Chapter 5 - THE NIGHT ROMAN LEARNED WHO BETRAYED HIM
Nobody moved.
Marco Duca looked from Roman to Lily to me.
Then down at his own hand.
He smiled.
It was not a warm smile.
“Well,” he said. “This seems awkward.”
Roman shifted between Marco and Lily so quickly it looked instinctive.
“Take off the ring.”
Marco raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“The ring.”
“Roman—”
“Take it off.”
Sophia appeared at the end of the hallway.
“What in God’s name is happening?”
Marco slowly removed the ring.
He placed it on the kitchen counter.
“There. Are we satisfied?”
“No,” Lily whispered.
Marco looked at her.
Something about that glance made her shrink backward.
Roman saw it.
His entire body changed.
He stepped closer to Marco.
“Why are you here?”
“You called me.”
“I told Daniel to call you. I did not tell you to come.”
Marco shrugged.
“When your nephew’s bakery girlfriend gets threatened, you show up.”
“I am not his girlfriend,” I said automatically.
Everyone looked at me.
“Sorry. Reflex.”
Sophia rubbed her forehead.
Marco looked amused.
Roman did not.
“How did you know Clare was threatened?”
Marco’s smile vanished.
The kitchen became very quiet.
Roman repeated, “How did you know?”
Marco glanced toward the hallway.
“Daniel told me.”
“No,” Daniel said.
He stood near the front door.
“I told you there had been an incident.”
Marco’s eyes hardened.
Roman stepped closer.
“I never told you Clare was the target.”
Marco exhaled.
“This is ridiculous.”
“Is it?”
“Somebody threw a brick through her bakery. Obviously she was the target.”
“You didn’t know it was a brick.”
Marco stopped.
Sophia whispered, “Marco.”
For the first time, fear appeared in his expression.
Only a flash.
But I saw it.
Roman did too.
Marco recovered quickly.
“I’m not doing this.”
He reached for his ring.
Roman’s hand landed over it first.
“No.”
Marco looked up.
“You’re making a mistake.”
Roman’s voice was terrifyingly calm.
“Maybe.”
Marco took one step backward.
Daniel blocked the hallway.
Sophia looked between her brother and nephew.
“Someone tell me what is happening.”
Lily started crying.
That broke everything.
Roman turned immediately.
Marco moved.
He shoved Daniel aside and ran.
Roman spun toward the door.
“Don’t!”
Lily’s scream stopped him.
“Please!”
Roman froze.
Marco disappeared down the hallway.
A door slammed.
A car engine roared outside.
Roman stood completely still.
Every instinct in him wanted to chase.
I could see it.
Lily cried harder.
And then Roman did something I don’t think anyone in that house expected.
He let Marco go.
He went to Lily.
He crouched beside her chair.
Didn’t touch her.
Didn’t demand answers.
He just said, “I’m here.”
Lily covered her face.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“I should’ve told you.”
“No.”
“I thought you’d kill him.”
Roman flinched.
Lily whispered, “I didn’t want you to become worse because of me.”
The words landed like bullets.
Roman sat back on his heels.
His voice broke when he answered.
“You could never make me worse.”
Lily looked at him.
“I’m supposed to protect you.”
“I know.”
“No.” Roman shook his head. “I thought protecting you meant making sure nobody could reach you. I thought it meant guards and cars and locked doors.”
He swallowed.
“I was wrong.”
Nobody in the kitchen moved.
Roman continued.
“It means making sure you’re not afraid to tell me the truth.”
Lily cried silently.
Roman opened his arms.
She fell into them.
I looked away.
It felt private.
Sophia didn’t.
Sophia was crying openly and muttering what sounded like Sicilian curses toward the front door.
Ten minutes later, Roman’s people began searching for Marco.
The police were notified that he might have information about Elena’s death.
Roman did not issue an order to kill him.
I knew because I made him say it out loud.
Twice.
He was deeply annoyed.
I considered that progress.
Then the real problem started.
Marco had disappeared.
So had several files from a Duca-owned office.
Daniel found evidence that somebody had accessed Lily’s school records, Sophia’s address, and my bakery lease.
