Chapter 2 - THE MAN AT THE DOOR
For three seconds, Michael Moretti said nothing.
I had expected anger.
Maybe amusement.
What I hadn’t expected was the almost imperceptible twitch at the corner of his mouth.
“You proposed?”
Zach nodded proudly. “She said yes.”
Michael looked at me.
I raised the frying pan slightly.
His gaze dropped to it.
“Should I be worried?”
“Depends.”
“On?”
“Whether you’re here to drag me somewhere.”
One of the men behind him coughed suspiciously, like he was hiding a laugh.
Michael wasn’t.
His eyes went cold.
“Who hurt your wrist?”
Before I could answer, Regina appeared behind his security detail.
“There she is!”
My body reacted before my mind did.
I stepped backward.
Michael noticed.
Regina didn’t seem to recognize him immediately. She pushed between the men and pointed at me.
“You ungrateful little—”
“Stop.”
Michael didn’t raise his voice.
He didn’t need to.
Something about that single word silenced the entire hallway.
Regina looked at him.
Recognition arrived slowly.
Then violently.
Her face lost its color.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Michael turned toward her.
“You know me.”
Everyone in certain corners of New York knew Michael Moretti.
Some called him a businessman. Others called him things they would never repeat where microphones might be listening.
Regina swallowed.
“This is a family matter.”
Michael glanced at Zach’s hand wrapped around mine.
“Apparently it’s become mine.”
Zach beamed.
I nearly groaned.
“Dad, Aurora needs somewhere safe.”
“I have somewhere safe.”
Michael’s eyes remained on Regina.
Regina recovered enough courage to sneer. “She owes money.”
“No,” I said. “You owe money.”
“She’s my responsibility.”
“I’m twenty-five.”
“You lived under my roof.”
“Until you tried selling me to Tony Valenti.”
Michael became completely still.
“Valenti?”
Regina realized her mistake.
Too late.
Michael’s security men exchanged a glance.
Michael stepped closer.
“Tony Valenti believes he can purchase women to settle gambling debts?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“It sounded remarkably clear.”
Regina’s mouth opened.
Michael turned to one of his men.
“Elias.”
The taller guard nodded.
“Find out who is waiting outside.”
“Yes, sir.”
He disappeared.
Thirty seconds later, shouting erupted near the restaurant entrance.
Then silence.
Elias returned.
“Two Valenti men. They’ve left.”
Michael gave a single nod.
Regina backed away.
“This isn’t over, Aurora.”
Michael looked at her.
“Yes, it is.”
She fled.
I should have felt relieved.
Instead, I felt trapped in a different way.
Michael Moretti was still standing between me and the only exit.
“I appreciate what you did,” I said. “But I’m leaving.”
“No.”
My grip tightened around the frying pan.
His eyes flickered toward it again.
“That word doesn’t work well with me.”
“Neither does getting murdered.”
“I’ve survived so far.”
“Barely, judging from your face.”
My hand touched my split lip.
Zach tugged my sleeve.
“Come home with us.”
I looked down.
His confidence was gone.
Underneath it was a frightened little boy in superhero pajamas who had apparently run away hours before a doctor’s appointment.
“Why are you seeing a doctor?”
Zach stared at the floor.
Michael’s expression changed.
“It’s private.”
“Dad.”
“Zach.”
The boy sighed dramatically.
“My heart is stupid.”
My stomach dropped.
Michael crouched beside him.
“Your heart isn’t stupid.”
“It doesn’t work right.”
“It works differently.”
Zach looked at me.
“I hate hospitals.”
Suddenly his running away made more sense.
I crouched.
“So you hid here?”
He nodded.
“I thought Dad wouldn’t find me until tomorrow.”
Michael exhaled.
“Your plan underestimated my anxiety.”
“You don’t look anxious.”
“I’m excellent at hiding it.”
For the first time, I saw something behind the reputation.
A father who had probably spent hours believing his child was missing.
Zach leaned toward me.
“Will you come until after my appointment?”
Michael looked at me.
I shook my head.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Because Tony would keep looking.
Because Regina knew every friend I had.
Because wherever I slept tonight might become dangerous by morning.
Michael seemed to read everything I didn’t say.
“One night,” he offered. “Guest room. Locked from inside. No obligations.”
“I don’t accept favors from men like you.”
“What kind of man am I?”
“The kind people whisper about.”
A shadow crossed his face.
“Smart answer.”
Zach squeezed my fingers.
I looked at the bruises on my wrist.
Then at the restaurant door.
Somewhere beyond it, Regina was already making another phone call.
“One night,” I whispered.
Michael nodded.
“One night.”
Twenty minutes later, I sat inside a black SUV beside Zach while Brooklyn disappeared behind tinted windows.
Michael sat across from us.
He barely spoke.
When we reached his estate outside the city, iron gates opened onto acres of darkness.
Security cameras tracked our arrival.
Armed guards stood beneath stone arches.
“This is your house?”
Zach nodded.
“It has twenty-three bathrooms.”
“Why?”
“I asked Dad that too.”
Despite myself, I laughed.
Michael watched me.
Something unreadable passed through his eyes.
Inside, a housekeeper named Teresa brought me clean clothes and showed me to a bedroom larger than every apartment I’d rented combined.
I locked the door.
Then locked it again.
At 2:13 a.m., a sound woke me.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
I opened the door.
Zach stood there holding his teddy bear.
His face was pale.
“Bad dream?”
He shook his head.
Then his knees buckled.
I caught him before he hit the floor.
“Michael!”
My scream tore through the mansion.
Michael appeared barefoot and shirtless seconds later.
May you like
He saw his son limp in my arms.
And for the first time, I watched the most feared man in New York become terrified.
