Chapter 3 - The Woman Who Didn't Leave
Dante's men found Elena Russo's Mercedes beneath an abandoned rail overpass in Queens.
There was blood on the passenger seat.
Her purse was underneath it.
Her phone had been smashed.
And the evidence immediately destroyed the story everyone had believed for three days.
Elena hadn't abandoned Sophia.
Someone had wanted it to look that way.
Dante disappeared downstairs while Maya remained beside the sleeping child.
She should have left.
Instead, she sat on the edge of Sophia's bed until nearly two in the morning.
When Dante returned, his tie was gone.
"You should go home."
"Did you find her?"
"No."
The single word carried enough pain to stop Maya's next question.
She stood.
Sophia stirred immediately.
Dante looked at his daughter.
Then at Maya.
"I want to hire you."
"No."
He blinked.
Perhaps people didn't tell Dante Russo no often.
"I haven't made an offer."
"And I haven't asked for one."
"My daughter slept in your arms."
"That doesn't make me qualified."
"It makes you more qualified than six specialists who haven't gotten her to sleep."
Maya shook her head.
"I have two jobs."
"I'll pay you five times what both pay."
Her stomach dropped.
Five times.
That could fund the bakery.
It could change everything.
Which was exactly why she distrusted it.
"Why me?"
"I don't know."
"Great reason."
"Sophia chose you."
That silenced her.
Dante offered a compromise: one week. Maya would spend afternoons and evenings with Sophia while he searched for Elena. No permanent commitment.
Maya agreed.
For Sophia.
She told herself that repeatedly.
By the fourth day, Sophia was eating again.
By the sixth, she was speaking in whispers.
And Maya began discovering that Dante Russo was nothing like the caricature she'd constructed in her head.
He was dangerous.
That part was true.
Men arrived at midnight and lowered their voices when he entered rooms. Cars followed him. Security guards carried weapons beneath tailored jackets.
But with Sophia, Dante was painfully gentle.
He learned how to braid hair badly.
He sat through tea parties while answering encrypted phone calls.
He slept on the floor outside Sophia's bedroom when nightmares came.
And every morning, Maya found coffee waiting for her exactly the way she liked it.
That frightened her more than the bodyguards.
On the seventh night, Sophia asked Maya to bake cookies.
The three of them ended up in the enormous kitchen.
Dante was terrible at baking.
"That's too much flour," Maya said.
He looked at the measuring cup.
"It's one cup."
"That's practically two."
"It says one."
"That's because you've packed it like concrete."
Sophia giggled.
Everything stopped.
Dante turned.
Sophia covered her mouth.
Her eyes widened, almost frightened by her own happiness.
Then Dante slowly smiled.
Not the polite approximation Maya had seen before.
A real smile.
It transformed him.
Sophia giggled again.
Maya looked away before Dante noticed how deeply the moment affected her.
He noticed anyway.
Later, after Sophia went upstairs with her nanny, Dante remained in the kitchen.
"You gave me something tonight."
"I gave you burned cookies."
"You gave me my daughter's laugh."
Maya swallowed.
"Dante—"
"I won't forget it."
Their eyes held.
Something dangerous existed between them now, but not the kind Tony had warned her about.
Maya stepped backward.
Her hip bumped the counter.
Dante moved no closer.
That restraint somehow made the tension worse.
Then a man rushed through the kitchen door.
"Boss."
Dante turned instantly.
"What?"
"We found something."
The man handed him a plastic evidence bag.
Inside was a silver bracelet.
Dante's expression emptied.
"Elena's?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Warehouse on Pier Thirty-Eight."
Dante was already moving.
Maya caught his sleeve.
"Dante."
He looked down at her hand.
Then at her.
"Bring her home."
"What if it's a trap?"
"It probably is."
"Then don't go."
His eyes softened for one terrible second.
"I have to."
He left.
Three hours later, Maya was awakened by the sound of Sophia crying.
She ran into the child's room.
Sophia sat upright.
"I remember."
Maya crouched beside her.
"What do you remember?"
Sophia's face had gone pale.
"The bad man."
Maya's pulse quickened.
"What bad man?"
"Mommy was crying."
Sophia pointed toward her closet.
"He was here."
Maya's blood ran cold.
"Here? In this house?"
Sophia nodded.
"He told Mommy Daddy would think she ran away."
Maya reached for her phone.
Then Sophia whispered something else.
"He knows you."
Maya froze.
"What?"
"The bad man."
Sophia looked directly into Maya's eyes.
"He said your name."
May you like
Before Maya could respond, a floorboard creaked in the hallway.
Someone was standing outside the bedroom.
