💋 She Kissed the Most Dangerous Man in Manhattan for $10,000 — and Became the Secret He Couldn’t Let Go

Chapter 16 - The Basement Beneath the Voss House

The Voss townhouse did not look like a place that kept basements.

It rose from the Upper East Side sidewalk in pale limestone dignity, with black iron railings, tall windows, and planters full of white winter flowers. Houses like that pretended everything unpleasant happened elsewhere. Taxes, labor, illness, fear. Those belonged to other zip codes.

But every grand house had a lower level.

Diane stood across the street near a sleeping row of town cars and watched the front windows glow.

Ravi was beside her, dressed now in a dark coat instead of the torn tuxedo. Without the ballroom lights, he seemed less like a myth and more like a man who had not slept, eaten, or trusted anyone in a very long time.

“You promised,” Diane said.

“I promised not to stop you.”

“You promised to let me handle Catherine first.”

“I promised while under emotional distress.”

Despite herself, Diane smiled. It disappeared quickly.

Thomas had told them the rest in fragments.

Catherine had been seven the night Joseph Greedy died. She had hidden behind a wine rack in the Voss basement after sneaking down to steal sugared almonds from a party tray. She saw Joseph arguing with Edward Greedy. She saw Edward push him. She saw Alistair arrive after, not before. She saw Catherine’s own mother, Helena Voss, slap Alistair when he said they would call a doctor too late.

And she saw Margaret Harper kneeling over Joseph, trying to save him.

Catherine had not only seen murder.

She had seen adults choose reputation over life.

No wonder she had become what she was.

Understanding was not forgiveness. Diane held that line firmly.

Ravi’s men covered the exits. Elena Morales was outside somewhere with Rourke, gathering enough lawful presence to keep the night from becoming another buried story. Sabine waited in a car three blocks away, prepared to testify. Mrs. Vale remained with Lily in Boston, though she had sent one message that said, Finish it, child.

Diane had replied, I will.

They entered through the service door.

Catherine had left it unlocked.

That frightened Diane more than a guard would have.

Inside, the townhouse was all marble, silence, and old flowers. Portraits watched from the walls. Somewhere beneath them, a pipe clicked. The house felt less empty than listening.

Catherine waited in the ballroom on the second floor.

Not the grand ballroom from the charity gala, but a private one with mirrored walls and a black piano. She wore white tonight, not red. A silk dress, simple and luminous, as if she had dressed for innocence.

“You came,” Catherine said.

Diane stepped forward alone, just as they had agreed.

Ravi remained by the door, every part of him resisting stillness.

“I brought the tape,” Diane said.

Catherine’s eyes flicked to her coat pocket. “Did you listen?”

“Yes.”

A small change passed across Catherine’s face. Relief, maybe. Or grief disguised as annoyance.

“Then you know Ravi’s family is not cleaner than mine.”

“I never thought any rich family was clean.”

Catherine laughed softly. “You are less naive than you look.”

“I’ve been poor. That cures naivety early.”

Catherine’s smile faded.

For a moment, Diane saw the girl beneath the diamonds. Seven years old, hiding behind wine racks, watching a man fall, watching every adult lie afterward.

“You tried to frame me,” Diane said.

“Yes.”

“You sent someone to my apartment.”

“Yes.”

“You threatened my sister.”

Catherine’s face tightened. “I never wanted Lily harmed.”

“But you were willing to make me believe it.”

Catherine looked away.

Diane took one step closer. “Why me?”

“Because your mother left the only evidence that could force both families into the open.”

“That’s why my mother. Why me?”

Catherine’s eyes returned to hers. “Because Ravi would notice you.”

The answer struck Diane strangely.

Catherine continued, voice low. “Ravi notices courage. He hates that he does. He was raised to value control, but courage disrupts him. I needed him disrupted.”

Ravi’s expression did not change, but Diane felt him hear it.

“You used me as bait,” Diane said.

“I used everyone,” Catherine replied. “That is what they taught me.”

There was no pride in it now. Only exhaustion.

A door opened at the far end of the room.

Edward Greedy entered as if arriving late to dinner.

He was in his late sixties, handsome in a preserved, predatory way, with white hair and a black stone ring set in gold on his right hand. A serpent coiled around the stone.

Ravi inhaled softly behind Diane.

Edward smiled. “My boy.”

Ravi’s voice was ice. “Don’t call me that.”

Edward looked amused. “After everything I did for you?”

“You killed my father.”

“No.” Edward lifted one finger. “I pushed him. Alistair killed him by waiting. Sabine killed him by whispering. I simply provided gravity.”

Diane felt sick.

Catherine closed her eyes.

Ravi took one step forward.

Edward’s gaze moved to Diane. “And this is Margaret’s girl. The waitress who kissed a king and woke a corpse.”

Diane held his gaze. “You talk too much for a man who thinks he’s already won.”

Edward smiled wider.