Chapter 2 - The Silent Contract
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The temperature in the foyer plunged to absolute zero.
Dominic Vale descended the remaining stairs, his icy gray eyes fixed entirely on his four-year-old son. The dangerous atmosphere around him was suffocating.
“Clear the room,” Dominic commanded. His voice was low, but it carried the weight of an absolute monarch.
Within seconds, the guards, the housekeepers, and even the stern house manager, Mrs. Hargrove, vanished down the side corridors, leaving only the three of us in the massive stone entryway.
Dominic knelt beside me. Up close, the smell of costly cedar, fine whiskey, and gun oil clung to him. He reached out, his thick, calloused fingers gripping my jaw with terrifying precision, forcing me to look up into his face.
“Who told you to ask him about the north wing?” he demanded quietly.
“Nobody,” I wheezed, my ribs throbbing with every breath. “He kept looking at it. Every time he gets aggressive... he’s looking at that hallway like he’s trying to keep people away from it.”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed. He looked down at Noah, who was now standing completely rigid, staring at the floor.
“Julian is his personal physician,” Dominic said, his voice clipped. “Dr. Julian Vance has overseen Noah’s care since my wife died two years ago. He is the only medical professional allowed in the north wing.”
“Then your doctor is scaring him,” I said bluntly, refusing to break eye contact despite the sheer danger radiating off the man holding my jaw.
Dominic stared at me for a long, heavy moment. Then he released my chin and stood up.
“You were hired to scrub floors, Clara Reed,” he said, pulling a leather wallet from his jacket. “Your brother Tyler is currently sitting in Chicago General Hospital awaiting a heart transplant he cannot afford. Fifty thousand dollars.”
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My breath caught in my throat. “What?”
“Become his nanny,” Dominic said, tossing a signed cashier's check onto the marble beside my spilled cleaning bucket. “Keep him calm. Find out why he said that name. If you fail, or if you try to cross me, you won't live long enough to mourn your brother.”
