Chapter 3
We reached the upstairs corridor without drama.
No running.
No weapons raised theatrically.
Just me, Elias, two men, and Sybilla behind us because I refused to leave her downstairs rewriting events.
My bedroom door was closed.
Unlocked.
Exactly as requested.
The guards who should have stood outside were gone.
Not because Estelle moved them.
Because someone else had used her name.
Elias touched the handle.
I stopped him.
“Wait.”
Sybilla looked relieved.
Wrong.
I pointed toward her.
“You wanted a surprise.”
Her face tightened.
“Open it.”
She did not move.
I stepped closer.
“What did your father tell his men?”
She whispered:
“That they were testing response time.”
“To what?”
“A breach.”
“Inside my bedroom?”
“Yes.”
“Were they supposed to touch me?”
“No.”
Too quick.
I waited.
She broke first.
“They were supposed to restrain you.”
There.
The corridor went cold.
“For how long?”
“Seconds.”
Of course.
Just enough.
Enough for her father’s men to emerge victorious.
Enough for my own guards to look incompetent.
Enough for guests downstairs to hear that a private security team reached the boss’s bedroom on his engagement night.
Then Vane could offer protection.
Not advice.
Replacement.
I asked:
“How were they supposed to know it was me?”
“They were told you’d enter alone at eleven.”
My watch read 10:57.
Three minutes.
I looked at Elias.
“Call the room.”
He did.
No answer.
Then:
A muffled movement behind the door.
Sybilla whispered:
“They won’t answer.”
“Why?”
“They were told the test fails if they reveal themselves.”
I almost laughed.
Her father had trained men to treat my home like his exercise ground.
I opened the door.
Empty bedroom.
At first.
Then the wardrobe shifted.
Two men stepped out.
Neither attacked.
Good instincts.
They saw Elias.
Saw Sybilla.
Saw me.
One slowly raised his empty hands.
“Mr. Rookwood.”
I looked around.
Another door stood open.
My private dressing room.
Inside, a camera rested on a tripod.
Not pointed at the entrance.
May you like
Pointed at my bed.
That changed the nature of the test completely.
