Chapter 1 - THE MAFIA BOSS'S IMPOSSIBLE CLAIM
"She's my wife."
Two words. One sentence. And suddenly, the most arrogant man I'd ever known looked as though someone had handed him his own death sentence.
Preston Hayes stared at Roman Costa with his mouth slightly open.
"Your... wife?"
Roman didn't blink.
"Is there something unclear about what I said?"
The entire VIP lounge had fallen silent.
I stood between them, holding a whiskey-soaked towel, wondering whether exhaustion had finally driven me insane.
I had never met Roman Costa.
I wasn't married.
And until sixty seconds ago, the most powerful man in the city hadn't known I existed.
At least, that was what I believed.
Preston swallowed.
"Mr. Costa, I had no idea."
"Clearly."
Roman glanced at the broken glass scattered around my feet.
"Was she instructed to kneel?"
Preston attempted a nervous smile.
"It was just a little joke between old friends."
"Old friends?"
Roman's voice was dangerously quiet.
I opened my mouth.
"Actually, we're not—"
Roman looked at me.
Something in his eyes stopped me.
Not a threat.
A warning.
As though he knew something I didn't.
He turned back toward Preston.
"You will apologize."
Preston's face tightened.
"Of course. Sloan, I'm sorry if—"
"Not if," Roman interrupted.
Preston lowered his head.
"I'm sorry for humiliating you."
I stared at him.
For three years, Preston had destroyed my family without showing a second of remorse.
Now a stranger had made him apologize in less than a minute.
Roman addressed the club manager, who stood frozen beside the bar.
"Someone needs to clean this properly before another employee gets hurt."
"Immediately, Mr. Costa."
"And the waitress?"
The manager swallowed.
"Yes, sir?"
"She won't lose her job for what happened tonight."
"Of course not."
Roman turned toward me.
"Come with me, Mrs. Costa."
My heart nearly stopped.
I followed him through a side door into a private hallway, where soft jazz replaced the noise of the nightclub.
The moment we were alone, I pulled my hand away.
"What was that?"
Roman looked at me calmly.
"An introduction."
"An introduction?"
I laughed in disbelief.
"You just told an entire room I'm your wife!"
"Yes."
"I'm not your wife!"
"I know."
I stared.
"Then why would you say that?"
Roman glanced toward the closed door.
"Because Preston Hayes is dangerous, and I needed him to believe that hurting you would bring consequences."
My anger faltered.
"You know Preston?"
"Unfortunately."
I folded my arms.
"Then you know what he did to my father."
Roman's expression changed.
He studied me for a moment.
"Arthur Bennett's construction company."
My breath caught.
My father's company had been Bennett & Sons Contracting.
"How do you know that?"
Roman took a folded document from his coat.
It was an old photograph of my father standing beside a half-finished building.
I recognized the location immediately.
The Riverside Medical Center expansion.
My father's largest project.
"Where did you get that?"
Roman handed me the photograph.
"Your father helped build something that was very important to my family."
I stared at the picture.
"Then why didn't you help him when Preston stole everything?"
Roman's jaw tightened.
"Because by the time I learned what happened, the damage had already been done."
My eyes burned.
"That doesn't answer my question."
"No," he said quietly. "It doesn't."
He reached into his pocket and offered me a business card.
"Come to my office tomorrow. I may be able to help you recover what Preston took."
I looked at the card.
Roman Costa.
No title.
No address.
Just a phone number engraved in silver.
"Why would you help me?"
For the first time, Roman looked genuinely uncomfortable.
"Because I owe your father a debt."
"What debt?"
He was silent.
Then he said something that made the entire night feel suddenly unreal.
"Three years ago, Sloan, your father didn't lose his company because Preston was smarter than him."
I stopped breathing.
May you like
Roman's eyes darkened.
"He lost it because someone inside my organization helped Preston steal it."
