Chapter 1 - ABANDONED ON THE TARMAC
The Gulfstream disappeared into the gray December sky, leaving Chloe Cole standing alone on the frozen tarmac.
For several seconds, she simply stared.
She could still hear the engines.
She could still feel the violent wind the aircraft had thrown against her coat.
But the worst part was the silence that followed.
Harrison had left.
Not delayed.
Not forced to go without her.
Left.
Chloe lowered her trembling hand from her stomach.
Her baby moved beneath her palm.
“It's okay,” she whispered.
She didn't know whether she was talking to the baby or herself.
Six months pregnant, wearing a pale blue coat over a white maternity dress, Chloe looked completely out of place against the dark vehicles and wet concrete surrounding the private terminal.
Then four black SUVs came through the security gate.
Her heart stopped.
The vehicles moved with purpose.
No sirens.
No flashing lights.
Just four enormous black machines advancing across the tarmac.
Chloe stepped backward.
The first SUV stopped.
Its doors opened.
Men in dark coats emerged.
Then the rear door opened.
A man stepped out.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, and dressed in black from head to toe. His dark hair was slicked back, and a tattoo disappeared beneath the collar of his shirt.
He didn't rush.
He didn't need to.
Every man around him seemed to move according to his presence.
He looked toward the sky.
Then toward Chloe.
“Roman Costa,” he said.
Chloe swallowed.
“I don't know you.”
“No,” he replied. “But your husband knows me.”
The name meant nothing to Chloe.
Yet the way the men around him reacted to it made her stomach tighten.
Roman walked closer.
He stopped several feet away.
“Where is Harrison?”
“He left.”
Roman's jaw tightened.
“I can see that.”
“He said there was a problem with the flight.”
“There was.”
Chloe stared at him.
“What problem?”
Roman looked at the Gulfstream's fading lights.
“Your husband owes me eighty-five million dollars.”
Her mouth went dry.
“What?”
“He borrowed against shipments moving through several ports. The money disappeared. My people traced the transactions back to Harrison.”
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Roman reached inside his coat and removed a thin folder.
He didn't hand it to her.
Instead, he opened it.
Photographs.
Bank transfers.
Shipping records.
Signatures.
Harrison's signature.
Chloe stared.
“That isn't possible.”
Roman studied her.
“You genuinely didn't know.”
“No.”
Something changed in his expression.
Not softness.
Something closer to calculation.
“He didn't tell you anything?”
“He told me his company was expanding.”
Roman gave a humorless smile.
“He was right about one thing.”
“What?”
“He was expanding.”
Chloe's eyes narrowed.
“Into what?”
“Illegal cargo.”
Her hand tightened around her stomach.
“No.”
Roman's gaze moved toward her belly.
“He knew I would come for him tonight.”
Chloe's voice cracked.
“So he left me.”
“Yes.”
“He wouldn't.”
“He already did.”
Tears burned behind her eyes.
She hated that they appeared.
She hated that Roman could see them.
Then Roman said something that froze her completely.
“He also emptied your joint accounts this morning.”
Chloe immediately reached for her phone.
She opened her banking application.
The screen loaded.
Her checking account showed $183.41.
Her savings account was empty.
The investment account she and Harrison had built together had been transferred.
Chloe stared at the numbers.
“No…”
Roman watched her silently.
She called Harrison.
Voicemail.
Again.
Voicemail.
Then she opened their shared credit account.
Declined.
Her hands began shaking.
“He did this.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he needed money to disappear.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere he believes I can't reach.”
Chloe looked up.
“And you came here for him.”
“No.”
Roman's eyes hardened.
“I came here because I knew he'd abandon you.”
The statement was almost worse.
“You knew?”
“I know Harrison better than you think.”
Roman stepped closer.
“He promised me the money by six.”
He checked his watch.
“It is now six fifty.”
Chloe looked toward the terminal.
“So what happens now?”
Roman's gaze remained fixed on her.
“I take you somewhere safe.”
She laughed once.
It was a broken, disbelieving sound.
“Safe?”
“Yes.”
“With you?”
“Yes.”
“You're a stranger.”
Roman's expression remained unreadable.
“And your husband is the man who left his pregnant wife on a freezing runway.”
Chloe had no answer.
Roman turned toward one of his men.
“Open the rear door.”
The man obeyed.
Warm air spilled from the SUV.
Chloe didn't move.
Roman looked at her.
“You can stay here and explain Harrison's financial crimes to federal investigators when they arrive.”
Her eyes widened.
“Federal investigators?”
“He put several accounts in your name.”
Chloe's blood ran cold.
“He wouldn't.”
“He already did.”
Roman held her gaze.
“You have two choices, Mrs. Cole.”
He pointed toward the vehicle.
“Come with me.”
Then toward the empty terminal.
“Or face whatever Harrison prepared for you.”
Chloe looked down at her unborn child.
She had never felt so helpless.
Then she lifted her chin.
“I'll come.”
Roman nodded.
She climbed into the SUV.
As the door closed, she caught one final glimpse of the runway.
The plane was gone.
So was the husband she thought she knew.
May you like
And somewhere beyond the clouds, Harrison Cole was running.
He had no idea that the woman he abandoned had just been taken under the protection of the most feared man in New York.
