Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Wasn’t Afraid of Him
The next morning, Hannah expected to be fired.
Instead, Gabriel appeared at breakfast.
Sophie nearly dropped her spoon.
“Daddy?”
Gabriel stopped.
“Yes?”
“You’re here.”
He glanced at Hannah.
“I live here.”
Sophie frowned.
“Sometimes.”
Hannah looked down quickly.
Gabriel noticed.
“You find that amusing?”
“No, sir.”
“You’re smiling.”
“I’m trying very hard not to.”
Claire giggled.
Gabriel sat.
“What happens at breakfast?”
Sophie stared at him.
“We eat.”
Gabriel slowly nodded.
“Right.”
Hannah turned away before he saw another smile.
For the next week, Gabriel started arriving home earlier.
Not every night.
But enough that the twins noticed.
He watched Hannah work with Claire.
There were no complicated machines.
No pressure.
She turned therapy into games.
Three steps toward a stuffed rabbit.
Four toward Sophie.
Six toward Gabriel.
Whenever Claire fell, Hannah refused to react with fear.
“Again?” she would ask.
Claire always answered the same way.
“Again.”
One evening Gabriel watched Claire cross nearly half the playroom.
He turned to Hannah.
“Where did you learn this?”
Her expression changed.
“Learn what?”
“How to work with children like Claire.”
“I didn’t.”
Gabriel studied her.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“My younger brother had cerebral palsy.”
The room became quiet.
“Had?”
Hannah looked away.
“He died when he was twelve.”
Gabriel’s tone softened.
“I’m sorry.”
“Everyone was sorry.”
She sat beside Claire’s therapy mat.
“But sorry didn’t help him.”
“What did?”
“Being treated like a kid.”
Hannah looked toward Claire and Sophie.
“Doctors saw limitations. Teachers saw liability. Strangers saw disability.”
“And you?”
“My brother.”
Gabriel understood.
“My mother used to tell everyone to stop helping him before he asked. She said every time we did something for him automatically, we were teaching him that we believed he couldn’t do it.”
Gabriel’s eyes moved toward Claire.
He thought about the servants who carried her.
The specially designed chairs.
The elevator installed beside the staircase.
The people constantly rushing to catch her.
Including himself.
“You think I’m making Claire afraid.”
“I think you’re afraid.”
Gabriel’s eyes snapped back to Hannah.
“Careful.”
“There.”
“What?”
“That.”
Hannah stood.
“You make that face whenever someone says something you don’t want to hear.”
“What face?”
“The one that probably terrifies everyone else.”
“And you?”
She shrugged.
“I’ve worked in customer service.”
Gabriel stared at her.
Then something unexpected happened.
He laughed.
Barely.
But enough.
Hannah smiled.
Then Gabriel’s phone rang.
His expression instantly hardened.
“Moretti.”
Marcus spoke urgently.
Gabriel walked toward the window.
“When?”
His voice changed.
“Who knows?”
Hannah stopped smiling.
Gabriel listened.
“Lock down the estate.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” Hannah asked.
“Nothing.”
“You just ordered a lockdown.”
Gabriel turned.
“Take the girls upstairs.”
“Gabriel—”
“Now.”
It was the first time she had heard real danger in his voice.
Hannah immediately gathered the twins.
But as she reached the doorway, Gabriel spoke.
“Hannah.”
She turned.
“Do not leave their room tonight.”
Her face tightened.
“Why?”
Gabriel looked toward the security cameras.
“Someone accessed the estate surveillance system.”
Hannah went still.
“Someone outside?”
“We don’t know.”
“What could they see?”
Gabriel’s silence answered her.
“The girls?”
“Yes.”
Hannah pulled Claire closer.
Gabriel picked up his phone.
For the first time, Hannah saw the man behind the tailored suits and quiet authority.
Not merely a wealthy father.
May you like
A dangerous man surrounded by dangerous enemies.
And someone had just discovered where his children slept.
