Chapter 3 - The Secret in the Library
The revelation hung in the air between them like a live wire.
Enzo did not look surprised. In fact, the dark intensity in his eyes deepened, a flicker of genuine respect replacing the cold detachment he usually reserved for the world.
"The Ashford liquidation," Enzo said slowly, resting his hands against the edge of the examination table on either side of Adeline’s legs. "Three years ago. A mid-sized forensic accounting firm in River North went under overnight after its principal partner was found dead in a staged car accident. Your father."
"My father," Adeline confirmed, her voice tightening as grief and anger surged through her chest. "Judge Ashford needed our firm’s audits buried because they showed millions in municipal kickbacks funneling through dummy corporations in the port authority. When my father refused to falsify the books, they destroyed him. I took the maid position because your estate is the only place in Chicago with private security dense enough to keep Judge Ashford’s men from reaching the backup server hidden in the eastern wing's archive."
Enzo was silent for a long moment. He reached out, his thumb lightly tracing the edge of the sterile bandage on her wrist. The touch was startlingly gentle for a man whose hands dictated the flow of billions of illegal and legal dollars through the Midwest.
"You walked into the lion’s den with a butter knife," Enzo said, his voice low and rich.
"I walked in because I had no other choice," Adeline replied, refusing to shrink back. "And now your fiancée has been publicly exposed trying to drug a senator, you've broken off the engagement in front of two hundred witnesses, and Judge Ashford is going to realize his master plan has imploded by morning."
"Let him try," Enzo said, a cold, predatory glint flashing in his eyes. "Camilla is currently locked in the North Tower guest suite with four guards outside her door. Her father is already panicking, no doubt calling every corrupt judge he has in his pocket. But they don't control this house, Adeline. You do."
"Me?"
"Derek has already verified the residue from the glass. It was a synthetic paralytic—traceable only to a private pharmaceutical lab owned by a shell corporation registered to Judge Ashford," Enzo explained, straightening up. "The engagement is officially dead. The Marchetti-Ashford alliance is burned to ash. And as for you..."
May you like
He paused, offering his hand to help her down from the table.
"You are no longer a maid in this house, Adeline Croft. From this moment on, you are my chief financial adviser and security liaison. Let’s go find that server."
