Chapter 5 - Claire Was Never the Weak One
By sunrise, police investigators were on the estate.
Roman gave them the security logs, the bypass device, the weapons from the cellar, Marcus’s recording, and Daniel’s financial records.
Daniel had spent months moving money through companies connected to Vale assets.
Adrian had helped him gain access, believing Roman intended to eliminate his inheritance.
The dead intruder had been hired to disable the private server.
His confrontation with Claire had never been part of the plan.
But Roman could not stop thinking about one thing.
Claire had walked into the middle of it alone.
At eight that morning, he found her in the staff dining room.
She was drinking coffee.
“You’re still here.”
Claire looked up.
“I work here.”
“You nearly died here.”
“And breakfast still happened.”
Roman stared at her.
“You’re strange.”
“You employ thirty-seven people in a mansion with a wine cellar larger than my childhood apartment.”
“Thirty-nine.”
“That makes my point stronger.”
Roman sat across from her.
Claire blinked.
“What are you doing?”
“Sitting.”
“I can see that.”
“You’re angry.”
“I’m tired.”
“At me?”
“Partly.”
“Why?”
She placed her cup down.
“Because last night you looked at me like I was something you needed to protect.”
Roman frowned.
“You were injured.”
“I know.”
“And?”
“I protected myself before you ever came downstairs.”
Roman went quiet.
Claire continued.
“That man looked at my uniform and saw someone powerless. Daniel did the same thing. Adrian almost did.”
“I didn’t.”
“You did a little.”
Roman considered denying it.
Instead he nodded.
“You’re right.”
Claire looked surprised.
“That easy?”
“No. I simply dislike being wrong longer than necessary.”
She smiled.
Roman leaned back.
“How long have you worked here?”
“Fourteen months.”
“What did you do before?”
“Hotel management.”
“Why housekeeping?”
“My mother got sick. I needed predictable hours close to home.”
Roman nodded.
“You should be running this house.”
Claire laughed.
“I almost got killed retrieving rosemary.”
“You discovered a security breach my professionals missed.”
“That says more about your professionals.”
Roman actually smiled.
Claire stared.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No, what?”
“I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Do what?”
“Smile.”
“It happens.”
“I’ll alert the newspapers.”
His phone rang.
Adrian.
Roman’s smile vanished.
He answered.
“What?”
His brother’s voice sounded exhausted.
“Daniel kept another set of files.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are you calling?”
“Because Claire might.”
Roman looked across the table.
Claire immediately knew something was wrong.
Roman put the phone on speaker.
Adrian continued.
“The intruder said something before he went downstairs. Something about ‘the woman who counts everything.’”
Claire slowly lowered her coffee.
Roman looked at her.
“What?”
She stood.
“The inventory.”
“What inventory?”
“Wine, pantry, silver, maintenance supplies. Housekeeping records everything.”
Marcus entered just as Claire headed for the door.
“Where are you going?”
Claire answered.
May you like
“To find what your security team missed again.”
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