Chapter 2 - The Mother's Shadow
Inside the quiet, leather-scented warmth of the armored vehicle, the contrast between Garrett's world and Maeve's reality was stark.
Maeve sat shivering on the seat, wrapping Garrett's massive coat around her daughter. The little girl stared at the plush interior, then looked up at Garrett's face, reaching out a timid, chubby hand toward his jaw.
Garrett caught his breath, kneeling on the floor of the SUV before the little seat. Slowly, carefully, as if handling the most fragile glass, he extended one large, scarred finger.
The little girl wrapped her hand around his finger. Her grip was tiny, warm, and absolute.
"What is her name?" Garrett asked, his voice rough with emotion he hadn't felt in three years.
"Clara," Maeve whispered, stroking her daughter's hair. "Her name is Clara."
"Clara," Garrett repeated. He looked up at Maeve, his gray eyes searching her worn, tired face. "Three years ago, you vanished overnight from my apartment. You left your art supplies, your clothes... everything. My mother told me you accepted five million dollars to walk away from me."
Maeve let out a bitter, heartbroken laugh. "Five million dollars? Garrett, I didn't get a single cent."
"Then what happened?"
Maeve squeezed her eyes shut as the memories returned. "The night you were sent to Chicago to handle the harbor dispute, your mother, Eleanor, came to my apartment with four armed guards. She told me that if I didn't leave New York immediately, she would make sure you never returned from Chicago alive."
Garrett's jaw clamped shut so hard his teeth groaned. "She threatened my life to force you out?"
"She showed me the hit orders your own uncles had signed," Maeve said, tears spilling over her lashes. "She said my presence made you soft, that an art restorer from Queens was a vulnerability the family couldn't afford. She told me if I truly loved you, I would disappear and let you marry a woman who could protect your crown."
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Garrett felt an icy rage spread through his veins. For three years, he had believed the woman he loved had abandoned him for money. He had built an impenetrable wall around his heart, becoming the cold, unfeeling monster the city feared.
And all along, his own mother had held the blade that severed his life.
