Chapter 1 - The Wrong Door at 12:17 A.M.|
The first thing Sophie Miller noticed was the gun.
It was pointed directly at her chest, held by a man whose expression suggested that shooting an unexpected visitor was merely an inconvenient way to end a long evening.
Massimo Romano stood barefoot on the black marble floor of his bedroom, his dark hair wet from the shower. A black robe hung loosely over his shoulders, and a thin scar crossed his left eyebrow.
Sophie raised both hands.
“I can explain.”
“Can you?”
“Yes.”
“Then start with why you're standing in my bedroom.”
“Because someone told me the bathroom was upstairs.”
Massimo glanced at the enormous bed behind her.
“And you believed the bathroom was beside my bed?”
“I didn't know this was your bedroom!”
His eyes narrowed.
“Who are you?”
“Sophie Miller. I'm the florist.”
“The florist.”
“Yes. The woman who delivered two hundred white roses, forty arrangements of lilies, and enough greenery to make your entrance hall look like a forest.”
Recognition flickered across his face.
Before he could respond, footsteps approached the door.
Several people were coming.
Massimo's expression changed immediately.
“Don't move.”
Sophie stared at the gun.
“I wasn't planning to!”
The double doors opened.
An elderly woman in a silver gown stood in the doorway, accompanied by a woman wearing pearls and two men in expensive suits.
For three seconds, nobody spoke.
Their eyes moved from Sophie to Massimo's robe, then to the bed.
The woman in pearls inhaled sharply.
“Massimo!”
The elderly woman, apparently his grandmother, studied the scene with astonishing interest.
Sophie wanted to disappear.
“This isn't what it looks like!”
Massimo lowered the gun and delivered four words that changed the direction of Sophie's life.
“She's staying with me.”
Sophie turned toward him.
“I'm sorry, what?”
His grandmother smiled.
“Finally. Our Massimo has found someone.”
“I have not found anyone!” Sophie protested.
The older woman ignored her.
“After refusing Adriana for six months, I was beginning to believe my grandson intended to marry his criminal empire.”
Massimo's jaw tightened.
“Grandmother, leave.”
“Breakfast is at nine, dear,” the woman told Sophie.
“I won't be here at nine.”
“We shall see.”
The family departed, although the woman in pearls looked back twice before the doors closed.
Sophie rounded on Massimo.
“You just turned me into your imaginary girlfriend!”
“Temporarily.”
“Temporarily? You have no idea who I am!”
“I know you're the florist who arrived three days ago.”
“That's not the point!”
He placed the gun inside a drawer and reached for a glass of water.
“My family expects an engagement announcement tomorrow. I don't intend to marry Adriana Vitali. Your unexpected appearance solved a problem.”
“My unexpected appearance nearly gave me a heart attack!”
“I'm sorry.”
The apology was so unexpected that Sophie stopped speaking.
Then he added, “You may leave whenever you want. No one will stop you.”
She grabbed her handbag.
“Wonderful.”
But as she reached for the door, he spoke again.
“Sophie.”
She froze.
“How do you know my name?”
“You signed the delivery invoices.”
“Oh.”
“Tell me which housekeeper sent you upstairs.”
“Mrs. Elena. She said the staff bathroom was being repaired.”
Massimo's face lost every trace of amusement.
“The staff bathroom is on the ground floor.”
Sophie felt cold.
“She told me to use the staircase near the east gallery.”
“There is no public staircase near the east gallery.”
He walked to a security panel beside the door and pressed a button.
“Rafael, come upstairs. Now.”
A minute later, a broad-shouldered man appeared.
Massimo handed him a small object.
A silver cuff link.
Sophie recognized it immediately.
She had found it outside the flower-storage room earlier that evening and placed it on a shelf so its owner could retrieve it.
Massimo examined her reaction.
“Where did you find this?”
“Near the service corridor.”
“Did you touch anything else?”
“No.”
He turned the cuff link over. A tiny red light blinked beneath its polished surface.
Rafael's expression hardened.
“That's a transmitter.”
Sophie stared at it.
“I thought it was jewelry.”
Massimo looked toward the closed doors.
Someone had deliberately sent her upstairs.
Someone wanted her inside his bedroom when his family arrived.
And whoever had arranged it knew exactly how much trouble a photograph of a florist beside Chicago's most dangerous man could cause.
Massimo's voice dropped.
“Rafael, lock down the house.”
Then he looked at Sophie.
“Until I know who brought you here, you're not leaving alone.”
Sophie swallowed.
“Are you protecting me?”
“No.”
He paused.
“I'm protecting everyone else from whoever decided to use you.”
At that moment, Rafael's phone vibrated.
He read the message, then looked up.
“Boss, the security footage from the east corridor has been erased.”
Massimo's gaze sharpened.
“By whom?”
May you like
Rafael hesitated.
“The access code belongs to your grandmother.”
