Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN HE COULDN’T COMMAND
The first rule Dante Russo had ever learned was simple.
Never let anyone see you panic.
By six thirty that morning, he had broken it.
He stood in the private security office beneath the estate, watching surveillance footage of Isabella walking through the hotel lobby.
She wore a cream-colored coat over her wedding dress. Her hair was pulled into a loose knot, and one hand rested protectively against her stomach.
She didn't cry.
She didn't look back.
She simply handed her room key to the receptionist and walked through the revolving doors.
Dante watched the footage again.
And again.
"Get me the exterior cameras," he ordered.
The security director swallowed. "We've already checked them, sir. She took a black sedan from the east entrance."
"License plate?"
"Registered to a rental company."
"Find the company."
"We're working on it."
Dante turned slowly.
"Do you know what happens when people tell me they're working on something?"
The director went pale.
Marco stepped between them.
"I'll handle it."
Dante walked out without another word.
Twenty minutes later, his private dining room was filled with people who had not slept.
His father-in-law, Antonio Moretti, arrived wearing a dark suit and an expression that suggested he already knew everything.
"Where is my daughter?"
Dante placed the ultrasound on the table.
Antonio looked down.
For the first time in years, the older man's composure disappeared.
"Eleven weeks?"
"Yes."
"And you didn't know?"
Dante said nothing.
Antonio picked up the photograph.
"My daughter wanted to give you this last night."
"I know."
"Then why wasn't she with you?"
Dante's jaw tightened.
"I made a mistake."
Antonio laughed without humor.
"A mistake is ordering the wrong wine. You abandoned your pregnant wife on her wedding night."
"Antonio—"
"Don't."
The older man pushed the ultrasound back across the table.
"Isabella called me at one in the morning. She was crying so hard she could barely speak."
Dante felt something twist beneath his ribs.
"What did she say?"
"She said she was safe. She said she loved her child. And she said I wasn't to tell you where she was."
"You're her father."
"Exactly. I know what she needs better than you do."
Dante leaned forward.
"She's carrying my child."
"And she is carrying that child inside her body. Not yours."
Silence filled the room.
Antonio collected his coat.
"One more thing, Dante. If you send armed men after her, I will consider it a declaration of war."
He walked out.
Dante remained seated, staring at the photograph.
Marco approached cautiously.
"Boss, there's something you should know."
"What?"
"Valentina Greco called the hotel at 11:48 last night."
Dante looked up.
"Why?"
"She asked whether you were still at the reception."
"Who told you?"
"One of the night managers. He thought it was strange."
Dante's expression hardened.
"Get her here."
"Already?"
"Now."
At nine fifteen, Valentina arrived at Dante's downtown office.
She wore an expensive cream dress, oversized sunglasses, and the confident smile of a woman who believed the world always made room for her.
She kissed his cheek.
"Darling, I heard about Isabella. How terrible."
Dante didn't return the greeting.
"Sit."
Valentina's smile faltered.
"What happened last night?"
"Nothing happened."
"Really?"
He placed his phone on the desk.
A photograph appeared on the screen.
Valentina standing outside the hotel ballroom at 11:51 p.m.
"Why were you calling the hotel?"
"I wanted to know when you were leaving."
"You knew I was married."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Don't pretend this marriage was some great love story. It was a business arrangement."
"Answer the question."
She crossed her legs.
"Because I wanted to see you."
"At midnight?"
"Yes."
Dante studied her.
Then he remembered something.
The champagne.
Valentina had ordered a bottle of vintage champagne for them at the apartment. She had insisted they celebrate his wedding night privately.
He had never questioned how she knew he would come.
"Did you know Isabella was pregnant?"
For a fraction of a second, Valentina stopped moving.
It was brief.
But Dante noticed.
"No."
"Look at me."
She removed her sunglasses.
"You're frightening me."
"Good."
He stood.
"Leave."
Valentina stared at him.
"You're throwing me out because your wife ran away?"
"I'm throwing you out because I don't recognize the woman standing in front of me."
She rose angrily.
"You'll come crawling back."
Dante didn't answer.
At the door, she turned.
"Ask your wife why she never told you about the baby before the wedding. Maybe she wasn't as innocent as you think."
Then she disappeared down the hallway.
Dante immediately called Marco.
"Find out everything about Valentina's movements yesterday."
"Already started."
"And Marco?"
"Yes?"
"Don't tell me Isabella's location when you find it."
A pause.
"Boss?"
"Tell me whether she's safe. That's all."
For the first time in fifteen years, Marco sounded genuinely surprised.
"Understood."
Two hundred miles north of Chicago, Isabella sat beside a wide window overlooking a frozen lake.
The rental cottage belonged to her mother's closest friend, Eleanor Hayes.
It was small, quiet, and completely unlike the Russo mansion.
There were no guards outside.
No marble floors.
No expensive paintings.
Just an old fireplace, a kitchen that smelled of cinnamon, and a bedroom with faded blue curtains.
Isabella had spent the morning sleeping.
Now she held a cup of ginger tea while Eleanor placed a plate of toast in front of her.
"You need to eat."
"I'm not hungry."
"That wasn't a question."
Isabella smiled faintly.
Eleanor sat across from her.
"Have you told him?"
Isabella looked toward the lake.
"He knows."
"How?"
"I left the ultrasound."
Eleanor closed her eyes.
"Oh, sweetheart."
"I wanted him to find out from me. Not from somebody else."
"Do you still love him?"
Isabella looked down at her wedding ring.
"I think that's the worst part."
Her phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
You think leaving changes anything?
A second message appeared.
Dante will always find what belongs to him.
Isabella's face went cold.
Eleanor noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
Isabella turned the phone facedown.
"Nothing."
But she knew better.
Someone had already discovered that she was gone.
May you like
And whoever it was had just made one thing very clear.
Her escape was not going to be as peaceful as she had hoped.
