BE MY WIFE FOR ONE DANCE, THE MAFIA BOSS WHISPERED TO A SINGLE MOM AT THE WEDDING—BUT SHE DIDN’T KNOW WHO HE REALLY WAS

I left the Grand Marquis through the side entrance, refusing the black SUV Giovanni had offered.

A yellow cab pulled up at the curb. I climbed inside, gave the driver Camilla's address, and immediately regretted not asking Giovanni what was happening.

My phone buzzed again.

A message from an unknown number.

You should have stayed away from Fioraldi.

I stared at it.

Then another message appeared.

Ask him what happened to his first wife.

I deleted neither message. Instead, I took screenshots and sent them to Camilla.

The driver glanced at me in the rearview mirror.

"Everything all right, miss?"

"Just a family problem."

He nodded and turned up the radio.

By the time I reached Camilla's building, two men were standing near the entrance. One wore a gray coat and held a folded newspaper. The other was speaking into his phone.

I stopped the cab.

"Don't pull over," I told the driver. "Keep going."

He looked confused.

"That's my building."

"I know. Just drive."

We circled the block. I called Camilla.

"Are the men still there?"

"Yes. One of them just left."

"Stay inside. Don't answer the door."

"I won't. Jess, what's happening?"

"I don't know yet."

The cab stopped outside a twenty-four-hour diner. I paid and went inside, choosing a booth near the window.

Then I called the only person I could think of who might know more about Giovanni.

My sister.

Sophia answered on the second ring.

"Jess! Where did you disappear to? Mom says you left with some man."

"Did you hear the name Giovanni Fioraldi tonight?"

The silence was immediate.

"Where did you hear that name?"

"At the wedding."

"Jessica, please tell me you didn't get involved with him."

"I danced with him."

Sophia made a strangled sound.

"Are you insane?"

"Apparently everyone knows who he is except me."

"He owns half the private security companies in Chicago. The other half probably answer to him. There are rumors about his family, but nobody says anything directly."

"Rumors like what?"

"I don't know. That his father ran things before him. That people who crossed them disappeared. That he's been involved in some very ugly business."

I leaned back.

"Why was he at your wedding?"

"He was on the guest list. I thought he was one of Tyler's business contacts."

"Tyler knows him?"

"Not exactly. Tyler's company has been trying to get a contract with one of Fioraldi's firms."

That explained Tyler's sudden fear.

I ended the call and searched Giovanni's name.

The results were strange. Business articles described him as a private investor, a logistics executive, and a philanthropist. Other pages were vague references to investigations, organized crime allegations, and a family history nobody seemed willing to discuss.

One article showed him at a charity hospital opening.

Another showed him beside a former Chicago mayor.

A third contained a photograph of a woman with dark hair.

The caption read: Giovanni Fioraldi and his late wife, Isabella, at a foundation event.

I read the article.

Isabella Fioraldi had died four years earlier in what police described as a highway accident. Giovanni had withdrawn from public life afterward.

The message returned to my mind.

Ask him what happened to his first wife.

I was still staring at the screen when the diner door opened.

Giovanni walked in.

He was no longer wearing his jacket. His white shirt was open at the collar, and there was a fresh cut near his knuckles.

He spotted me immediately.

"Jessica."

I stood.

"How did you find me?"

"Your phone is on. You sent your location to Camilla, and my security team traced the call."

"That's not an answer that makes me feel better."

He stopped a few feet away.

"You're right. I'm sorry."

I studied his face.

"Someone threatened me because I danced with you."

His expression hardened.

"Did they contact you?"

I showed him the messages.

He read them, and something dark moved behind his eyes.

"Did you know my ex-husband?" I asked.

"No."

"Does Tyler know you?"

"His company has been trying to do business with one of mine."

"Then why did he look terrified?"

Giovanni pulled out the chair opposite me.

"Because he knows what happens when someone makes promises they can't keep."

I folded my arms.

"Tell me who you are, Giovanni. Not the version you give at charity events. The truth."

He sat.

"I'm the head of the Fioraldi family."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means my family controls businesses that are not always legal. It means people come to me when they want something handled quietly. And it means the man who threatened you may be trying to start a war."

I looked at him.

"Then you should stay away from me."