Chapter 2 - Four Men in Black
At 8:17 the next morning, the café went silent.
Four men entered.
Black suits.
Dark coats.
No umbrellas.
They looked completely wrong among the chalkboard menus and blueberry muffins.
Bella was carrying two cappuccinos.
One of the men approached the counter.
“Bella Marino?”
Calvin immediately looked at her.
“What did you do?”
Bella slowly lowered the cups.
“Depends who’s asking.”
The man almost smiled.
“Mrs. Romano sent us.”
Bella relaxed slightly.
“The orange lady?”
All four men stared at her.
“The… orange lady?” one repeated.
“Isabella.”
The youngest bodyguard coughed into his fist.
The leader kept his expression controlled.
“Yes. Mrs. Romano.”
“Is she okay?”
“She’s fine.”
“Then why are there four of you?”
The men exchanged looks.
“Mrs. Romano would like to see you.”
Bella glanced at Calvin.
“I’m working.”
Calvin suddenly became extremely interested in polishing the counter.
The bodyguard placed a business card down.
“Mrs. Romano asked us to bring you.”
“Bring me where?”
“Her home.”
Bella stared at him.
“Absolutely not.”
That surprised them.
“Miss Marino—”
“I helped a lady pick up groceries. I’m not getting into a mysterious black car with four strangers because she wants to say thank you.”
The youngest bodyguard looked amused.
The leader nodded.
“Reasonable.”
Bella folded her arms.
“Good.”
He pulled out his phone.
“Would you speak with her?”
“Sure.”
He called.
A moment later, he handed Bella the phone.
“Hello?”
“Bella.”
She recognized Isabella instantly.
“Mrs. Romano?”
“I apologize. My son believes every invitation requires a security detail.”
Bella looked at the four men.
“Your son sent an entire boy band.”
The youngest bodyguard turned away to hide a grin.
Isabella laughed.
“I’m having breakfast. Come join me.”
“I’m working.”
“I already spoke to your employer.”
Bella’s eyes narrowed.
She looked at Calvin.
“You did what?”
Calvin raised both hands.
“She called before opening.”
“You gave me the morning off?”
“She was persuasive.”
Bella returned to the phone.
“You can't just rearrange my life.”
“I know.”
Isabella’s tone softened.
“That is why I’m asking now.”
Bella hesitated.
“Breakfast?”
“Breakfast.”
“No kidnapping?”
“Not before coffee.”
Bella laughed despite herself.
“Fine.”
Thirty minutes later, Bella stared through the window of a black SUV.
They were entering a gated estate.
Her stomach dropped.
The house wasn’t a house.
It was a mansion.
Stone walls.
Iron gates.
Security cameras.
Men positioned near the entrance.
Bella turned to the bodyguard beside her.
“Who exactly is Isabella Romano?”
The man looked forward.
“Her son will explain.”
“That answer made this much worse.”
The SUV stopped.
Isabella waited beneath the covered entrance.
“Bella!”
She hugged her before Bella could react.
“You came.”
“I nearly asked your driver to turn around three times.”
“Only three?”
Isabella led her inside.
The entrance hall was enormous.
Bella stopped.
“This is insane.”
“You get used to it.”
“I don't think I want to.”
They entered a breakfast room overlooking a garden.
A man stood near the windows.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
Dark hair.
Charcoal suit.
No tie.
He looked somewhere between his mid-thirties and early forties.
Bella noticed the tattoos immediately.
Dark ink disappeared beneath his cuffs and rose slightly above the collar of his shirt.
He turned.
His expression was controlled.
His eyes were not.
They studied Bella like he had already read everything ever written about her.
Isabella smiled.
“Bella Marino, this is my son.”
The man approached.
“Dominic Romano.”
Bella stopped.
Romano.
The name landed differently now.
She had heard it.
Everyone in Chicago had.
Construction.
Restaurants.
Nightclubs.
And whispers about everything the newspapers couldn't prove.
Bella looked at Isabella.
Then at Dominic.
Then at the guards.
“Oh.”
Dominic extended his hand.
Bella didn't take it.
“You’re that Romano.”
Isabella sighed.
“Dominic, you frightened her.”
“I haven't said anything.”
“You have a frightening face.”
Bella almost laughed.
Dominic’s eyebrow moved.
“My mother told me what you did.”
“I picked up oranges.”
“You left your job in the middle of a shift.”
“For seven minutes.”
“You refused money.”
“Yes.”
“You refused my men.”
“Yes.”
Dominic looked toward his mother.
“She does that often?”
“I’ve known her one day.”
Bella folded her arms.
“Can somebody tell me why I’m here?”
Dominic pulled out a chair.
“Breakfast.”
“That required four bodyguards?”
“No.”
“Then what does?”
His expression hardened.
“Finding out whether the woman who approached my mother yesterday did it by accident.”
Bella stared at him.
Isabella slammed her coffee cup down.
“Dominic.”
Bella understood.
“You investigated me.”
Dominic said nothing.
“That’s why your men knew where I lived.”
“Yes.”
“And where I worked.”
“Yes.”
“And you think I deliberately waited in the rain for your mother to drop groceries?”
“I think coincidence is expensive in my world.”
Bella grabbed her coat.
“Then enjoy your breakfast.”
Isabella stood.
“Bella—”
“No.”
Bella looked directly at Dominic.
“I didn't know who your mother was. I helped because everyone else walked past her.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“And now I’m walking past you.”
She headed for the door.
Dominic spoke behind her.
“Your landlord filed an eviction notice yesterday.”
Bella froze.
Slowly, she turned.
Her face had gone pale.
“How do you know that?”
Dominic held her gaze.
“Because while investigating you, I found something else.”
“What?”
May you like
“Someone has been looking for you too.”
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