Chapter 1 - The Man Waiting Outside My Apartment
The black sedan was still parked outside my building when my phone rang at 6:42 p.m.
I was standing in my dark apartment, wearing the blue dress I'd bought for my date with Tyler, watching a stranger through the narrow gap in my curtains.
The caller ID showed a name I hadn't expected.
LORENZO VITALI.
I answered.
"Mr. Vitali?"
"Are you home?"
His voice was unusually quiet.
"Yes."
"Did anyone follow you?"
My stomach tightened.
I looked toward the sedan.
"Why would you ask that?"
"Lily, answer me."
I swallowed.
"There's a car outside my building."
A silence followed.
Then Lorenzo spoke in a tone I'd never heard before.
"Don't go near the windows."
I stepped backward.
"What's happening?"
"Lock your door."
"It's already locked."
"Both locks?"
"Yes."
"Good. Stay inside."
I stared at the phone.
"Mr. Vitali, you're frightening me."
His voice softened.
"I know. I'm sorry."
That stopped me.
Lorenzo Vitali did not apologize.
Not to investors.
Not to politicians.
Certainly not to his secretary.
"What is going on?"
He hesitated.
"Someone accessed your personnel file this afternoon."
"My personnel file?"
"Your address. Emergency contact information. Everything."
A chill traveled down my spine.
"Who?"
"We're finding out."
I looked toward the window again.
The sedan's headlights flashed once.
Then the driver's door opened.
A tall man stepped onto the sidewalk.
He wore a dark coat and carried a phone.
"Lorenzo."
It was the first time I'd called him by his first name.
He noticed.
"What do you see?"
"Someone just got out of the car."
"Describe him."
Before I could answer, the stranger looked directly toward my apartment window.
Then he smiled.
Not a friendly smile.
The kind that made my blood run cold.
"Lily," Lorenzo said sharply.
"I'm here."
"Move away from the window. Now."
I obeyed.
Seconds later, someone pressed the intercom downstairs.
I froze.
It rang again.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message from Tyler.
Hey, beautiful. I'm downstairs. Can you buzz me in?
Relief nearly brought me to my knees.
"It's Tyler," I whispered.
Lorenzo went completely silent.
"Tyler?"
"My date."
"Lily, do not open that door."
I frowned.
"Why?"
His answer made my heart stop.
"Because Tyler was found unconscious in his apartment forty minutes ago."
I stared at the message on my screen.
Another text appeared.
Come on, sweetheart. I know you're home.
Then the intercom rang for the third time.
May you like
And a man's voice whispered through the speaker.
"Open up, Lily. Lorenzo can't protect you forever."
