Chapter 2 - The Woman Tommy Wanted Back
“Stop the car.”
Chloe’s voice was barely above a whisper.
Luca continued driving.
“You know who I am.”
“I know your name.”
“That’s not better.”
“No.”
“Did Tommy send you?”
Luca actually looked offended.
“If Tommy Mercer had enough influence to send me anywhere, you wouldn’t have needed to hide in my back seat.”
Chloe watched him carefully.
“Then why help me?”
“I haven’t decided whether I am.”
The answer terrified her because it sounded truthful.
His phone rang again.
Luca answered.
“What?”
The same voice spoke through the speakers.
“Mercer’s been looking for her since eleven. He’s offering twenty grand for an address.”
Chloe’s face drained.
Luca glanced at her.
“To whom?”
“Anyone stupid enough to take it.”
“And D’Angelo?”
“He wants Mercer found too.”
“Interesting.”
Luca ended the call.
Chloe hugged herself.
“Who’s D’Angelo?”
“You don’t need that answer yet.”
“I need answers to everything.”
“You need shoes.”
She stared at him.
“That’s what you got from this conversation?”
“You’re bleeding on a six-thousand-dollar floor mat.”
Chloe looked down.
Her foot had a shallow cut.
“Sorry.”
Luca’s mouth twitched.
“You apologize for the strangest things.”
Twenty minutes later, the Audi entered the underground garage of a quiet Manhattan building.
Chloe didn’t move.
Luca turned off the engine.
“You can get out.”
“You locked me in ten minutes ago.”
“And now the doors are unlocked.”
She tested the handle.
It opened.
Luca got out.
Chloe remained seated.
He leaned down.
“You wanted freedom. Door’s open.”
She looked toward the garage exit.
Then at Luca.
“Are Tommy’s men outside?”
“Possibly.”
“You know that’s not a choice.”
“No. It’s an unpleasant choice. Different thing.”
Chloe hated that he was right.
She stepped out.
Upstairs, Luca’s apartment was nothing like she expected.
No gold furniture.
No dramatic portraits.
Dark wood. Gray stone. Clean lines.
A man in a black suit approached.
“Luca.”
“Marco, get a first-aid kit.”
Marco looked at Chloe.
Then at Luca.
Then back at Chloe.
“You brought someone home?”
“I brought a problem home.”
Chloe glared at him.
“I can hear you.”
“Good.”
Marco disappeared.
Luca removed his wet jacket.
“What happened tonight?”
“Nothing.”
“Wrong answer.”
“You don’t get to interrogate me.”
“I’m not.”
“It feels exactly like an interrogation.”
Luca poured water into a glass and slid it toward her.
“Then don’t answer.”
Chloe hesitated.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Then why ask?”
“Because Tommy is searching for you. D’Angelo is searching for Tommy. And two men followed my car after you climbed inside.”
He leaned against the counter.
“That makes your situation relevant to mine.”
Chloe looked at the water.
“Tommy launders money.”
Luca’s expression sharpened.
“For whom?”
“I don’t know.”
“You do.”
“No. I really don’t.”
Marco returned with the first-aid kit.
Chloe continued.
“I handled bookkeeping for Tommy’s construction company. Six months ago, I found payments that didn’t match invoices.”
“How much?”
“Millions.”
Luca stopped opening the kit.
“Keep talking.”
“I copied everything.”
Marco looked at Luca.
“Everything?”
Chloe nodded.
“Bank transfers. Shell companies. Names.”
“Where?”
She didn’t answer.
Luca crouched in front of her and set gauze beside her injured foot.
“I’m not asking where the copies are.”
“Why not?”
“Because if I know, someone can try to make me tell them.”
Chloe studied his face.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
He handed her the gauze.
“Do it yourself.”
She blinked.
“You’re not going to touch me?”
“You look like you’ve had enough people making decisions about your body tonight.”
For the first time, Chloe didn’t have an answer.
Marco’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
His expression changed.
“Luca.”
“What?”
“Mercer just contacted us.”
Chloe stiffened.
Luca held out his hand.
Marco gave him the phone.
A message filled the screen.
THE GIRL STOLE SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO ME. RETURN HER AND THIS ENDS QUIETLY.
Luca read it twice.
Chloe whispered, “He always says that.”
“Says what?”
“That I belong to him.”
Luca’s gaze lifted.
Something cold entered his face.
He typed four words.
SHE DOESN’T BELONG TO YOU.
Chloe stared at the message.
“Why did you do that?”
Luca handed the phone back to Marco.
“Because men like Tommy confuse fear with ownership.”
“And men like you don’t?”
Luca met her eyes.
“That depends.”
May you like
“On what?”
“Whether you walk out that door tomorrow morning and I let you.”
