Chapter 1 - The Woman Who Refused Fifty Thousand Dollars
The most dangerous man in New York had offered me fifty thousand dollars to disappear.
And I had just told him to take his money and leave.
Julian Voss stood in my tiny Brooklyn apartment, his dark eyes fixed on me as though I were a problem he'd never encountered before.
"You have no idea what you've refused, Miss Whitaker."
"My dignity isn't for sale."
His jaw tightened.
Outside, rain struck the fire escape. The electricity had returned, but the apartment still felt cold.
Julian glanced at the eviction notice on my kitchen table.
"Nine days until you're homeless."
I swallowed.
"That's my problem."
"Your father's debts?"
"Also my problem."
"And the men who tried to abduct you outside the hospital?"
I couldn't answer.
Julian stepped closer, stopping when he saw me stiffen.
"Those men work for Lorenzo Dresco. He wants to destroy me, and he believes you're the easiest way to do it."
"Then tell him I'm nobody to you."
"I already have."
My heart sank.
"Then why are you here?"
For the first time, something resembling regret passed across his face.
"Because he doesn't believe me."
I folded my arms.
"That's hardly surprising. You kissed me in front of half the criminal world."
His expression flickered.
"To keep a gunman from identifying me."
"And you didn't think to ask whether I wanted to be involved?"
"No."
The honesty surprised me.
Julian looked toward the door.
"I made a decision that endangered you. I'm trying to correct it."
"By sending me away?"
"By giving you a choice."
I laughed bitterly.
"A choice between disappearing and being hunted?"
He said nothing.
Then his phone vibrated.
He read the message.
The color left his face.
"Tomas," he said into the phone. "Where?"
A pause.
"Don't let anyone inside."
He ended the call.
I stared at him.
"What happened?"
Julian looked at me.
"Your father."
My blood went cold.
"What about him?"
"Someone took him from his apartment twenty minutes ago."
I grabbed my coat.
"I'm calling the police."
"Good. Tell them everything."
That stopped me.
A mafia boss encouraging me to contact the police?
Julian opened the door.
"You're not staying here alone tonight. I'll arrange somewhere safe, or the police can help you find shelter. Your choice."
I looked around my miserable apartment.
Then at the man standing in the doorway.
"What do they want with my father?"
Julian hesitated.
"There's something Walter never told you about the debt."
My stomach twisted.
"What?"
"The Drescos weren't interested in his money."
He lowered his voice.
"They wanted access to someone inside my family."
I frowned.
"You don't have any family."
Julian's face became unreadable.
"That's what everyone believes."
He handed me his phone.
On the screen was a photograph of a young woman with dark hair and a familiar smile.
"Her name was May," he whispered.
I stared.
His supposedly dead sister.
May you like
Then Julian delivered the words that changed everything.
"Three nights ago, someone sent me proof that May might still be alive."
