Chapter 6
Lucian immediately lifted Rosie from the upper step, pulling her small, shivering body out of the freezing cellar and securely into his arms.
Every single guest in the luxurious salon fell utterly silent. The polite, affluent conversation had died entirely, replaced by a terrifying, breathless vacuum. Fifty faces turned toward the fireplace, watching the mafia boss cradle his traumatized daughter. To lock a child in a cellar was not a prank; it was an act of torture that bordered on attempted murder in a house with dropping winter temperatures.
Rosie clung to him instantly, wrapping her small arms desperately around his neck and burying her tear-streaked face into the lapel of his tailored three-piece suit. She was shivering so violently that her teeth chattered.
Lucian stood up slowly to his full height. He held Rosie securely against his broad chest, his large hand rubbing her back to soothe her ragged breathing. He pressed a kiss to the side of her soft curls, an unspoken promise of absolute protection.
Then, Lucian slowly turned his head.
He did not look at Isabel yet. He looked directly at the housemaid still kneeling on the floor beside the open hatch.
Faye remained frozen, her hands resting on the edge of the rug. Her expressive eyes were wide with a mixture of residual terror and profound, protective relief. She looked up at the man who commanded empires, her own breathing shallow and ragged.
"Faye," Lucian said.
His voice was quiet, but it carried a measured, lethal calm that echoed loudly in the dead-silent room. He paused, a deliberate, agonizing silence that hung in the bright air. He kept his cold, unwavering gaze locked entirely on the gentle maid.
"Who locked this?" Lucian asked.
The question hung in the golden light. It was a deadly demand for accountability, dripping with the absolute promise of violent retribution.
Faye swallowed hard, her pulse racing frantically. She met Lucian’s dark, commanding gaze. Her chest heaved rapidly beneath the fitted black fabric of her lightly creased dress. She knew the extreme danger of answering that question. She knew the power of the Cross family, and she knew Isabel’s capacity for vindictive, sadistic violence.
May you like
But looking into Lucian’s eyes, feeling the absolute, terrifying demand for the truth radiating from his masculine frame, Faye found she had no choice. The presence of the mafia boss stripped away her ability to lie, just as the sight of the shivering toddler shattered the last remnants of her fear.
Faye’s breath trembled violently, parting her lips before she could force the fragile words out into the open. She refused to look at the woman in the emerald gown. She kept her eyes locked on the father holding his child.
