Chapter 1 - THE BRUISES HE WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO SEE
“From here?”
Dominic Moretti's question was so quiet that I almost wished he'd shouted.
I sat in the leather chair beside his desk, my injured ankle throbbing beneath my black uniform pants.
Outside, snow drifted past the tall windows of his Lake Forest mansion.
Inside, the most dangerous man in Chicago was waiting for an answer.
“Yes,” I whispered.
Dominic didn't move.
“Were they waiting outside my gates?”
“I don't know.”
“Emily.”
I looked down at my hands.
“One of them was standing beside the bus stop when I finished my shift. The other was across the street.”
“Did they speak to you?”
I shook my head.
“Not until I reached my apartment.”
Dominic slowly removed his watch and placed it on the desk.
I'd worked for him long enough to recognize that gesture.
Something terrible was about to happen.
“Tell me everything.”
I swallowed.
“They followed me into the alley behind my building. One grabbed my arm. I tried to run, but the other caught my ankle.”
Dominic's eyes dropped toward my swollen leg.
“He pulled you down?”
“Yes.”
“Did you hit your head?”
“No. I landed on my knees.”
“Then?”
I hesitated.
The memory still made my stomach turn.
“One of them told me to stop asking questions about things that didn't concern me.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“What questions?”
“That's what I didn't understand. I haven't been asking questions about anything.”
“Did they mention my name?”
I nodded.
Dominic stood.
For several seconds, he stared through the window.
Then he reached for his phone.
“Bring the car around. And get Dr. Sullivan here.”
I immediately straightened.
“Mr. Moretti, I can't afford a doctor.”
He turned.
“You're not paying.”
“I don't want charity.”
“Then consider it compensation for three years of excellent coffee.”
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
He approached carefully.
“Emily, I'm going to ask you something important. I need the truth.”
My heart hammered.
“Okay.”
“Did you recognize either man?”
“No.”
“Are you certain?”
I remembered the black gloves.
The smell of expensive cologne.
The voice that had whispered close to my ear.
Tell your boss the past doesn't stay buried.
I looked at Dominic.
“They wore masks.”
He studied me for a moment.
Then his gaze shifted toward the door.
“Caleb was the last person to leave this room.”
I went cold.
Dominic noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Emily.”
I forced myself to breathe.
“Your cousin was outside my apartment last night.”
The silence was immediate.
Dominic's face became unreadable.
“Did you see him?”
“No. I saw his car.”
“What kind?”
“A black Mercedes.”
“There are thousands of black Mercedes in Chicago.”
“This one had a cracked right taillight.”
Dominic slowly turned toward his desk.
He opened a security application on his computer.
A photograph appeared.
A black Mercedes.
A cracked right taillight.
I felt sick.
Dominic stared at the screen.
Then he whispered something in Italian.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
He looked at me.
“It means Caleb told me his car was stolen yesterday.”
My breath caught.
“Maybe it was.”
Dominic shook his head.
“The photograph was taken twenty minutes ago.”
He turned the monitor toward me.
Caleb's Mercedes was parked behind the mansion.
And standing beside it was one of the masked men who had attacked me.
May you like
But that wasn't the worst part.
The man was holding my missing apartment key.
