“We have a problem,” he announces, setting both items down on my desk. He eyes the glass in my hand but wisely says nothing. “Multiple problems, actually. Maria approached Giuliana this morning.”
I lean forward, my entire body going tense. “Maria themaid?”
“The same.” Danny retorts. “Turns out she’s been on Romano’s payroll for months. She made contact with Giuliana, offered her two million dollars in untraceable cash and guaranteed safe passage to anywhere in the world. In exchange for detailed information about your daily routines, security protocols, business meeting schedules, and personal vulnerabilities.”
White-hot rage floods through me, instant and consuming. My hand clenches around the whiskey glass hard enough that I’m surprised it doesn’t shatter. “That traitorous bitch. Where is she?”
“Already taken care of,” Danny says flatly. “She’s in the basement being questioned.” He sits back in his chair and looks at me with an odd expression. “But that’s not the interesting part, and it’s not the biggest problem we’re facing.”
I force myself to take a breath and think past the fury. Romano had someone insidemyhouse. Insidemyinner circle.
Close enough to Giuliana to make an approach without raising immediate suspicion.
The security breach alone is catastrophic, but Danny’s tone suggests there’s more.
“What’s the interesting part?” I ask, my stomach roiling. I shouldn’t have had only whiskey for breakfast.
“Giuliana reported the approach immediately.” Danny pulls up footage on the tablet, and I watch as he cues it to this morning’s timestamp. “Maria made the offer while changing her bedsheets. Giuliana listened to the whole pitch. Again,” he ticks them off his fingers, “she was offered two million dollars, a new identity, safe passage to any country she chooses, complete freedom from all of this. And the second Maria left the room, she called forme.”
If I wasn’t sitting down, I probably would have collapsed.
Two million dollars. Freedom.
The chance to escape and disappear into a new life where I’d never find her.
Any rational person in Giuliana’s position would at leastconsiderthat offer, even if they ultimately rejected it.
Most would take it without hesitation.
“You’re certain she reported it?” I hear myself ask.
“Watch,” Danny says. On screen, Maria enters Giuliana’s suite with fresh linens. Giuliana is sitting by the window, her posture suggesting she’s lost in thought, staring out at the grounds.
Maria begins changing the sheets, her movements casual, unthreatening. Then she leans in close as she smooths the duvet, her mouth moving with words the microphones don’t quite catch. The offer, I assume.
Giuliana’s body language shifts instantly.
Her spine goes rigid, her hands still in her lap.
I can see her face in profile as she turns slightly toward Maria, and her expression cycles through surprise and confusion before it goes blank.
For several long seconds, she doesn’t move or respond, just stares at Maria with an intensity that makes the woman shift nervously.
Then Giuliana nods once, her face still blank.
She says something—probably acknowledging that she heard the offer—and Maria visibly relaxes, clearly interpreting this as consideration rather than rejection.
The maid finishes with the bed, gathers the dirty linens, and leaves with what looks like a satisfied expression.
The moment the door closes, Giuliana’s composure cracks.
She presses both hands to her mouth, her shoulders shaking—whether from fear or something else, I can’t tell from this angle. Then she’s at the call button, pressing it urgently.
Danny fast-forwards slightly. “Thirty seconds from Maria’s exit to summoning security. She didn’t negotiate, ask for time to think about it, or even pretend to consider the offer once she was alone.”
“She played along until Maria left,” I observe, studying Giuliana’s controlled performance. “She made Maria think she was considering it.”
“Smart,” Danny agrees, looking at me expectantly. “If she’d refused outright, Maria might have gotten suspicious or reported back that the approach failed immediately. This way,Giuliana bought herself time to report it properly without alerting Romano’s people.”
