Chapter 2 - Use Me
Roman Costa stared at Alex for three silent seconds.
Then he smiled.
It was not warm.
It was the smile of a man who had just discovered something unexpectedly entertaining in the middle of a tedious evening.
“Use me to hurt your ex,” he said softly.
Alex lifted her chin.
“I didn’t say hurt.”
“No. You’re much too civilized for that.”
“I said I need him distracted.”
Roman reached for her untouched gin, moved it farther from her hand, and stood.
Then he offered his arm.
“But you’re leaving with me tonight.”
Alex stared at him.
“That wasn’t part of my plan.”
“You don’t have a plan.”
“I have the beginning of one.”
“You have adrenaline, betrayal, and approximately six minutes before Hayes realizes you overheard him.”
She hated that he was right.
Roman glanced toward the ballroom.
“If he forged your signature, he won’t let you calmly return home and start collecting evidence.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“That you survive long enough to become inconvenient.”
The humor disappeared from his face.
“Your apartment isn’t safe.”
Alex’s stomach tightened.
Roman offered his arm again.
“Shall we?”
She took it.
The ballroom changed when Roman Costa entered.
Alex felt it physically.
Conversations softened.
Heads turned.
A man near the bar immediately lowered his phone.
Roman did nothing dramatic. He simply walked beside her as though three hundred people belonged to the scenery.
Then Preston saw them.
His champagne glass stopped halfway to his mouth.
Sabrina Kensington stood beside him in silver couture.
Her father, Charles Kensington, held the microphone.
“And tonight,” Charles was saying, “I am particularly pleased to recognize—”
He stopped.
Everyone followed his gaze.
Alex almost smiled.
Roman leaned toward her.
“Your boyfriend looks unwell.”
“Ex-boyfriend.”
“That was fast.”
“I’m efficient when properly motivated.”
Roman’s mouth twitched.
Preston approached.
“Alex.”
She had heard him say her name thousands of times.
Never like this.
“What are you doing with him?”
Alex glanced at Roman.
Roman glanced at Preston.
“I believe,” Roman said, “she’s standing.”
Preston’s jaw tightened.
“This is private.”
“No,” Alex said. “Actually, I think we’ve had enough private conversations for one evening.”
Sabrina appeared behind him.
Her face had gone pale.
That told Alex something important.
Sabrina was afraid of Roman.
Charles Kensington looked worse.
Roman noticed too.
Interesting.
Preston reached for Alex’s elbow.
Roman caught his wrist before he touched her.
No sudden movement.
No visible effort.
But Preston froze.
“Don’t,” Roman said.
One word.
Preston pulled his hand away.
“You have no idea what she’s doing.”
Roman looked almost bored.
“I usually do.”
Alex turned to Sabrina.
“Congratulations.”
Sabrina blinked.
“For what?”
“Your engagement.”
Silence expanded around them.
Preston’s face drained.
Charles Kensington lowered the microphone.
Alex smiled.
“You were announcing it tonight, weren’t you?”
Whispers spread.
Sabrina stared at Preston.
He recovered quickly.
“Alex, you’re upset.”
“I was.”
“Was?”
“Now I’m curious.”
Roman’s gaze shifted toward her.
Alex continued.
“I’m curious how many people here know what you’ve actually been doing.”
Preston stepped closer.
“Careful.”
There it was.
Not concern.
A warning.
Alex finally saw the man she had loved.
Not ambitious.
Not overworked.
Dangerous.
Roman moved half a step forward.
Preston noticed.
“So,” Roman murmured, “are we still celebrating?”
Charles Kensington intervened.
“Mr. Costa, perhaps we should speak privately.”
Roman’s eyes remained on Preston.
“Tomorrow.”
“I think tonight would be preferable.”
“I don’t.”
Charles fell silent.
Roman offered Alex his arm again.
She took it.
They walked out beneath hundreds of staring eyes.
Only inside the elevator did Alex finally exhale.
Her hands began shaking.
Roman noticed.
He said nothing until the doors closed.
Then:
“Your phone.”
“Why?”
“Turn it off.”
She removed it from her clutch.
Roman held out his hand.
Alex hesitated.
“Do you trust me?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Good.”
His expression barely changed.
“People who trust me immediately are generally idiots.”
She handed him the phone.
Roman removed the SIM card.
Alex stared.
“Seriously?”
“Your boyfriend’s company has access to institutional cybersecurity contractors.”
“Ex-boyfriend.”
“My apologies.”
The elevator opened into the lobby.
Rain hammered Manhattan outside.
A black SUV waited beneath the awning.
Roman’s security men opened the rear door.
Alex stopped.
“I’m not disappearing into a mafia boss’s car.”
Roman looked at her.
“You’re comfortable accusing me of organized crime after knowing me eleven minutes?”
“The New York Times has known you longer.”
“Yet they remain frustratingly vague.”
Despite everything, Alex almost laughed.
Then Roman’s expression hardened.
“Alex.”
It was the first time he had used her first name.
“Get in.”
Something in his voice changed her mind.
She entered the SUV.
Roman followed.
Seconds later, the vehicle pulled onto Fifth Avenue.
Alex looked back.
A gray sedan left the hotel immediately behind them.
Roman noticed it too.
His driver made two turns.
The sedan followed.
A third.
Still there.
Roman calmly reached for his phone.
“We have company.”
Alex’s blood went cold.
“Preston?”
“Possibly.”
“What does he want?”
Roman looked at her.
“If you heard what he said tonight, what do you think?”
The SUV accelerated.
Alex gripped the leather seat.
Her entire life had become unrecognizable in less than an hour.
Then Roman’s phone vibrated.
He read the message.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Roman turned the screen toward her.
A photograph showed Alex entering a storage vault at Sabbes Auction House.
Timestamped 2:13 a.m.
Two nights earlier.
Alex stared at it.
“That’s impossible.”
Roman’s voice became very quiet.
“Why?”
“Because two nights ago, I was in Boston.”
Roman studied her.
Alex looked again.
The woman in the photograph had her hair.
Her coat.
Her employee badge.
Her face.
And beneath the photograph was a second message.
NYPD received the footage ten minutes ago.
Alex looked at Roman.
“They didn’t just forge my signature.”
“No.”
May you like
His eyes hardened.
“They built an entire crime around you.”
