The Mafia Boss Watched His Maid Care for His Mother in Secret—What He Did on the Ninth Day Left the Entire Estate Speechless / Chapter 6 / 20

Chapter 6 - The Guard at the Gate

The morning arrived under a blanket of heavy, iron-gray clouds. Rain dripped steadily from the ancient stone overhangs of the east guest cottage, tapping a rhythmic cadence against the windowpanes.

When Tessa stepped out onto her front porch at 7:30 a.m., dressed in her new charcoal wool trousers and a soft cream sweater, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Flanking her small wooden porch steps were two men she had never seen up close before. They wore immaculate black raincoats, but there was no mistaking their purpose. The slight bulge beneath their left shoulders and the rigid, scanning movement of their eyes made it abundantly clear what they were.

"Good morning, Miss Miller," the guard on the left said politely, tipping his dark cap.

Tessa held her leather satchel tightly against her hip. "Good morning... Is there something wrong?"

"Mr. Costa has adjusted the security detail for the east grounds," the guard replied seamlessly. "Our instructions are to escort you between the cottage and the main house at all times."

A sharp prickle of unease washed over her skin. "Is there a threat to the estate?"

"Just routine precautions, Miss Miller. Please, after you."

Tessa walked down the gravel path, flanked on either side by the silent sentinels. As they approached the main house, her eyes drifted toward the second-floor library windows.

Damian stood behind the glass, a cup of dark coffee in his hand. Even from fifty yards away, his presence felt like a physical weight pressing against the glass. He met her gaze for a single, unblinking second before stepping back into the shadows of the room.

When Tessa reached Room 104, she found Beatrice sitting by the window, surprisingly calm.

"The boys outside are noisy today," Beatrice murmured as Tessa sat down beside her, pulling out a small wooden bowl of fresh strawberries she had brought from the kitchen.

"They're just making sure we're safe, Beatrice," Tessa said softly, capping a strawberry and holding it out.

Beatrice took a slow bite, her dark eyes drifting toward the window. "My husband used to put men at the gates when the winter came. It meant the men from the docks were hungry." She turned her gaze slowly back to Tessa, a sudden, piercing moment of lucidity lighting her clouded eyes. "Damian put those men outside for you, didn't he?"