“Knowing something is wrong isn’t the same as stopping it,” she said.
“No,” Roman replied.
“It isn’t.”
He turned back to Bellamy.
Then he pressed his phone once.
A woman’s voice came through the speaker.
Ava recognized the name when Roman greeted her.
Trina.
Roman had contacted her during the audit.
Trina sounded nervous but certain.
She described reporting Caleb after he cornered her during a late shift.
She said Mrs.
Bellamy called her into the office the following morning and warned that no respectable household in the area would hire someone labeled difficult.
Two disciplinary reports appeared that week.
Neither described events that had happened.
Trina resigned because she was afraid her references would be destroyed.
Bellamy paced once toward the study.
Roman said, “Stay here.”
She stopped.
Trina’s voice continued through the phone.
“I thought Mr.
Valenti knew,” she said.
“Mrs.
Bellamy always said everything she did was for him.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“I didn’t know,” he answered.
It was the first time Ava heard anger in his voice.
Not loud anger.
The kind that accepted responsibility before assigning it.
Mrs.
Bellamy tried one last defense.
“I kept this house functioning.
I protected your privacy.
I removed weak employees before they became liabilities.”
Roman looked toward Ava’s nephew in the sitting room.
“A six-year-old boy is a liability?”
“He should never have been here.”
“You approved his visit.”
“I made an exception.”
“And then punished his aunt for accepting it.”
Bellamy’s mouth tightened.
Roman closed the folder.
“That is not management.
That is a trap.”
Two members of the estate security team appeared at the far entrance.
Neither was Caleb.
Roman had summoned them quietly.
Caleb’s eyes widened.
Roman spoke to them without raising his voice.
“Mr.
Rourke is relieved of duty.
Take his credentials and keep him away from staff areas.
The police are being called regarding the assault.
Preserve every security record from today.”
Caleb stared at Roman.
“You’d turn me over after everything I’ve done for this family?”
