Chapter 1 - THE WOMAN UNDER HIS TABLE
“For what?”
Natalie blinked.
Adrian Mercer sat across from her as if finding a bleeding woman beneath his dining table was only a minor interruption to his evening.
“For ruining your dinner.”
His gaze moved to the untouched plate beside him.
“I wasn’t hungry.”
“For getting your carpet wet.”
“I own the restaurant.”
“That somehow makes it worse.”
For the first time, something almost like amusement touched his face.
Then his eyes returned to the bruises around her throat.
The amusement vanished.
“What happened?”
Natalie looked toward the locked door.
“My ex.”
“I gathered that.”
“He gets angry.”
“So do I.”
Her eyes snapped back to him.
Adrian leaned into his chair.
“The difference is I don’t put my hands around women’s throats.”
Natalie swallowed.
“He didn’t mean—”
“Don’t.”
The word was quiet.
She stopped.
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Whatever sentence you were about to use to explain his behavior, don’t.”
Her eyes burned.
Three years of instinct told her to defend Ethan.
He had been stressed.
He had been drinking.
She had embarrassed him.
She should have known better.
Every excuse felt suddenly pathetic inside that elegant room.
A knock sounded.
Natalie flinched violently.
Adrian saw it.
“Come in.”
The door opened.
A broad-shouldered man in a black suit entered carrying a medical kit.
“Ethan Cole is outside,” he said.
Natalie’s blood went cold.
“He won’t leave?”
“No.”
“What’s he doing?” Adrian asked.
“Calling police.”
Natalie stood too quickly.
“No.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“He says you kidnapped his girlfriend.”
“He’ll make them believe him.”
“Sit.”
“I need to go.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere.”
“He knows your apartment?”
“Yes.”
“Your workplace?”
“Yes.”
“Family?”
“My mother lives in Connecticut.”
“He knows the address?”
Natalie’s silence answered.
Adrian looked toward his man.
“Call Lena.”
The man nodded.
Natalie frowned.
“Who’s Lena?”
“My attorney.”
“I don’t need an attorney.”
“You have a man outside preparing to tell the NYPD that the bruises on your body somehow make him the victim.”
Natalie slowly sat again.
Adrian leaned forward.
“You need an attorney.”
The man opened the medical kit.
“My name is Gabriel. I’m going to look at your lip if that’s okay.”
The question surprised her.
Permission.
Nobody around Ethan ever asked.
Natalie nodded.
Gabriel cleaned the cut carefully while Adrian remained across the table, not touching her, not crowding her.
Outside, voices grew louder.
Then Ethan shouted.
“Natalie! Tell them what happened!”
Her body froze.
Adrian stood.
His chair moved backward with a soft scrape.
“What are you doing?”
“Ending this.”
“Please don’t hurt him.”
Adrian looked at her.
Something unreadable passed across his face.
“You’re asking me not to hurt the man who did that to you?”
“I’m asking you not to make tonight worse.”
That made him pause.
Then he nodded once.
“Fair.”
He walked to the door.
Before opening it, he removed a handgun from beneath his jacket.
Natalie’s breath stopped.
Adrian handed it to Gabriel.
“I said I wouldn’t make it worse.”
Then he unlocked the door.
Two police officers stood in the hallway.
Ethan was between them.
The moment he saw Natalie, his expression changed.
Concern.
Relief.
Perfectly rehearsed.
“Baby.”
Natalie felt sick.
“I’ve been looking everywhere.”
Adrian stepped between them.
Ethan’s smile vanished.
One officer looked at Natalie.
“Ma’am, Mr. Cole says you’re experiencing a mental health crisis and that Mr. Mercer is preventing you from leaving.”
Natalie opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Ethan smiled gently.
“It’s okay, Nat. Tell them.”
Adrian said nothing.
He simply looked at her.
Not commanding.
Waiting.
Natalie stared at Ethan.
Then at the officer.
Her voice shook.
“He hit me.”
Ethan’s face changed.
“Natalie—”
“He grabbed my throat.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“He locked me in my apartment.”
The officer’s expression sharpened.
Ethan stepped forward.
Adrian blocked him.
“Don’t.”
“You stay out of this.”
Natalie continued.
“I ran.”
Ethan’s mask cracked.
“You ungrateful little liar.”
The hallway went silent.
One officer immediately turned toward him.
“Sir, step back.”
Ethan realized his mistake.
Too late.
They arrested him.
Natalie watched them place him in handcuffs.
She expected relief.
Instead, terror flooded her.
Because as Ethan passed her, he whispered:
“You think this saves you?”
Adrian heard him.
So did Gabriel.
Ethan smiled.
“Ask her why I was really looking for her.”
Natalie went pale.
Adrian turned slowly.
“What does he mean?”
She couldn’t answer.
Because Ethan knew something no one else in New York knew.
May you like
Not even Adrian Mercer.
Natalie Bennett had not come to Manhattan under her real name.
