Chapter 2 - The Golden Cage
The grand foyer of the Vale estate looked less like a home and more like a museum of European aristocracy. High vaulted ceilings supported dark oak beams, a massive crystal chandelier cast a cold, brilliant glow over a sweeping dual staircase, and the floors were polished black marble that reflected Hannah’s terrified expression.
Martha quickly ushered the sleeping triplets up the right-hand staircase toward the nursery wing, leaving Hannah standing alone with Dominic in the cavernous entrance hall.
"You can stay in the guest suite on the second floor," Dominic said, shrugging off his charcoal suit jacket and tossing it to a butler who materialized from the shadows without a sound. "It has an attached bathroom, a private balcony, and a walk-in wardrobe. A stylist will arrive tomorrow morning with clothing."
"I don't need a stylist," Hannah said, wrapping her arms tightly around herself against the drafty chill of the massive hall. "I need my shoes. I need my phone. And I need you to understand that the moment I find a working landline or a window I can climb out of, I am calling every federal agency from here to Washington."
Dominic stopped walking toward his study, turning slowly to face her.
He took two deliberate steps closer, closing the distance between them until Hannah could smell the faint scent of rain, gunpowder, and expensive sandalwood clinging to his shirt.
"You are welcome to try every door and window in this house, Hannah," he said softly, his voice dropping into a register that sent a shiver straight down her spine. "You will find that none of them are locked from the inside. There are no guards at your door. There are no chains."
Hannah blinked, suspicious. "Really?"
"Really," Dominic replied, his lips twitching into the faintest ghost of a smile. "Because the perimeter fence is twelve feet high, rigged with motion sensors and thermal cameras, and patrolled by twenty armed men who shoot first and ask questions when the paperwork clears. Beyond that, we are twenty miles from the nearest town in the middle of a private forest. If you wish to walk, be my guest. But I would prefer you stayed inside where it’s warm."
"You're insane," she whispered.
"I am careful," he corrected. "And I am desperate. Those three little girls upstairs are the only pieces of my heart that survived the night their mother died. I would burn down Manhattan before I let anything happen to them. And right now... right now, for reasons neither of us understands, they believe you are connected to their survival."
Hannah swallowed hard, the anger draining slightly, replaced by a sudden, aching weight in her chest.
"Their mother?" she asked, the words slipping out before she could stop them. "What happened to her?"
Dominic’s eyes darkened instantly, the storm behind them turning black. He turned away without answering, walking down the dim hallway toward his study.
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"Get some sleep, Hannah," he called back over his shoulder. "Tomorrow, we find out why my daughters spoke to you."
The heavy oak door of his study clicked shut, leaving Hannah standing alone in the grand marble foyer of a fortress built by a ghost.
