Chapter 1 - The Night James Came Home.
Rain hammered the stone driveway hard enough to turn the mansion lights into trembling gold streaks across the pavement.
James Mercer stepped out of the black sedan without opening the umbrella the driver offered him.
He had been expected in New York until Friday night.
It was only Wednesday.
No one at the Mercer estate knew that his final meeting had been canceled or that he had taken the first flight home.
That was why the sight waiting beneath the front portico stopped him halfway up the steps.
Emma Reed, one of the youngest members of the household staff, stood beneath the overhang with her wrists secured above her to a decorative iron support.
Her black uniform was soaked from the rain blowing sideways across the porch.
Her pale hair clung to her face.
She was shaking so badly that the silver serving tray near her shoes rattled whenever her heel touched it.
For one long second, James did not move.
Then the mansion doors flew open.
Vanessa Cole rushed outside in a champagne silk robe, her blonde hair loose around her shoulders and a crystal glass still in one hand.
“What are you doing to her?”
Her words came out sharply, as though James were the problem standing on the stairs.
Then she recognized him.
The color left her face.
“James?”
She took one step backward.
“You were supposed to be in New York.”
James looked at Emma again.
He did not raise his voice.
“Is this how you manage my household?”
Vanessa’s mouth opened, but no explanation came immediately.
Emma lifted her face through the rain.
“Mr. Mercer.”
Her voice was barely louder than the storm.
James climbed the remaining steps.
Water ran from his slicked-back hair, over the dark tattoo on his neck, and into the collar of his black shirt.
He stopped close enough to Vanessa that she had to tilt her chin to hold his gaze.
“Untie her.”
Vanessa tightened her grip on the glass.
“You don’t understand what happened.”
“Untie her.”
“She was caught in your private study.”
James glanced at Emma.
Emma shook her head quickly.
“I was cleaning the east hall, sir.”
Vanessa cut her off.
“She was stealing.”
That accusation finally changed James’s expression.
He turned slowly toward Vanessa.
“What did she steal?”
Vanessa hesitated for half a second too long.
“My bracelet.”
“Your bracelet.”
“Yes.”
James looked at the crystal glass in her hand, then at the mansion behind her, then at Emma’s trembling wrists.
His anger became colder instead of louder.
“You restrained an employee outside my house because you say she took a bracelet?”
Vanessa’s defensive posture stiffened.
“I was waiting for security to deal with it.”
James looked toward the security camera above the porch.
Its small status light was dark.
He noticed another detail.
The front gate camera was dark too.
“Where is Paul?”
Vanessa blinked.
“The security chief?”
“I know who Paul is.”
“He went home.”
James checked his watch.
It was 11:43 p.m.
Paul Reyes had worked nights at the estate for six years.
He had never left before James returned when James was traveling.
“Get the key.”
Vanessa did not move.
James’s eyes dropped to the thin chain hanging at her waist.
A small brass key was attached to it.
He held out his hand.
Vanessa stared at him.
“James, listen to me.”
“Give me the key.”
The storm filled the silence between them.
Finally, Vanessa removed the key and placed it in his palm.
James released Emma himself.
The moment her hands came down, she nearly collapsed.
James caught her by the shoulders before she hit the wet stone.
“Easy.”
Emma tried to apologize.
“I’m sorry, sir.”
“For what?”
She looked toward Vanessa.
Vanessa’s expression changed from shock to warning.
Emma saw it.
So did James.
“For being in the wrong place,” Emma whispered.
James guided her toward the open doors.
Vanessa blocked the entrance for a moment.
James stopped.
“This is still my house.”
Vanessa stepped aside.
Warm chandelier light spilled over all three of them as they entered the marble foyer.
Emma’s eyes immediately moved toward the grand staircase.
James followed her gaze.
At the top of the stairs, a shadow disappeared around the corner.
Someone else was awake.
Someone else had been watching.
James turned back to Emma.
“Tell me what happened.”
Emma swallowed hard.
Vanessa spoke first.
“She already told you.”
James did not look at her.
“I asked Emma.”
Emma’s lips trembled.
“I didn’t steal anything.”
James waited.
“I found something in the east hall.”
Vanessa dropped the glass.
It struck the marble and shattered.
Emma flinched.
James did not.
“What did you find?”
Emma stared at the broken crystal between them.
Then she reached into the pocket of her wet apron.
She pulled out a folded piece of paper sealed inside a clear plastic sleeve.
Vanessa lunged one step forward.
James took the paper first.
Across the top was the Mercer family crest.
Below it was his full legal name.
And beneath his name was a signature that looked almost exactly like his.
Almost.
James read the first line twice.
It was a transfer authorization for the Mercer estate.
May you like
The effective date was Friday.
The day he had been expected to return from New York.
