Chapter 1 - THE CALL SHE SWORE SHE WOULD NEVER MAKE
The first sound Claire Bennett heard after Dominic Rainer slapped her was her mother’s silver earring striking the marble floor of the Marlowe Club.
Sixty wealthy guests watched in silence.
Dominic’s platinum watch, an heirloom from his late mother worth nearly two million dollars, had vanished twenty minutes earlier. Claire had been the last employee near his private booth, and apparently her worn uniform, thrift-store shoes, seven dollars in tips, and overdue rent notice were enough to make her guilty in his eyes.
Security searched her purse and apron.
They found no watch.
Claire still refused to lower her head.
When Dominic warned her to be careful, she told him she had spent seven years learning what powerful men sounded like when they had already decided someone beneath them was guilty.
Then he struck her.
With blood on her lip, Claire bent to retrieve the silver earring her mother had left her.
Instead, she reached beneath her skirt and removed a tiny black phone strapped above her ankle.
She had carried it for seven years.
Charged it every Sunday.
Never once used it.
There was only one number saved inside.
Adrian Cross.
The man Claire had loved at twenty-one.
The man whose world of guns, blood, territory, and enemies had terrified her enough to disappear before sunrise.
The most feared mafia boss in New York.
The phone rang once.
“Who is this?”
“Adrian?”
Silence.
Then the sound of his breathing changed.
“Claire?”
Everyone important in the room recognized his voice.
Including Dominic.
Claire told Adrian where she was and why Dominic believed she had stolen his mother’s watch.
Then Adrian asked the question that changed the entire room.
“What did he do to you?”
Claire touched her bleeding lip.
“He hit me.”
Dominic went white.
Adrian demanded to speak to him.
With trembling fingers, Dominic took the phone.
“Mr. Cross.”
“Is Claire bleeding?”
“Yes.”
“Did you put your hand on her?”
Dominic swallowed.
“Yes.”
The silence on the line was worse than shouting.
Then Adrian Cross spoke quietly.
“You struck the only woman I ever asked to marry me.”
Every face in the room turned toward Claire.
Dominic looked as though the marble beneath his feet had disappeared.
May you like
And Adrian said one final thing.
“Now tell me exactly where you’re standing.”
