Chapter 2 - Javier Wasn’t Just an Employee
Javier Cole had worked with me for almost five years.
Officially, he was one of my senior operations associates at Romano Development Group. Unofficially, he was the man I trusted to handle problems before they became disasters. He knew my schedule, my travel plans, my business tensions, and which deals mattered enough to keep me awake at night.
That was why I’d once respected him.
He came from nothing, built himself up the hard way, and never flinched under pressure. He wasn’t polished. He wasn’t charming. But he got things done, and in my world, that counted.
Over time, he became more than an employee. He started showing up at private events. Holiday dinners. Summer parties. Birthdays. Even family barbecues like that one.
Leo knew him as “Dad’s work friend.”
Mia didn’t like him. She once told me he smiled with his mouth but not his eyes.
At the time, I laughed it off.
Children notice strange things. Sometimes they see what adults train themselves to ignore.
After the barbecue, I replayed that memory in my head more times than I can count.
Because Mia had seen something in Javier long before I did.
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And on that afternoon, in my own backyard, he finally stopped pretending to be harmless.
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