That last part made my blood run cold.
“He knows where I live,” I said.
Roman looked at Daniel.
Daniel nodded.
“Probably.”
Roman turned toward me.
“You’re staying here.”
“No.”
“Clare.”
“We’ve done this argument.”
“This version includes a suspected murderer.”
“My answer still isn’t automatically yes.”
Lily wiped her face.
“Please stay.”
I stopped.
That was cheating.
I looked at Roman.
He had the nerve to look innocent.
“You told her to say that.”
“I did not.”
Lily raised her hand.
“He didn’t.”
Traitor.
I stayed.
Not because Roman told me.
Because Lily asked.
That evening, Sophia made pasta for twelve people despite only six of us eating.
Daniel sat near the front window.
Two guards watched the alley.
Roman spent hours making calls in the study.
And Lily baked.
We made honey-pear galettes in Sophia’s kitchen.
The first batch was ugly.
The second leaked.
The third was perfect.
Lily smiled every time Roman walked through the room and tried not to look interested.
Finally she said, “You can have one.”
Roman stopped.
“Are you sure?”
“No, I offered it as psychological torture.”
He stared at her.
I laughed.
Lily laughed.
Then Roman did too.
It was the first time I had heard it.
A real laugh.
Low.
Warm.
Completely different from the controlled amusement he used when trying to irritate me.
Something dangerous happened to my heart.
I ignored that too.
After dinner, Lily went upstairs.
Sophia disappeared with a glass of wine and announced she was watching television loud enough to drown out “the stupidity of men.”
I stood on the back porch.
Roman joined me.
Snow had started falling.
“You should be inside,” he said.
“So should you.”
“I’m harder to kill.”
“Arrogance isn’t body armor.”
He almost smiled.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Roman said, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Lily.”
“She did the work.”
“You gave her somewhere safe to do it.”
I looked at him.
“Why didn’t you tell me the real reason you kept coming to the bakery?”
“Because I didn’t know it at first.”
“What do you mean?”
“The first morning after Sophia’s ridiculous lie, I came back because you threw flour at me.”
I stared.
“That made you return?”
“Nobody had done that before.”
“Your childhood sounds sheltered.”
“Then I found Elena’s receipt that night.”
He looked through the window toward Lily.
“And I realized your bakery might be a place Lily remembered.”
“So the coffee?”
“An excuse.”
I folded my arms.
“You don’t even like my coffee?”
“I love your coffee.”
“Correct answer.”
He looked at me.
The porch suddenly felt smaller.
“I also kept coming because of you.”
There it was.
My heartbeat betrayed me.
“Roman.”
“I know.”
“No fake arrangements.”
“I know.”
“No money.”
“I know.”
“No guards following me without permission.”
He hesitated.
“Roman.”
“I’ll work on that.”
I laughed despite myself.
His hand lifted toward my face.
Then stopped.
He gave me the choice.
That mattered.
I leaned forward.
His fingers brushed my cheek.
For a man who controlled entire rooms by walking into them, Roman touched me like he was afraid I might disappear.
Then his phone rang.
Of course it did.
He closed his eyes.
I whispered, “Your timing is terrible.”
“My phone’s timing.”
“Same family.”
He answered.
Daniel’s voice came through.
Roman’s face changed.
“When?”
Silence.
“Are you certain?”
Another pause.
Roman looked through the glass.
Straight at Lily.
“What happened?” I asked.
He lowered the phone.
“Marco didn’t kill Elena.”
I frowned.
“How do you know?”
“Because Daniel found Elena’s missing files.”
“And?”
Roman’s expression turned grim.
“Marco was helping her.”
The cold suddenly felt sharper.
“Then who was she investigating?”
Roman stared at me.
“My father’s oldest friend.”
“Who?”
Before he could answer, an explosion shattered the silence.
The front of Sophia’s house flashed orange.
The windows shook.
Lily screamed upstairs.
Roman grabbed me as alarms erupted throughout the house.
May you like
Then Daniel shouted from the hallway:
“THEY’RE INSIDE!”
