Chapter 5 - Unlocking the Vault
The return of Ruby Brennan sent shockwaves through the Moretti estate. Santiago’s capos whispered in the shadows. Why was the boss moving a fired maid into a luxury suite next to his sister? Why was she suddenly dining with them?
Santiago ignored them all. He watched.
In a matter of days, Sophia’s room was transformed. The oppressive blue was gone, replaced by vibrant sage greens and warm sunlight. But more importantly, the suffocating silence was gone.
Santiago stood in the doorway of the sunroom, watching Ruby and Sophia. They were painting, their hands covered in green acrylic. Sophia made a rapid series of gestures.
"I know," Ruby laughed aloud. "He’s terrifying. He scowls like he’s trying to intimidate the furniture."
Sophia pointed a paint-covered finger directly at Santiago in the doorway, a silent, vibrating laugh shaking her shoulders.
Santiago felt a strange, unfamiliar warmth bloom in his chest. He walked in, taking a seat on the velvet sofa. "You're teaching my sister to insult me in a language I don't understand. That seems like a security risk."
Ruby wiped her hands on a rag, a challenging smirk on her lips. "Then learn the language, Boss."
For the next two weeks, he did. Late at night, in the quiet of his study, Ruby taught him the basics. They sat across from each other, the tension between them thick and crackling with unspoken electricity.
She was infuriatingly stubborn. He was impossibly rigid. But in the quiet moments, when their fingers brushed as she corrected his hand placements, the air in the room seemed to evaporate.
"You're too stiff," she murmured one night, adjusting his hands to sign family. "It has to flow. It’s a circle."
Her skin was warm. She smelled like vanilla and something dangerously wild. Santiago looked from his hands up to her eyes. They were inches apart.
May you like
"Some families," Santiago said softly, "don't flow. They break."
Ruby’s breath hitched. She looked at his lips, then back to his eyes. "Then you build a new one."
