Chapter 4 - The Snake Tattoo
I hung up the phone and walked silently out of the study.
The pieces of this twisted puzzle were slowly clicking into place, and they all pointed to the woman I was supposed to marry.
I walked past the angry guests in the drawing room and headed straight for the nursery.
I needed to check on Rosie before I did anything else.
I gently opened the door to the brightly colored playroom.
Rosie was sitting in the middle of the floor, still aggressively hugging her stuffed rabbit.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” I asked, kneeling down beside her.
She looked up at me with large, terrifyingly sad brown eyes.
“The pretty lady is mad at me,” Rosie whispered, referring to Vivienne.
“You did a very brave thing telling the truth about the ring,” I assured her.
I sat on the soft carpet and looked closely at the little girl.
“Rosie, do you remember the night your mommy went to heaven?”
She nodded slowly, squeezing the worn rabbit even tighter.
“Did you see anyone in her room that night?”
Rosie looked nervously toward the closed nursery door before answering.
“I saw the monster.”
My pulse quickened.
“What monster, Rosie?”
“The man with the big snake on his arm,” she said quietly.
She reached out and traced a squiggly line down her own small forearm to demonstrate.
“He put a needle in Mommy’s arm while she was sleeping.”
I felt the blood completely drain from my face.
My estate was guarded by the most elite private security firm in the entire country.
I personally vetted every single man who worked on these grounds.
There was only one man on my payroll who had a massive, sprawling snake tattoo on his forearm.
It was Marco, my trusted chief of security.
The very same man who was currently holding thirty-two powerful guests hostage on my orders.
I stood up slowly, realizing I had just locked myself inside a mansion with the man who murdered my housekeeper.
The nursery door suddenly clicked softly behind me.
May you like
I spun around to see Marco standing in the doorway, his hand resting casually on his holstered weapon.
“Is there a problem in here, Mr. Vance?” Marco asked with a chillingly polite smile.
