Chapter 6 - THE PROMISE THAT BROKE TWO BROTHERS
“I told Dad not to make the safety report public.”
Marco's admission came so quietly that I almost missed it.
Rose was still holding his hand.
He looked at his mother.
“I remember now.”
Her expression remained sorrowful.
“Then you know why he was upset.”
Marco nodded.
“I was overseas when the report arrived. Daniel told me the problem was being corrected. I asked Dad to wait until I could arrange an independent inspection.”
“Did you arrange it?” I asked.
Marco looked at me.
“No.”
The answer hurt him.
I could see that.
“Daniel said the repairs were finished. I accepted his word and moved on.”
Rose closed her eyes.
“Your father didn't.”
Marco lowered his head.
“He should have gone straight to the authorities.”
“He wanted to,” Rose whispered. “But he loved both his sons.”
For a moment, the mansion felt unbearably quiet.
Then Marco spoke.
“Mom, love doesn't excuse what we did.”
Rose opened her eyes.
“No, sweetheart. It doesn't.”
I watched her reach for his hand.
“But telling the truth now is better than carrying another six years of lies.”
Marco kissed her forehead.
“I owe Luis and Miguel an apology.”
“Yes,” she said.
“And I owe you one.”
Rose nodded.
“You do.”
He didn't argue.
That small exchange told me more about Marco Romano than all the stories I'd heard about him.
He was feared throughout New York.
But his mother could still tell him he was wrong.
And he could still listen.
Later that night, Elena joined us in the sitting room.
She had changed out of her engagement dress into a sweater and dark trousers.
The diamond ring on her finger caught the light.
Marco noticed her looking at it.
“I'm sorry about dinner.”
Elena gave a sad smile.
“Dinner isn't what concerns me.”
“I know.”
“Marco, I've spent two years believing I understood the kind of man you were.”
He looked away.
“And now?”
“Now I'm wondering how much of your life you keep in separate boxes.”
He looked wounded.
“I never lied to you about my business.”
“You told me you had a complicated past. That's different from telling me your company may have helped cover up an injured worker's claim.”
Marco rubbed his forehead.
“I didn't know the extent of it.”
“But you knew there was a problem.”
He said nothing.
Elena removed the engagement ring.
My heart sank.
She placed it in his palm.
“I'm not ending this because your family is in trouble,” she said. “I'm asking you to decide whether you're willing to become someone who doesn't hide behind the people who work for him.”
Marco stared at the ring.
“Elena—”
“I love you. But I won't build a marriage on things we're not allowed to discuss.”
Then she walked out.
I turned away.
It was a private heartbreak.
Yet Marco didn't ask me to leave.
He simply stood beside the fireplace, holding the ring he'd planned to put on Elena's finger again at their wedding.
“Margaret?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Do you think she's right?”
I hesitated.
Then I remembered Ava waiting at home.
Rose being frightened in her own bedroom.
Luis carrying guilt for six years.
“Yes,” I said softly. “I think she is.”
Marco nodded.
“Thank you.”
The following morning was Friday.
At eight o'clock, Daniel arrived at Rose's bedroom.
I was helping her fasten the small clasp on Harold's wedding-ring necklace.
Daniel stopped when he saw me.
“Margaret, I'd like a private moment with my mother.”
Rose looked up.
“Margaret can stay.”
“Mother, please.”
She shook her head.
“I said she can stay.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
Then he sat across from her.
“Mom, we need to talk about today.”
“I'm not going into a home.”
“I know.”
“And I'm not giving you my shares.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Marco's been talking to you.”
Rose's expression hardened.
“I owned those shares before either of you understood what a shareholder was.”
He looked down.
She continued.
“Your father gave them to me because he wanted me to have something nobody could take away.”
“Mom, the company is in serious trouble.”
“Then tell me how serious.”
Daniel hesitated.
I watched him struggle.
Finally, he spoke.
“Eighteen million dollars.”
Rose blinked.
“What?”
“We owe Sloane's companies eighteen million dollars under the financing arrangements.”
I felt my stomach drop.
Daniel leaned forward.
“The debt is coming due. If we don't approve the restructuring, he can enforce his security interests against the company.”
“Then why didn't you tell Marco?”
“Because he would have blamed me.”
Rose stared at him.
“Did you cause the problem?”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“I made decisions I thought would help us.”
“That isn't an answer.”
His eyes filled unexpectedly.
For a moment, I saw the exhausted man beneath the expensive suit.
“I spent my whole life trying to prove I was useful to this family.”
Rose's expression softened.
“Daniel—”
“Dad trusted Marco with everything. The big contracts. The ships. The company name.”
“Your father loved you.”
“He loved me. But he didn't believe in me.”
Rose looked devastated.
Daniel stood.
“I thought if I fixed the finances before anyone found out, maybe Marco would finally respect me.”
“And instead you tried to take my home.”
His face crumpled.
“I didn't know what else to do.”
Rose reached for him.
“Then you should have asked for help.”
He shook his head.
“You don't understand Sloane.”
“Then make me understand.”
Daniel looked at me.
For a second, I thought he might finally reveal everything.
Instead, he turned away.
“It's too late.”
He left without saying goodbye.
Rose sat silently for a long time.
Then she reached for the blue porcelain cup beside her bed.
“Margaret, would you bring me some coffee?”
“Of course.”
When I returned, she was staring at Harold's photograph.
“Daniel was such a sweet little boy,” she whispered.
I placed the cup beside her.
“He still loves you.”
She nodded.
“I know. That's what makes this so painful.”
Then she touched the gold chain around her neck.
“Harold worried about him.”
“Before he died?”
“For years.”
Rose looked toward the dresser.
“He said Daniel wanted to be seen as strong, but he was too frightened of disappointing people to admit when he'd made a mistake.”
I sat beside her.
“Mrs. Romano, may I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“You told Marco that Harold moved the red ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember what happened afterward?”
She closed her eyes.
For several moments, she said nothing.
Then she opened them.
“Harold became very sick.”
I waited.
“He told me the book was somewhere safe, and he didn't want Daniel to have it.”
“Did Daniel know that?”
Rose nodded slowly.
“He asked me for it after the funeral.”
My pulse quickened.
“What did you tell him?”
“That Harold had left it near the docks.”
She pressed a hand against her chest.
“Daniel said I couldn't protect it properly. He said Marco would blame him if anything happened to it.”
“Did you give him the location?”
Rose looked down.
“Yes.”
“Mrs. Romano, where did Harold keep it?”
She touched the necklace again.
“In the old office. Behind the wooden cabinet.”
I stood.
“Does Marco know?”
“No. Daniel promised me he'd move it somewhere safer.”
My throat tightened.
“And did he?”
Rose's eyes filled.
“I don't know.”
Then she whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“Margaret, I didn't forget where the ledger was.”
I stared at her.
May you like
She looked toward the doorway.
“I told Daniel where to find it. And the next morning, he told me he'd given it to Victor Sloane.”
