Chapter 1 - SHE REFUSED TO GET IN HIS CAR
Harper expected Derek to argue.
Expected him to curse.
Expected him to look at her and make some silent promise that this was not over.
Instead, he walked.
Not confidently.
Not angrily.
He walked away from Roman Falco with his shoulders hunched, glancing behind him only once before disappearing beyond the mouth of the alley.
That frightened Harper more than if Derek had screamed.
Because Derek was afraid of Roman.
And Harper had never seen Derek afraid of anyone.
The black Audi arrived from the valet stand thirty seconds later.
Roman’s broad-shouldered man took the keys.
Harper stared at Roman.
“What happens now?”
Roman looked toward the street Derek had vanished down.
“That depends on you.”
She blinked.
He removed the apartment key from his pocket and held it out.
Harper did not take it.
“You took that from him.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened him.”
“Yes.”
“You had no right.”
Roman’s expression barely changed.
“No.”
The answer startled her.
Most men like Derek always had explanations.
Excuses.
Justifications.
Roman gave her none.
“I interfered because I believed you were in danger,” he said. “You don’t owe me gratitude.”
Harper studied him.
“Who are you?”
“Roman Falco.”
The name meant nothing to her.
But it clearly meant something to the restaurant manager watching nervously through the locked glass door.
Roman nodded toward the black town car.
“My driver can take you anywhere you choose.”
“I’m not getting into your car.”
Something like approval flickered in his eyes.
“Good.”
Harper frowned.
Roman continued.
“Never get into a strange man’s car because he frightened another man for you.”
For the first time that night, Harper nearly laughed.
It came out as a broken breath.
She pulled out her phone.
Twenty-three missed calls from Derek.
Eleven messages.
The newest said:
YOU JUST MADE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF YOUR LIFE.
Another appeared while she watched.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO THAT MAN IS.
Harper looked up.
“Apparently Derek does.”
Roman said nothing.
She ordered a rideshare.
Roman’s men stayed several yards away while she waited.
No one approached her.
No one touched her.
When the car finally arrived, Roman held out Derek’s apartment key again.
Harper took it.
“Why did you want this?”
“So you could decide whether you ever opened that door again.”
The ride to her sister’s apartment took twenty minutes.
Harper spent all twenty searching Roman Falco’s name.
The first few results were harmless.
Falco Hospitality Group.
Real estate.
Private investment.
Restaurants.
Then she found an archived newspaper article from eight years earlier.
MARCUS FALCO ORGANIZED CRIME INVESTIGATION COLLAPSES AFTER KEY WITNESS DISAPPEARS.
The article mentioned Marcus’s younger brother.
Roman.
Harper’s stomach tightened.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She almost ignored it.
Instead she answered.
A woman whispered,
“Harper?”
“Yes?”
“My name is Elise.”
Harper heard crying.
“I worked for Derek before you met him.”
Harper sat up.
“What do you want?”
May you like
The woman’s next sentence turned her blood cold.
“I need to tell you what he did to the woman before you.”
