Chapter Twenty
The next few weeks flew by, and she grew unhappier every day because Dominic hadn’t called or come over, and she’d left messages that were unanswered twice now.
Mateo came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her as she stared outside.
“Baby. Give him time.”
She nodded and then rested her head against him. “I know. I keep thinking I’ve already lost twenty-five years of his life. I don’t want to lose any more.”
He pressed a kiss to the back of her head. “I’m sorry. I wish I could fix this for you.”
“I know.”
They both turned when her office door closed.
“You guys, I think I’ve either found a safe room or another secret passage,” Trent said.
“Really? Where?” she asked.
“I’ve been going over the blueprints.”
Trent spread it across her desk and pointed to her office. “See this right here?”
Aria looked closely at where he was pointing. “What am I looking for?”
“This here is that wall.” He pointed to the wall behind her.
She nodded.
“I see it,” Mateo said. “There’s space between that wall and the foyer.”
Trent nodded. “Exactly. It’s got to be something. We just have to find the way to get in.”
She studied the blueprints and then the wall. There was the door to the bathroom and then paneling. She walked over and examined the wood. It was beautiful and one of the things she had kept when she had redone the office.
All three started pushing or trying on parts.
They’d been at it several minutes when she found something, She gasped when something clicked, and the paneling cracked open. “I’ve found it.”
The three opened the door. It was one piece of the paneling, and it was hidden extremely well. They pushed the door inward and then felt around for a light.
Trent found it and switched it on.
Her mouth dropped open. The inside looked like heavy metal, and then there were a few chairs and a back shelf with guns, ammo, bottles of water, and what looked like military meals. There was an intercom system by the light, but they had no way of finding out what it did.
“I wonder if the meals are still good,” she said.
“Yeah, they last for decades.”
She smiled at the face he made. “You’ve eaten them?”
“Yes. They weren’t horrible. I’d eat them again if I were starving, but only then.”
Mateo went over the guns, taking a few apart, and then he studied the thousands of bullets.
“Let’s get out of here,” Trent said. “And I want you to practice getting in here if there’s trouble.”
They watched her try a few times until it came easy to her.
“Good girl.” Trent rolled up the blueprints. “I’m going to study these more and find the other rooms and stairs I know are in the house.”
“Good. I’ve got some work to do,” Mateo said.
Aria sat at her desk and stared at the wall. How many secret rooms and passages did this house have? She knew her men wouldn’t stop looking until they found every one of them.