Chapter 2
Grace had worn the bracelet every day since her mother died.
She had never known it opened.
Damon took her to the Cross family mausoleum.
Not because a cemetery crypt was comfortable.
Because it was private.
Two bodyguards guarded the doors.
Marcus and Vanessa remained outside under watch.
Grace sat on a stone bench.
Damon gave her water.
She took one sip.
Then stopped.
“Drink.”
Grace looked at him.
“Vanessa says pregnant women shouldn’t drink too much before work.”
Damon’s face went blank.
“What?”
Grace realized.
Too late.
He crouched.
“Say that again.”
“She doesn’t like bathroom breaks.”
Silence.
Damon looked at her hands.
Red knuckles.
Cleaning cuts.
Then her knees.
Mud.
Her lip.
“How long have you been working in the Caldwell house?”
“Since Mom died.”
“When?”
“Ten months ago.”
“And Vanessa controlled your food?”
Grace looked away.
“That isn’t what I said.”
“No.”
Damon’s voice softened.
“It’s what you didn’t.”
Grace’s eyes filled.
“She’d take breakfast if I was late.”
“Lunch if I asked about my mother’s things.”
“Dinner if I refused extra rooms.”
Damon’s jaw tightened.
“She said people living in staff quarters eat when the house decides.”
Grace laughed bitterly.
“I wasn’t even living there for free.”
“My mother left me the cottage.”
Damon looked at her.
“So why stay?”
Grace’s hand moved to her stomach.
“Because Vanessa said she’d remove me from the cottage if I left the job.”
“Could she?”
“I didn’t know.”
That answer told Damon everything about the environment.
Grace continued.
“After I found out I was pregnant, I tried to call you.”
“How many times?”
“Six.”
“I never got one.”
“She took my phone.”
Damon’s expression hardened.
“Why?”
“She said you’d been told.”
“By whom?”
“Her.”
Grace looked embarrassed.
“She showed me a message.”
Damon stared.
“What message?”
“Supposedly from you.”
No paperwork.
No contract.
Just one screen.
One sentence.
DON’T BRING HER TO ME. HANDLE IT.
Damon closed his eyes.
He had never written it.
Grace continued:
“I thought…”
Her voice broke.
“I thought you were ashamed.”
Damon looked at her.
“No.”
She nodded.
“I know that now.”
That hurt more.
Now.
Meaning for months, she hadn’t.
Damon sat opposite her.
“Why were Vanessa and Marcus at your mother’s grave?”
Grace looked at the bracelet.
“Today is her birthday.”
Damon waited.
“They knew I’d come.”
“How?”
“They follow me.”
His expression changed.
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
Grace rubbed the silver band.
“Vanessa started asking about this two weeks ago.”
“The bracelet?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She found an old picture.”
“What picture?”
“Mom wearing it beside Senator Caldwell’s wife.”
Damon frowned.
Grace’s mother had worked at the Caldwell estate for twenty-four years.
He knew that much.
“She told me the bracelet belonged to my mother.”
“It did.”
“But?”
Grace swallowed.
“Mom said if a Caldwell ever asked me for it…”
Damon leaned forward.
“She said I should run.”
“Where?”
Grace looked at him.
“To you.”
Silence.
Damon stared.
“Your mother told you to come to me?”
“Before she died.”
“When?”
“The night before.”
Damon’s expression hardened.
Grace continued.
“She said if Vanessa or Marcus ever asked about the bracelet, I should find Damon Cross.”
“Why?”
“She wouldn’t say.”
“Grace.”
“I asked.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“She told me knowing too early would get me hurt.”
Damon looked toward the closed mausoleum doors.
Outside, Vanessa was shouting at one of his guards.
Grace’s voice lowered.
“The next morning, Mom fell down the Caldwell service stairs.”
Damon slowly looked back.
“Fell?”
“That’s what they said.”
“Who found her?”
Grace’s mouth tightened.
May you like
“Marcus.”
And for the first time, Damon wondered whether Grace’s mother had ever fallen at all.
