Chapter 2 - The Secret Beneath Her Heart
“Claire!”
She sprinted between shipping containers.
Her shoes slipped against patches of ice.
Behind her came footsteps.
Fast.
“Claire, stop!”
She reached her car.
Adrian caught the driver's door before she could close it.
“Get away from me!”
“Listen to me.”
“You're a criminal.”
His face hardened.
“Lower your voice.”
Her eyes widened.
“Are you threatening me?”
“No.”
“Then let go.”
Adrian released the door immediately.
Claire stared at him.
For eleven months, she had loved this man.
Now she didn't know who was standing in front of her.
“What are you?” she whispered.
Adrian said nothing.
“That man called you boss.”
Silence.
“The Bellandi family,” Claire continued. “I've heard that name on the news.”
“Claire—”
“You told me your family owned shipping companies.”
“We do.”
“And what else?”
His silence answered her.
Claire's stomach turned.
“You lied about everything.”
“Not everything.”
“Was Adrian even your real name?”
“Yes.”
“Was loving me real?”
His expression finally cracked.
“Yes.”
She almost hated him more for answering so quickly.
“Move.”
“I need to explain.”
“No.”
“You saw something tonight you don't understand.”
“I understood enough.”
“Claire.”
“Someone is going to die because you ordered it.”
Adrian stared at her.
She waited for him to deny it.
He didn't.
Tears burned behind her eyes.
She pushed them away.
“Move away from my car.”
“I can't let you drive like this.”
A bitter laugh escaped her.
“You don't get to decide anything about me anymore.”
That sentence landed harder than she expected.
Adrian slowly stepped backward.
Claire started the engine.
He leaned toward the window.
“Go home. Lock the door. I'll come tomorrow morning.”
“No.”
“Claire—”
“Don't come near me.”
She drove away.
Adrian remained standing beneath the warehouse lights.
Claire didn't look back.
She drove directly past her apartment.
Because suddenly she understood something terrifying.
Adrian knew where she lived.
He knew where she worked.
He knew her friends.
Her bank.
Her favorite coffee shop.
Her entire life.
At 1:13 a.m., Claire called her older cousin Rachel in Milwaukee.
Rachel answered on the fourth ring.
“Claire?”
“I need help.”
“What happened?”
“I need somewhere to stay.”
Rachel sat upright.
“When?”
Claire looked in the rearview mirror.
“Tonight.”
A pause.
“Are you in danger?”
Claire touched her stomach.
“I don't know.”
That was the truth.
“Come here.”
Claire drove north.
Her phone rang fourteen times.
Adrian.
Then messages appeared.
Please answer.
I will not hurt you.
I need to know you're safe.
Then:
Claire, whatever you think you saw, don't disappear.
She turned the phone off.
By sunrise, Claire was in Wisconsin.
By noon, Rachel had helped her withdraw cash.
By evening, Claire had made her decision.
She would keep the baby.
May you like
And Adrian Bellandi would never know.
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