Chapter 1 - The Smile

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My son was hanging from the sixth-floor balcony when I walked into my brother's penthouse.

One hand clung to the railing. White knuckles. Slipping grip.

His shoes were gone. They were on the floor inside—tiny sneakers, Velcro straps, one on its side.

His face was soaked with tears. His mouth open in a silent scream.

And my brother stood above him with one foot pressed against his fingers.

"Say you stole it," Victor said. Calm. Like he was asking about the weather.

"Daddy!" Leo's voice cracked. "Daddy, help!"

I dropped my bag. My keys clattered across the marble floor.

"Take your foot off his hand."

Victor turned. Slow. Deliberate.

He smiled.

"Good. You're here."

That smile terrified me more than anything.

Because he hadn't been trying to punish my son.

He'd been waiting for me to arrive.

"Victor." I kept my voice steady. "Step back. Right now."

"He took something from me, Maya. Something important."

"He's eight years old."

"Eight-year-olds can steal."

"Step. Back."

Victor looked down at Leo. At his tiny fingers gripping the railing. At the sixty-foot drop behind him.

Then he lifted his foot.

Leo screamed. His grip slipped—

I lunged.

Caught his wrist. His arm. Pulled him over the railing. We both collapsed onto the balcony floor, shaking.

"I got you. I got you. I got you."

Leo sobbed into my chest. His whole body was trembling. His hands were red. Raw. Bleeding.

Victor watched us. Hands in his pockets. Relaxed.

"You're welcome," he said.

I looked up at him. "What?"

"For not letting him fall. You should be thanking me."

I wanted to kill him. I wanted to push him over the railing. Watch him fall. See if he screamed.

But Leo was in my arms. Leo was alive.

"Why?" I asked. "Why would you do this?"

Victor walked to the bar. Poured himself a drink. Scotch. Neat.

"Because you have something of mine. And I want it back."

"I don't have anything of yours."

"The ledger, Maya. The one Dad left you. The one you've been hiding for ten years."

My blood went cold.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Victor smiled again. That same smile. Empty. Cold.

"Liar."

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