Chapter 1 - THE NAME I BURIED THREE YEARS AGO
“Nora, look at me.”
Three years.
One thousand ninety-five days.
And Roman Moretti still knew exactly how to make my heart stop with four words.
I stayed on my knees among the broken glass.
Blood ran from my finger onto the hardwood floor.
Roman crouched in front of me.
The entire restaurant watched.
“Let me see your hand.”
I pulled away.
“Don't touch me.”
His expression changed.
For one brief second, I saw something beneath his cold gray eyes.
Pain.
Then it disappeared.
“Tommy,” he said quietly, “get the first-aid kit.”
His security chief moved immediately.
I stared at Roman.
“Why are you here?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he removed a clean white handkerchief and placed it beside my injured hand.
“You need to stop the bleeding.”
“I asked you a question.”
His jaw tightened.
“I know.”
Arthur, the restaurant manager, hovered behind us.
“Mr. Moretti, perhaps I can arrange another server—”
“No.”
Roman's voice was sharp enough to make Arthur retreat.
Then he looked at me.
“Can you stand?”
“I've been standing on my own for three years.”
The words struck him.
He slowly rose.
“I deserved that.”
I laughed.
A broken, bitter sound.
“You deserve much worse.”
Tommy returned with the first-aid kit.
Roman stepped aside while I wrapped my finger.
He didn't force me to move.
Didn't touch me again.
But I knew better than to mistake patience for harmlessness.
I had once loved this man.
Slept beside him.
Worn his engagement ring.
Believed his promises.
Then I'd overheard a conversation that destroyed everything.
Three years earlier, Roman had stood inside his penthouse study with a man named Victor Bellini.
Victor asked what should be done about a woman who knew too much.
Roman answered:
“She cannot be allowed to leave.”
The next morning, I packed one suitcase.
Changed my name.
And disappeared.
Now the man I'd fled was standing beneath Lombardi's crystal chandeliers.
“Nora,” he said, “I didn't come to hurt you.”
My stomach tightened.
“That's what you said three years ago.”
He closed his eyes.
Then quietly replied:
“I know what you heard that night.”
I froze.
Roman reached into his coat and removed a faded photograph.
It showed me standing outside a hospital.
Three years earlier.
Holding a small white envelope.
My blood turned cold.
“Where did you get that?”
Roman looked directly at me.
“Because that was the morning someone tried to kill you.”
I stared at him.
May you like
Then he said something that made the entire world tilt.
“Nora, the woman Victor wanted imprisoned wasn't you. It was my sister—and she's been missing since the night you disappeared.”
