Chapter 3 - The Lies of the HarborI stared at the photograph, my tears finally spilling over my lashes, dropping onto the silk sheets beneath me.
"Aaron..." I sobbed, tracing the glass of the tiny frame with my trembling thumb. "You knew Aaron?"
"Aaron Brooks wasn't just a harbor mechanic, Hannah," Daniel said, pulling a leather chair up to the bedside and sitting down. "He was my foster brother. Before my father took over the Providence syndicate, Aaron’s father and mine worked the docks together. When my father was assassinated twelve years ago, Aaron saved my life by hiding me in a diesel fuel tank for sixteen hours while the rival gangs hunted me."
My mind raced, pieces of a broken, chaotic puzzle suddenly snapping into place.
"He never told me..." I whispered. "He told me he was just a simple dock worker."
"Because I begged him to keep you out of my world," Daniel said, his voice heavy with a deep, ancient guilt. "Aaron wanted a clean life. He wanted a home, a yellow nursery, and a quiet family. I swore to him that as long as he stayed away from my business, I would keep my shadow from ever touching his door."
He looked at my swell beneath the velvet blanket.
"Three weeks before Aaron died," Daniel continued, "he came to my office in secret. He told me you were pregnant. He was terrified, Hannah. Not because of me... but because of the Whitlocks."
I sat up straight, ignoring the sharp twinge in my side. "The Whitlocks? The shipping company?"
"Julian Whitlock—Claire’s father—has been using the Providence docks to smuggle illegal unregistered weapons and undocumented narcotics through the northern shipping lanes," Daniel explained, his jaw clenching tightly. "They were using my company's name as a cover. Aaron discovered the altered manifests on dock seventeen. He took the evidence to your older brother, Caleb Monroe."
I gasped, my hands flying to my mouth. "Caleb... my brother!"
"Caleb was a brilliant bookkeeper," Daniel nodded. "He decoded the hidden offshore accounts within forty-eight hours. He realized the Whitlocks were planning to murder me, frame Aaron for the financial theft, and take control of the entire Providence waterfront through a forced marriage alliance between Claire and myself."
"So Caleb didn't just disappear..." I breathed, terror gripping my heart.
"Caleb went into hiding with the master hard drive," Daniel said. "When Julian Whitlock realized Caleb was gone, he ordered Aaron’s murder on the loading platform to force Caleb out of the shadows. They staged it as an industrial accident."
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Daniel reached out, gently tucking a strand of my remaining dark hair behind my ear, his thumb brushing away a stray tear on my cheek.
"I found out the truth three days after Aaron died," Daniel whispered, his voice trembling with a rare, terrifying fury. "I knew why you applied for a job in my house five months ago, Hannah. I knew you came here looking for answers about Aaron and Caleb. I let you stay where I could keep you safe... until I had enough evidence to wipe the Whitlocks off the map completely."
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