Chapter 1 - THE MAN BEHIND THE DOOR
"Tell me, Penelope. Has anyone else knocked tonight?"
Dominic Vitiello's voice was calm, but his eyes told a different story.
Penelope tightened her grip on the door.
"No. And unless you've suddenly become the fashion police, I don't understand why you're here."
Dominic glanced toward Lorenzo, who was speaking urgently into his earpiece.
"Your photograph," Dominic said. "Did anyone unusual contact you after you posted it?"
Penelope folded her arms.
"Besides a jealous millionaire ordering me to delete a picture of myself?"
His jaw tightened.
"Penelope, this isn't about your dress."
"Then why did you embarrass me in front of everyone?"
Before Dominic could answer, a sharp metallic sound came from the stairwell.
Lorenzo immediately moved toward it.
Dominic pushed Penelope's apartment door wider.
"Get away from the entrance."
"Excuse me?"
"Now."
Something heavy struck the hallway wall.
Penelope gasped.
Dominic stepped inside, pulled her away from the doorway, and shut the door behind them.
A second later, footsteps thundered past.
Someone shouted.
Then silence.
Penelope stood against the kitchen counter, her heart racing.
"What just happened?"
Dominic checked the lock.
"Someone followed your location."
"My location?"
He pointed toward her phone.
"Your picture showed the reflection of the building across the street. Anyone familiar with this neighborhood could identify your apartment."
Penelope stared at him.
"Thousands of people post pictures every day."
"Thousands of people don't have a price on their heads."
The words seemed to freeze the air.
Penelope laughed nervously.
"That's not funny."
Dominic didn't smile.
"I wasn't joking."
His phone rang.
He answered immediately.
Lorenzo's voice came through the speaker.
"Boss, we caught the man in the stairwell. He's carrying a photograph."
"Of Penelope?"
"No."
Dominic's expression changed.
"Then whose?"
Lorenzo hesitated.
"Your mother's."
Dominic stopped breathing.
His mother had died fifteen years earlier.
But that wasn't what frightened him.
Lorenzo continued.
"There's writing on the back."
"What does it say?"
A long silence followed.
Then Lorenzo read the message.
"Tell Dominic the girl in red is the daughter of the woman who betrayed his family."
May you like
Dominic slowly turned toward Penelope.
And for the first time since she had known him, the most dangerous man in Chicago looked genuinely afraid.
