorney.
Former prosecutor.
Absolutely unimpressed by wealthy men.
She walked into Groundwork, took one look at Roman, and said—
“You need to stand farther from my client.”
Thomas almost smiled.
Roman stepped back.
Evelyn looked surprised.
“Good.”
Claire explained enough.
Not everything.
Flash drive.
Daniel.
Break-in.
Roman’s admission.
Evelyn’s expression grew colder with every sentence.
Finally—
“You need somewhere safe tonight.”
“Yes.”
Roman spoke.
“I have a property—”
Evelyn held up one hand.
“No.”
Roman stopped.
Claire nearly loved her.
Evelyn continued.
“Not owned by him.”
Thomas said—
“I know one.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Whose?”
Claire asked.
“My sister.”
Roman stared.
“You have a sister?”
Thomas looked offended.
“I have an entire life when you are not using me as furniture.”
Claire almost laughed.
The house belonged to Thomas’s older sister, Margaret Russo, a retired school administrator in Evanston.
Small.
Normal.
No one connected to Delaney would immediately associate it with Claire.
Claire agreed.
Roman did not.
Not verbally.
His face made it clear.
“You can put security nearby.”
Claire said.
His eyes lifted.
“Nearby.”
“Not inside.”
“Yes.”
“Thomas coordinates with Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
“You do not enter unless I ask.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
Then—
“Yes.”
Maddie watched all of this.
Children always did.
That night, Margaret Russo gave Maddie hot chocolate in a kitchen decorated with ceramic chickens.
Claire sat at the table.
Evelyn beside her.
Thomas across.
Roman remained outside.
Literally outside.
The most feared man Claire had ever known sat in a black sedan two houses away because she had said he could not come in.
That fact disturbed her.
Not because he obeyed.
Because some part of her still found safety in knowing he was there.
Evelyn noticed where she kept looking.
“You still love him.”
Claire’s eyes burned.
“That seems irrelevant.”
“It never is.”
“I also hate him.”
“Those can coexist.”
Claire looked down.
Thomas said quietly—
“Roman never meant for you or Maddie to be harmed.”
Claire turned on him.
“He used me.”
Thomas did not argue.
“Yes.”
“He hid Daniel’s murder.”
“Yes.”
“He married me while looking for evidence.”
“Yes.”
“He sat in my daughter’s life knowing her father died because of people connected to his.”
“Yes.”
Claire’s anger grew with every answer.
“Are you defending him?”
“No.”
Thomas looked toward the window.
“I’m telling you something he never learned.”
“What?”
“That intention does not erase consequence.”
Claire went still.
Thomas continued.
“Roman spent years believing he could keep two lives separate.”
“The legitimate businesses.”
“The family business.”
“Violence over there.”
“You and Maddie over here.”
“He thought if he never let the two touch, he could call himself different from Enzo.”
Claire looked at him.
“And?”
Thomas’s face hardened.
“They touched.”
Yes.
The broken café door proved it.
Daniel’s grave proved it.
Maddie appeared in the hallway wearing borrowed pajamas covered with cartoon cats.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Can Mr. Roman come inside?”
Everyone froze.
Claire stared.
“Why?”
Maddie shrugged.
“He’s outside.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw his car.”
Of course.
“What do you want him for?”
Maddie looked confused by the question.
“He looks sad.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Children.
Dangerous creatures.
“Maddie.”
“He lied.”
“Yes.”
“He’s still sad.”
“Yes.”
“Can people be both?”
Claire opened her eyes.
Thomas looked down.
Evelyn suddenly became very interested in her coffee.
“Yes.”
Claire said.
“People can be both.”
Maddie nodded.
“So can he come in?”
Claire thought.
Then—
“For five minutes.”
Roman entered alone.
No gun visible.
No bodyguard.
Margaret Russo pointed at his shoes.
“Off.”
Roman Vale, who had terrified restaurant owners across Chicago, removed his shoes in the hallway.
Thomas nearly died trying not to laugh.
Maddie stood in the living room.
Roman approached slowly.
Stopped several feet away.
She looked at him.
“You lied to Mommy.”
“Yes.”
“Do you say sorry?”
“Yes.”
“Did she say okay?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Roman’s eyes moved toward Claire.
“Because some things take longer than saying sorry.”
Maddie thought.
Then held out one red gummy bear.
Roman stared.
Claire’s throat tightened.
He took it.
“Thank you.”
Maddie pointed.
“Only one.”
A tiny smile touched his mouth.
“Understood.”
Then she climbed onto the couch beside Claire.
Roman remained standing.
He looked at Claire.
No words.
He did not ask to stay.
Five minutes later, he left when Claire told him to.
That mattered too.
The next morning, Claire woke to twelve missed calls.
Not from Roman.
From the police.
A body had been found inside one of Delaney Freight’s abandoned warehouses.
May you like
And in the dead man’s pocket—
was a photograph of Daniel Archer.
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