Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO CAME BACK
Lily made it six blocks.
Then her car died.
The engine coughed once at a traffic light, shuddered violently, and went silent.
“No. No, no, no.”
A horn blasted behind her.
Lily tried the ignition.
Nothing.
She tried again.
The dashboard flickered weakly.
“Come on, Blue. Not tonight.”
Another horn.
Rain hammered the windshield.
Lily turned on her hazard lights and rested her forehead against the steering wheel.
She had $83 in checking.
Rent was due Monday.
Her electric bill was already late.
And now her car had apparently chosen downtown Chicago to die.
She laughed once because the alternative was crying.
Someone knocked on her window.
Lily jumped.
A tall man in a black suit stood outside.
One of Damian’s men.
She lowered the window two inches.
“Problem?”
“My car has developed strong opinions about continuing.”
The man stared at her.
Then, unexpectedly, smiled.
“Pop the hood.”
Ten minutes later, a black SUV stopped behind them.
Damian stepped out.
Lily closed her eyes.
“Of course.”
He approached beneath a black umbrella.
“What happened?”
“Your briefcase cursed my car.”
Damian glanced at the vehicle.
“I doubt that.”
“You don’t know my car.”
His gaze moved to the rust near the wheel well.
“Apparently not.”
The suited man straightened from beneath the hood.
“Alternator, probably.”
Lily sighed.
“I’ll call a tow truck.”
“I’ll have someone handle it,” Damian said.
“No.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“No?”
“I returned your briefcase. That doesn’t mean you bought responsibility for my transmission, alternator, radiator or whatever expensive thing decides to die next.”
“Why does accepting help bother you?”
“It doesn’t.”
“It clearly does.”
Lily climbed from the car.
“Accepting help is fine. Owing strangers isn’t.”
Something shifted behind Damian’s eyes.
“Interesting distinction.”
“It’s an important one.”
He looked toward his SUV.
“I can at least drive you back.”
“Forty miles?”
“You drove forty miles for me.”
“You really need to stop saying that.”
“I’m beginning to enjoy saying it.”
That almost made her smile.
Almost.
She eventually accepted because waiting beside a broken car at night in the rain was stupid, and Lily was proud but not stupid.
She climbed into the SUV.
Damian sat across from her.
Two men occupied the front.
The interior smelled like leather and cedar.
Lily stared at the stitched seats.
“My entire apartment probably costs less than this car.”
Damian looked at her.
“Do you always say exactly what you’re thinking?”
“Usually only when I’m tired.”
“You must be exhausted.”
She laughed despite herself.
For twenty minutes, neither spoke.
Then Damian asked, “Why did you return it?”
“We covered this.”
“No. You told me it wasn’t yours. That explains why you didn’t open it. It doesn’t explain forty miles.”
Lily watched rain race down the glass.
“My father used to say you learn who you are when nobody’s watching.”
“Your father sounds optimistic.”
“He was.”
“Was?”
“He died six years ago.”
Damian’s expression softened.
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
He looked away.
“My father believed the opposite.”
“What did he say?”
“That you learn who people are by giving them something worth stealing.”
Lily studied him.
“That sounds lonely.”
Damian’s eyes returned to hers.
“It was practical.”
“No. It was lonely.”
Nobody spoke to Damian Vale like that.
Lily didn’t know that yet.
Maybe that was why he found himself answering instead of becoming angry.
“My father survived a long time.”
“Did he have anybody he trusted?”
Damian said nothing.
Lily nodded.
“Thought so.”
When they reached the cafe, Ray was waiting outside.
He rushed toward Lily.
“Where have you been? Your phone—”
Then he saw Damian.
Ray stopped.
His face drained of color.
Damian noticed.
So did Lily.
“Ray?”
Ray forced a laugh.
“Nothing. Thought you were dead on the highway.”
“My car is dead on the highway.”
Damian handed Lily a card.
“No title. No company logo. Just a phone number.”
“What’s this?”
“In case you need anything.”
“I won’t.”
“I suspected you’d say that.”
She started toward the cafe.
“Lily.”
She turned.
Damian stood beside the SUV.
“Thank you.”
This time there was no billionaire arrogance in his voice.
No mystery.
Just sincerity.
“You’re welcome.”
She went inside.
Ray locked the door immediately.
Then he turned.
“Do you know who that was?”
“Damian Vale.”
“No.”
Ray’s voice dropped.
“You know the name the newspapers use.”
Lily stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
Ray moved closer.
“Vale International is legitimate. Shipping. Warehouses. Construction.”
“And?”
Ray swallowed.
“My cousin used to run freight at the docks.”
Lily waited.
“He said there’s another Vale organization underneath the company. One nobody talks about.”
“What organization?”
Ray looked through the rain-streaked window at Damian’s departing SUV.
“The kind where men disappear for stealing.”
Lily’s smile faded.
“You’re telling me Damian Vale is a gangster?”
“I’m telling you to throw away that card.”
Lily looked at the number.
Before she could answer, headlights swept across the cafe.
A dark sedan pulled into the lot.
Not Damian’s SUV.
Two men stepped out.
Ray whispered, “Kitchen. Now.”
The cafe door opened before they could move.
A broad man entered.
Another remained outside.
The first man looked at Lily.
“Lily Harper?”
Her blood went cold.
“Who’s asking?”
He smiled.
“Someone interested in the briefcase you returned tonight.”
Lily’s fingers tightened around Damian’s card.
“What about it?”
The man approached.
“We need to know what you saw inside.”
“I didn’t open it.”
His smile disappeared.
“That answer could save your life.”
He leaned closer.
“Or shorten it.”
Lily took one step backward.
Then a voice came from behind him.
“I suggest you believe her.”
The stranger froze.
Damian stood in the doorway.
Rain darkened the shoulders of his suit.
This time he was not smiling.
And Lily finally understood why Ray had been afraid.
Because the two strangers were afraid too.
Damian stepped inside.
“I believe,” he said quietly, “you were speaking to my friend.”
Lily stared at him.
Friend?
The stranger backed away.
Damian’s eyes never left him.
“Tell Romano something for me.”
“What?”
“If he sends another man anywhere near Lily Harper…”
Damian paused.
“He and I will stop having a business disagreement.”
The stranger swallowed.
“What will we have?”
May you like
Damian’s voice became almost gentle.
“A war.”
