Chapter 6 - HANNAH QUIT, AND VINCENT DIDN’T STOP HER
“You’re quitting.”
“Yes.”
Vincent stared at Hannah.
“Why?”
She almost laughed.
“That question is incredibly on-brand.”
“You need money.”
“I do.”
“Then—”
He stopped.
Old Vincent would have offered more money.
A raise.
An apartment.
A solution that kept the situation under his control.
Hannah waited.
He tried again.
“What do you want to do?”
That surprised her.
“I don’t know.”
“What did you do before Ellie?”
“Bookkeeping.”
“For Daniel’s company?”
“For a small medical supplier.”
“Did you like it?”
“Yes.”
“Then why housekeeping?”
“My schedule.”
She glanced upstairs.
“I needed work that didn’t require a degree I never finished, and Mrs. Nolan let me arrange shifts around childcare.”
Vincent nodded.
His legitimate companies employed hundreds of accountants.
He could make a call.
But that would still make Hannah dependent on him.
“You should apply somewhere.”
She frowned.
“Somewhere?”
“Anywhere you choose.”
Her expression softened.
“You’re not going to offer me a job?”
“I was about to.”
“And?”
“I’m learning.”
She smiled.
“Slowly.”
“Painfully.”
Her final day at the mansion arrived two weeks later.
The household staff threw her a small farewell lunch.
Vincent did not attend.
Not because he didn’t care.
Because he knew his presence changed rooms.
Then Ellie found him in his study.
“You’re not eating cake.”
“I’m working.”
“That’s boring.”
“Yes.”
“Mommy says we’re leaving.”
“I know.”
“Are you sad?”
Vincent looked at her.
Four years old.
Terrifying.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He could have said because the house would be quieter.
Because Hannah was good at her job.
Because Ellie had somehow invaded every room.
Instead:
“Because I like having you here.”
Ellie considered.
“You can visit.”
Vincent almost laughed.
At whose invitation?
She pulled something from her pocket.
A friendship bracelet.
Yellow and black beads.
“I made you this.”
Vincent Caruso wore watches worth more than some cars.
He held out his wrist.
Ellie tied the bracelet badly.
It was too small.
He wore it anyway.
That afternoon, Hannah left the Caruso estate carrying three boxes.
Vincent watched from the window.
He did not stop her.
That was harder than stopping her would have been.
Two months passed.
Anthony’s case moved through federal court.
Caruso Freight underwent independent audits.
Vincent fired managers who had hidden problems.
Added outside compliance oversight.
Sold two businesses he no longer wanted attached to his name.
Marco watched all of it.
“You planning to become legitimate?”
Vincent looked at him.
“We own restaurants and warehouses.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes.”
“Are you?”
Vincent stared out over the Chicago River from his office.
For twenty years, fear had been efficient.
Fear got meetings.
Silence.
Loyalty.
Or what looked like loyalty.
Then three million dollars disappeared because everyone had been too afraid to tell him something was wrong.
Daniel had tried once.
The system swallowed him.
Vincent understood now.
Fear did not create loyalty.
It created quiet.
And quiet was exactly where betrayal grew.
“I’m changing how we operate.”
Marco nodded.
“That sounds expensive.”
“It is.”
“Worth it?”
Vincent looked at the yellow bracelet still on his wrist.
“Yes.”
Meanwhile Hannah found a job.
Not through Vincent.
At a family-owned construction company.
Accounts payable coordinator.
Better salary.
Benefits.
Regular hours.
She moved into a slightly larger apartment.
Ellie got her own bedroom.
Daniel rented a small place nearby.
He began supervised visits.
The first months were painful.
Ellie called him Daniel.
Not Daddy.
He accepted it.
He got a job.
Went to therapy.
Answered every question Hannah asked without defending himself.
Slowly, Ellie began asking when she would see him again.
That was enough.
Hannah and Vincent did not speak for six weeks.
Then they met accidentally.
A grocery store.
Vincent Caruso did not normally buy groceries.
Mrs. Nolan had banned him from the mansion kitchen after he complained there was no decent coffee and suggested replacing the machine.
She told him if he had opinions, he could buy beans himself.
So there he was.
Standing in a grocery aisle holding two bags of coffee like a confused tourist.
Ellie saw him first.
“VINCENT!”
Half the store turned.
Hannah froze.
Vincent smiled before he could stop himself.
Ellie ran into him.
He lifted her.
“You’re heavier.”
“I’m four and a half.”
“My apologies.”
Hannah approached.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
Awkward.
Extremely.
Then she noticed the bracelet.
“You’re still wearing that?”
Vincent looked at his wrist.
“Apparently.”
Ellie beamed.
Hannah smiled.
They had coffee the next week.
Public place.
No bodyguards at the table.
No employer and employee.
Just Vincent and Hannah.
It became another coffee.
Then dinner.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Vincent never asked her to return to the estate.
Hannah never asked him to become someone else overnight.
They argued.
Often.
He was controlling.
She told him.
He became defensive.
Then apologized.
Sometimes.
Progress.
The first time he kissed her, he asked.
Hannah laughed.
“Vincent Caruso asking permission?”
“Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
So he kissed her.
Then Ellie came out of her bedroom and asked why his face was red.
Hannah nearly died laughing.
For eight months, happiness came quietly.
Then Anthony Caruso accepted a plea agreement.
Before sentencing, he requested a meeting with Vincent.
Vincent went.
Anthony sat behind glass.
“You look different.”
Vincent glanced at the bracelet.
“I hear that.”
“You threw away everything we built.”
“No.”
“I cleaned up what you corrupted.”
Anthony laughed.
“For a maid?”
Vincent’s expression changed.
“No.”
“For me.”
Anthony leaned closer.
“You think Hannah loves you?”
Vincent said nothing.
“She loved Daniel too.”
That landed.
Anthony smiled.
“Men like us don’t get happy endings, cousin.”
Vincent stood.
“Maybe men like you don’t.”
He left.
But the words followed him.
Because Hannah had still not told Vincent she loved him.
And he had never told her what he was most afraid of.
May you like
That someday she would look at his past and decide Anthony was right.
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