Chapter 1 - THE SLAP
“You Dare Hit My Pregnant Wife?” the Mafia Boss Said—The Rich Lady Realized Who She Had Slapped
The second Selene March raised her hand, Nora Bellamy stopped thinking about her bruised cheek.
Both hands flew to her stomach.
“Please.”
The service corridor of the March Grand Hotel had gone completely silent.
Nora was on her knees beside the tiny memorial she had made for her mother—white roses, two candles, and a framed photograph of Celeste Bellamy smiling with a measuring tape around her neck.
Three days earlier, Nora had heard her unborn baby’s heartbeat for the first time.
Nobody at the hotel knew she was pregnant.
At least, nobody was supposed to.
Selene stood over her in silver silk and diamonds, holding the prenatal vitamin bottle she had taken from Nora’s locker.
“Were you planning to tell Julian?”
Nora stared up at her.
Julian Vale was Nora’s ex-husband.
The man who had divorced her, left debts in her name, and moved effortlessly into Selene’s wealthy world while Nora worked twelve-hour shifts in the hotel laundry.
“This baby has nothing to do with Julian.”
Selene’s face changed.
“You expect me to believe someone else wanted you?”
A housekeeper nearby inhaled sharply.
Nora felt the old humiliation trying to find its way back in.
For years, Julian had taught her that being chosen by him was the best thing that had ever happened to a woman like her.
Then her mother died.
Her marriage collapsed.
And somewhere inside all that grief, Nora had finally begun remembering who she had been before other people decided her value.
“I don’t need you to believe anything about me.”
Selene stepped closer.
Then her fingers closed around the thin gold chain at Nora’s throat.
Nora froze.
“Let go.”
The pendant was a tiny dented thimble.
Her mother had worn it every day Nora could remember.
“Selene. Please.”
The chain tightened painfully against Nora’s neck.
Then Selene yanked.
Metal snapped.
The little gold thimble struck the marble floor and skittered through scattered rose petals.
Nora dropped instinctively to reach for it.
Selene slapped her.
The crack echoed down the corridor.
Nora fell sideways, one palm striking the floor while her other arm curled protectively around her stomach.
Nobody moved.
Then the hallway changed.
Not with a shout.
With silence.
The kind that spread before people even understood what they were afraid of.
Selene’s raised hand stopped in midair.
The hotel manager went pale.
Someone near the elevators whispered, “Oh, God.”
Slow footsteps approached.
Nora looked up.
A tall man stood beneath the amber corridor lights in a rain-darkened black overcoat.
Two men in suits waited behind him.
Nora knew the scar through his eyebrow.
She knew his hands.
She knew those eyes.
But she had never seen an entire room become frightened simply because he had entered it.
Selene lowered her hand.
“Mr. Calder.”
Nora’s breath caught.
Roman Calder.
A name people across New England spoke quietly.
And he was staring directly at her.
Not Selene.
Not the terrified manager.
Nora.
His eyes moved from her reddened cheek to the broken necklace on the floor.
Then to the arm wrapped protectively around her stomach.
Something in his face changed.
Roman crossed the corridor.
Slowly.
Everyone backed away.
Nora didn’t.
She couldn’t.
Because the last time she had seen this man, she hadn’t known who he really was.
And judging by the way Roman was looking at her now, he had just realized something about Nora too.
He stopped beside her.
May you like
Then, to the shock of everyone watching, the feared man lowered himself onto one knee.
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