Chapter 1 - THE THREAT SHE NEVER TOLD HIM
Julian stared at Elena as though the Grand Alcazar had disappeared around them.
Someone in your family threatened to kill our child.
The sentence made no sense.
His family was ruthless in business. Proud. Controlling. Occasionally cruel.
But murder?
“Elena,” he said slowly, “who?”
Her gaze moved toward the man behind the marble pillar.
He was already walking away.
Black suit.
Silver tie.
No hurry.
The kind of man who knew running only attracted attention.
Julian started after him.
Elena grabbed his wrist.
“Don’t.”
He looked down at her hand.
Raw knuckles.
Bleach burns.
A wedding band was no longer there.
His anger sharpened.
“That man threatened you?”
“No.”
“Then who is he?”
“His name is Dante Moretti.”
Julian knew the name.
Dante had worked security for the Rossi family years earlier, before disappearing after Julian’s father died.
“What is he doing here?”
“Trying to keep me alive.”
That answer stopped Julian.
Camila stepped closer.
“This is insane.”
Elena’s eyes flicked toward her.
For the first time, something colder than fear crossed her face.
“You brought her here?”
Julian looked between them.
“Camila had nothing to do with—”
“You don’t know that.”
Camila laughed.
“Excuse me?”
Elena reached into the pocket of her housekeeping apron.
Her hand came out empty.
She stared down.
Then at the service corridor.
“My phone.”
“What?”
“It was in my pocket.”
A hotel supervisor appeared near the elevators.
“Elena, you need to come with me.”
“No,” Julian said.
The supervisor swallowed.
“Mr. Rossi, this is an employee matter.”
“She is my wife.”
“And she is scheduled on the twenty-third floor.”
Elena’s face drained of color.
“No.”
Julian noticed.
“What’s on twenty-three?”
The supervisor looked away.
Elena backed toward Julian.
“I wasn’t assigned there.”
A service elevator opened.
Two men stood inside.
Neither wore hotel uniforms.
Julian stepped in front of Elena.
The taller man smiled.
“Mrs. Rossi.”
Julian’s entire body hardened.
“How do you know her?”
The man’s smile vanished.
Elena whispered:
“Julian, we need to move.”
The men stepped out.
Julian grabbed the brass housekeeping cart and shoved it sideways across the corridor.
Bottles crashed.
Towels spilled.
Guests screamed.
He took Elena’s hand.
“Run.”
Camila shouted after them, but Julian did not look back.
They moved through the lobby, into a staff hallway and through a kitchen where chefs stared as Julian Rossi—whose investment group owned thirty-two percent of the hotel—dragged a pregnant housekeeper past trays of lobster and champagne.
Dante appeared beside a loading door.
“This way.”
Julian grabbed his coat.
“Start talking.”
“Not here.”
“If you touch her—”
Dante’s eyes hardened.
“If I wanted her dead, Mr. Rossi, you would never have found her.”
Elena grabbed Julian’s arm.
“He’s telling the truth.”
Dante opened a steel door leading to an underground service garage.
A black sedan waited.
Julian stopped.
“I’m not getting into a stranger’s car.”
Dante gave him a humorless look.
“You spent four months dating Camila Vale. Your standards for strangers are apparently flexible.”
Julian’s face changed.
“What does Camila have to do with this?”
Dante looked at Elena.
She closed her eyes.
“Tell him.”
Dante opened the rear door.
“Camila was introduced to you three weeks after Elena disappeared.”
Julian stared.
“So?”
“That wasn’t accidental.”
A sick pressure built beneath Julian’s ribs.
Camila had approached him at a charity auction.
She already knew his favorite wine.
Already knew which merger he was working on.
She claimed mutual friends had told her.
Dante continued.
“Your cousin Marco approved her consulting company for a monthly retainer two weeks before she met you.”
Julian stopped breathing.
“Marco?”
Marco Rossi.
His cousin.
Chief financial officer.
Best man at Julian’s wedding.
The person who had sat beside him after Elena vanished and told him eventually he needed to accept she had chosen to leave.
“No.”
Dante’s expression did not move.
“That is what Elena said too.”
A door slammed upstairs.
Dante looked toward the ramp.
“We’re out of time.”
Julian helped Elena into the car.
Then he climbed in beside her.
Dante drove.
For the first several blocks, nobody spoke.
Julian stared at Elena’s stomach.
His child.
Possibly his son or daughter.
Eight months of movement.
Doctor visits.
Fear.
And he had known none of it.
“When did you find out?”
Elena looked out the window.
“Two days before I disappeared.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I tried.”
“I never received anything.”
“I know.”
She pulled a folded paper from inside her uniform.
It had been folded so many times the edges were soft.
An ultrasound.
Julian stared at the date.
Eight months earlier.
Beneath it was a screenshot of a text.
LEAVE JULIAN BEFORE MIDNIGHT.
TELL HIM YOU STOPPED LOVING HIM.
IF YOU CONTACT HIM AGAIN, WE WILL PUT YOUR CHILD IN THE SAME GRAVE AS HIS FATHER.
Julian’s blood ran cold.
“My father died in an accident.”
Elena looked at him.
“That is what I believed too.”
Dante watched them through the mirror.
Julian slowly raised his eyes.
“What are you saying?”
Dante answered.
“Antonio Rossi’s death was never properly investigated.”
Julian’s voice dropped.
“My father’s yacht exploded.”
“Yes.”
“Eleven years ago.”
“Yes.”
“And you think my family killed him?”
Dante’s jaw tightened.
“I think your father discovered somebody was stealing from the Rossi trust.”
Julian looked at Elena.
“Who threatened you?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“The first message was anonymous.”
“The first?”
“The second came in person.”
“From whom?”
Elena hesitated.
May you like
Then said the name that finally broke something inside him.
“Your mother.”
