Chapter 3 - Shadows in the Neighborhood
It happened on a rainy Tuesday evening when the shadows lengthened across my mother’s rehabilitation center. I was walking out to my car parked in the dim lot when a sleek black sedan slid silently out of the gloom, blocking my path. The tinted window rolled down with a soft mechanical hum, revealing the cold, weathered face of Sal Maroni, one of Vincent’s oldest regional capos.
“Get in, Claire,” Sal said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion.
“I don’t take rides from strangers, Sal,” I replied, tightening my grip on my cardboard box of belongings.
“I ain't a stranger, and the boss wants a word,” he retorted, gesturing toward the back door of the sedan. “And before you think about running, look across the street.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Parked near the corner bakery was another Marlowe vehicle, and beyond that, two men I recognized from warehouse security operations. They weren't threatening me openly, but the message was unmistakable: I wasn't leaving until I gave them what they wanted. Swallowing the sudden knot of fear in my throat, I opened the door and slid into the leather-lined backseat.
The car drove in silence for thirty minutes, bypassing the downtown skyline and heading toward an old, private estate tucked away behind heavy wrought-iron gates near the riverfront. It was a property owned by the Marlowe family trusts—a place where business that couldn't be handled in boardrooms was quietly settled. When the car stopped, Sal escorted me up a sweeping stone staircase and unlocked a heavy oak door, leaving me alone in a dimly lit, wood-paneled library that smelled faintly of aged scotch and leather.
A single reading lamp cast a warm glow over a leather armchair, where Vincent sat nursing a glass of bourbon. He didn't look up immediately as the door clicked shut behind me.
“You left your desk chair behind, Claire,” Vincent said softly, his voice cutting through the quiet room.
May you like
“I didn't think I’d be needing it anymore,” I fired back, trying to steady my shaking hands. “If you brought me here to settle accounts for Evan, get it over with. I resigned. I gave up everything I built. What more do you want?”
Vincent finally raised his head, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that stole the air right out of my lungs.
