Chapter 8 - Roman Finally Ate
The first thing Roman ate was not steak.
Not chicken.
Not the expensive veterinary recovery food Jared had imported from Switzerland.
It was half a piece of toast from Willa's breakfast plate.
She was sitting on the penthouse kitchen floor at ten fifteen the next morning when the Mastiff shuffled toward her.
She'd barely slept.
None of them had.
The cassette recording had changed everything.
Rebecca had known Elena.
Elena had known about Brendan.
And somewhere between Willa's mother's death and Elena's murder, Sebastian Vale had spent thirteen years erasing every person who might expose him.
Willa tore another small piece from the toast.
Roman watched.
“You want this?”
His nose moved.
Jared stood across the kitchen, frozen.
Willa smiled.
“Don't make it weird.”
“I didn't say anything.”
“You're staring.”
“My dog hasn't eaten in three weeks.”
“Then pretend you don't care.”
“That is impossible.”
“Try.”
Jared turned toward the window with exaggerated obedience.
Willa almost laughed.
Roman took the toast.
Chewed.
Swallowed.
Jared closed his eyes.
Willa offered another piece.
Roman ate that too.
Then another.
By the fourth bite Jared was openly watching.
“You ruined it,” Willa said.
“I don't care.”
His voice cracked.
Only slightly.
But she heard it.
Roman eventually ate almost an entire slice.
Not much for a dog his size.
Everything for a dog who had decided to die.
Jared sat beside him afterward.
Roman rested his massive head against Jared's leg.
“You came back,” Jared whispered.
Willa looked away.
Some moments didn't belong to witnesses.
Later, Miles entered carrying a laptop.
“We found something.”
The warmth disappeared.
“What?” Jared asked.
“Elena's movements the week before she died.”
They gathered at the table.
Security footage showed Elena leaving the penthouse, entering cafés, visiting a library.
Then one clip showed her meeting a man in Central Park.
Brendan.
Willa's stomach turned.
“Why would she meet him?”
“We don't know.”
Another clip.
Elena handed Brendan an envelope.
He looked angry.
Then he grabbed her arm.
Jared's face became lethal.
“What was in the envelope?”
Miles shook his head.
“Camera angle doesn't show.”
Willa watched again.
Something about Brendan's expression bothered her.
She knew him.
Had known every version of his anger.
That wasn't surprise.
That was panic.
“She threatened him.”
Jared looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“He makes that face when he thinks somebody has leverage.”
She hated how easily she remembered.
Miles advanced the video.
Elena said something.
Brendan released her.
Then she walked away.
Willa leaned closer.
“Zoom.”
The image pixelated.
But Elena's lips were visible for a moment.
Willa couldn't read them.
Jared could.
His face changed.
“What?”
“She said a name.”
“Whose?”
“Yours.”
Willa frowned.
“Mine?”
Jared replayed.
Willa.
Definitely.
Why would Elena mention Willa days before dying?
Miles opened another file.
“We searched Elena's cloud backups using Willa's name.”
He hesitated.
“One file appeared.”
The document was unfinished.
WILLA THORNTON - PROTECTION.
Willa read the first paragraph.
Rebecca's daughter remains at risk. Brendan has been close to her too long. I believe he was originally assigned to locate Rebecca's evidence, but his behavior has become unstable. Sebastian no longer fully controls him.
Another paragraph:
If I fail to return, Jared must be told everything.
Willa looked toward Jared.
“She wanted you involved.”
“Yes.”
“So why didn't you get this?”
“File never sent.”
Miles pointed at a timestamp.
“Last edited thirty minutes before Elena left the penthouse.”
Willa's chest tightened.
“She was trying to tell you.”
Jared stood abruptly and walked away.
Willa followed.
“You couldn't know.”
“Stop saying that.”
“Why?”
“Because everybody keeps telling me what I couldn't know.”
He turned.
“My wife lived twenty feet from me while building a case against a man I trusted.”
His voice stayed quiet.
That made the anger stronger.
“She was afraid enough to hide recordings under floorboards.”
“Jared—”
“I should have known.”
Willa recognized that sentence.
She'd repeated it for years about Brendan.
I should have known.
Should have known the first time he checked her phone.
Should have known the first time he apologized with flowers.
Should have known before the first bruise.
“You don't get to punish yourself with information you learned afterward,” she said.
Jared stared at her.
“That something your therapist told you?”
“I couldn't afford therapy.”
Despite everything, he almost smiled.
She continued.
“It's something I had to figure out because the alternative was spending my whole life believing Brendan's choices were somehow evidence of my stupidity.”
Jared's expression softened.
“Were they?”
“No.”
“Then neither were Elena's.”
Silence.
Something fragile moved between them.
Before either acknowledged it, Roman barked.
Miles ran in.
“Someone's approaching the private elevator.”
Jared immediately shifted.
“Who?”
“No ID.”
Security cameras appeared on the screen.
A woman stood inside the elevator.
Mid-fifties.
Gray coat.
Hands raised visibly.
Willa looked at Jared.
“Know her?”
“No.”
Miles zoomed.
Jared whispered, “Wait.”
The elevator opened.
Security surrounded her.
She didn't resist.
Instead she looked straight toward the camera and said:
“My name is Maria Moretti.”
Jared stopped breathing.
Willa frowned.
“Moretti?”
Jared's voice turned hollow.
“Elena's sister.”
May you like
The woman continued speaking into the camera.
“And if Jared Kensington wants to know who killed Elena, tell him to bring Willa Thornton downstairs alone.”
