Chapter 1 - The Hidden Kitchen
Claire walked out of the tense dining room without looking back at the shattered porcelain.
She pushed through the heavy swinging doors into the massive estate kitchen.
Nicholas Caruso followed her almost immediately.
His heavy footsteps echoed against the pristine stainless steel cabinets.
"You are not going to last long if you ignore my mother," Nicholas warned in a dangerously low voice.
Claire tied a fresh white apron around her waist.
"I am not ignoring her."
"You walked away."
"I walked away because she needed to feel in control of her own room."
Nicholas crossed his arms over his broad chest.
"I pay you to feed her, not to psychoanalyze her."
Claire picked up a sharp paring knife and turned to face him.
"You hired twenty-two chefs before me, and they all tried to force her to eat."
"They failed."
"Exactly."
Claire chopped a carrot with precise, rhythmic motions.
"She was poisoned in her own sanctuary."
"We neutralized the threat."
"Her brain does not know that yet."
Claire scraped the chopped vegetables into a simmering pot of broth.
"I am going to let her smell the food for a few days without asking her to eat a single bite."
Nicholas stared at her for a long time before finally nodding.
He turned and walked out of the kitchen, leaving her alone.
Claire exhaled a breath she had been holding.
She reached up to wipe down the top of the industrial refrigerator.
Her hand brushed against something small and metallic hidden behind the compressor.
She pulled it down and stared at the tiny, blinking red light.
It was a high-tech listening device.
May you like
Nicholas had sworn this house was perfectly secure.
Someone else was listening to everything they said.
