Chapter 7 - The Night Maeve Walked Away
The FBI took Raven apart piece by piece.
Frank cooperated.
Enzo did not.
Ruby gave a recorded statement with a child-trauma specialist present.
Callum insisted she never enter a courtroom unless absolutely necessary.
I agreed.
That did not make us parents.
Despite Teresa’s immediate campaign to treat Ruby like a starving grandchild.
Ruby moved into a protected residence temporarily.
I visited twice.
Then she asked a question.
“Why did Brendan never come back?”
I could have lied.
“He was scared.”
She waited.
“He was also addicted.”
Her eyes lowered.
“He told me.”
That surprised me.
“He said he kept screwing things up.”
“That sounds like him.”
“He said saving me was the first useful thing he’d done in years.”
I cried in the car afterward.
Callum waited outside without speaking.
Then I handed him an envelope.
“What is this?”
“My resignation.”
He stared.
“No.”
I laughed.
“There it is.”
He closed his eyes.
“Sorry.”
“I need to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know who I am here anymore.”
“You’re not a maid.”
“Exactly.”
The debt had been invalidated.
Brendan’s supposed debt was partly fabricated by Enzo’s network to control him.
Callum erased the remainder.
Legally.
No favors.
No strings.
For the first time in years, I owed nobody anything.
And that meant staying inside the Moretti estate would finally be a choice.
I did not know if I wanted it.
Callum’s voice softened.
“Is this because of the kiss?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“That sounded relieved.”
“I am trying not to sound anything.”
“You’re terrible at it.”
His eyes held mine.
“Where will you go?”
“I have savings.”
“You have four thousand dollars.”
“Stop knowing my bank balance.”
“You worked payroll inside my house.”
“Still creepy.”
I had accepted a job at a boutique hotel in Boston.
Housekeeping supervisor.
Normal payroll.
Normal customers.
Hopefully less blood.
“You already found work.”
“Yes.”
“Before telling me.”
“Yes.”
He looked hurt.
That annoyed me because I had no right to be affected by it.
“I need something that isn’t attached to you.”
He nodded slowly.
“I understand.”
“I don’t want to.”
“What?”
“Become the woman everyone thinks matters because Callum Moretti notices her.”
He flinched.
“I never—”
“I know.”
I stepped closer.
“That’s why I can say this to you.”
His voice lowered.
“Will you come back?”
“Maybe.”
“Maeve.”
“I don’t know.”
For a man who controlled entire shipping districts, uncertainty terrified him.
Good.
He needed practice.
I moved out two days later.
No dramatic goodbye.
Teresa cried enough for everyone.
Ruby texted:
YOU TWO ARE IDIOTS.
I blocked her for seven minutes.
My new apartment had one bedroom.
A radiator that screamed.
A neighbor who played jazz badly.
I loved it.
Nobody checked visitors.
Nobody carried weapons.
I bought my own wine.
Cheap.
I slept badly for the first week because silence sounded different outside guarded walls.
Then I slept better.
Callum did not call.
That was exactly what I asked.
I hated him for respecting it.
Three weeks passed.
Then Frank Russo changed his testimony.
He withdrew cooperation.
Claimed the FBI coerced him.
Enzo’s attorneys attacked Ruby’s credibility.
News stories leaked.
TEEN WITNESS LINKED TO MORETTI CRIME FAMILY.
Someone had leaked her identity.
Callum called me.
I answered on the first ring.
“Ruby?”
“Safe.”
“What happened?”
“Someone accessed sealed files.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
“I’m coming.”
Pause.
“You don’t have to.”
“Don’t make me regret teaching you choice.”
“I’ll send a car.”
“I have Uber.”
“Maeve.”
“Fine.”
At the estate, chaos returned.
Lawyers.
Agents.
Security.
Ruby sat in Teresa’s kitchen wearing headphones.
She looked angry.
Not scared.
“I hate reporters.”
“Healthy instinct.”
Callum entered.
Three weeks apart had done something annoying to his face.
Or mine.
We stared slightly too long.
Ruby looked between us.
“Gross.”
I ignored her.
The sealed witness information had been accessed using credentials belonging to Callum’s attorney.
But the attorney was in court at the time.
Someone cloned access.
Finn arrived later.
He had regained limited trust after testifying.
He studied the logs.
“This was internal.”
Callum nodded.
“Again.”
We thought the traitor had been Enzo.
Then Frank.
But someone still had access to Moretti legal systems.
Someone who knew Ruby mattered.
Teresa placed coffee down.
“This family has too many traitors.”
Finn smiled.
“Thank you, Teresa.”
“You’re welcome.”
I looked at Teresa.
Something bothered me.
“How did you know Brendan used to eat in your kitchen?”
She frowned.
“I told you.”
“No. I mean why was he allowed here?”
Silence.
Truck drivers did not casually eat inside the private Moretti kitchen.
Teresa’s face changed.
Callum noticed.
“Teresa?”
She sat down.
Slowly.
“I knew his mother.”
My mother.
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Your mother, Kathleen.”
“She died when I was six.”
“I know.”
“You knew her?”
Teresa’s eyes filled.
“She worked here.”
The room shifted.
“My mother was a maid?”
“For Salvatore’s mother.”
Callum stared too.
Teresa continued.
“Kathleen left after you were born.”
“Why?”
Teresa looked at Callum.
“Because your father paid her to.”
I went cold.
“My father?”
“No, sweetheart.”
Her voice broke.
“Callum’s father.”
Silence.
Then:
“Maeve, Brendan was Salvatore Moretti’s son.”
The room disappeared beneath me.
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My brother had been Callum’s half-brother.
And suddenly every debt, every ledger entry and every lie became something else entirely.
