Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Kitchen
Adrian spent four days in the hospital.
The bullet had missed the femoral artery by less than an inch.
Claire visited only once.
She brought Noah.
The boy carried a new sheet of glowing stars.
Adrian looked at them.
“You're charging me this time?”
“No.”
“Bad business model.”
Noah climbed onto the chair.
“You need more.”
He stuck one on the bed rail.
Claire sighed.
“Don't decorate the hospital.”
Adrian said, “I own part of the hospital.”
Claire stared at him.
“Of course you do.”
When Adrian returned to the estate, everything had changed.
Marco was gone.
Victoria was awaiting trial.
Three senior family members had resigned after their financial ties to her became public.
Adrian closed several criminal operations entirely.
That decision caused anger.
At dinner, his uncle Salvatore confronted him.
“You're turning your father’s empire into a corporation.”
Adrian cut his steak.
“That's the goal.”
“You think men will respect accountants?”
“No.”
Adrian looked up.
“They'll respect prison sentences even less.”
Salvatore leaned forward.
“You've become soft.”
Claire entered with dessert.
Adrian glanced at her.
Then at Noah, sitting near the kitchen doorway coloring on paper.
“No.”
He returned his attention to Salvatore.
“I've become selective.”
Salvatore scoffed.
“Because a cook saved you?”
Claire placed the plate down.
“Would you prefer I had not?”
Salvatore looked embarrassed.
Adrian said,
“Answer her.”
“No.”
“Then eat your pie.”
Claire walked away.
Later that evening, Adrian found her in the kitchen.
“You embarrassed my uncle.”
“He started it.”
“He's seventy.”
“Old enough to know better.”
Adrian leaned against the counter.
“You're leaving.”
Claire stopped chopping vegetables.
“How did you know?”
“Gabriel told me you asked payroll for your final paperwork.”
Claire set the knife down.
“My son was threatened.”
“The threat is gone.”
“That doesn't mean the danger is.”
“I can protect you.”
“That sentence is exactly why I need to leave.”
Adrian frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Noah needs a normal life.”
Adrian glanced toward the hallway.
Noah was asleep upstairs.
Claire continued.
“He thinks hidden rooms and armed guards are normal now.”
“I can change that.”
“This house is who you are.”
“No.”
Adrian looked around the kitchen.
“This house was who my family expected me to be.”
Claire studied him.
May you like
“What's the difference?”
“I'm trying to find out.”
