Chapter 2 - Breakfast with the Monsters|
Sophie did not sleep.
She spent the remaining hours before dawn in a guest suite guarded by two men who looked as though they had never smiled in their lives. Massimo had offered her a driver, a security escort, and a new phone. She had accepted the phone but refused the driver.
She was a florist, not a witness in a federal protection program.
At eight fifty-five, someone knocked.
“Miss Miller? Mrs. Romano is expecting you.”
“Tell her I'm sick.”
A pause.
“Mrs. Romano says she has already instructed the kitchen to prepare ginger tea.”
Sophie closed her eyes.
Of course she had.
The breakfast room looked like a magazine photograph: silver coffee pots, crystal glasses, pale roses, and a table long enough to host a diplomatic summit.
Massimo sat at one end in a charcoal suit. His grandmother occupied the chair beside him.
The woman in pearls sat opposite.
“Sophie, darling,” the grandmother said. “You look exhausted.”
“That's because I was accidentally promoted to your grandson's romantic partner last night.”
The older woman laughed.
Massimo did not.
“This is my grandmother, Isabella Romano. My mother, Lucia. My uncle, Vittorio.”
The man at the far end lifted his coffee.
“Vittorio is my father's younger brother,” Massimo added. “He handles several family businesses.”
“Legitimate ones?” Sophie asked.
Vittorio smiled without warmth.
“Mostly.”
Isabella gestured toward the empty chair beside Massimo.
“Sit down. We have much to discuss.”
“I don't.”
“Then listen.”
Sophie sat.
Lucia studied her carefully.
“Massimo tells us you're an independent businesswoman.”
“I own Miller & Bloom. We have a storefront in Lincoln Park, a small workshop, and three employees who are more reliable than most people in this room.”
Vittorio chuckled.
“She's direct.”
“It's cheaper than therapy,” Sophie replied.
Isabella looked delighted.
Massimo hid what might have been the beginning of a smile behind his coffee cup.
The conversation shifted toward the engagement announcement. Isabella explained that Adriana Vitali's family controlled several commercial properties and had been negotiating a partnership with the Romanos for years.
“An engagement would unite two influential families,” Lucia said.
“An engagement would unite two people who don't want to marry each other,” Massimo answered.
Vittorio set down his cup.
“Your personal preferences are becoming expensive.”
“And your business advice is becoming repetitive.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
Sophie realized that the family wasn't simply arguing about romance. The engagement was connected to something much larger.
Then Isabella turned toward her.
“Tell me, Sophie. How long have you known my grandson?”
“Three days.”
“And you're already sharing his bedroom?”
“I was standing in it for approximately four minutes.”
Lucia nearly choked on her tea.
Massimo rubbed his forehead.
“Grandmother.”
“What? I'm asking questions.”
Sophie pushed back her chair.
“I appreciate the breakfast, but I'm going home.”
Massimo rose.
“I'll have Rafael drive you.”
“I said I can manage.”
“Someone tampered with security to put you in that room. That's not a coincidence.”
Before Sophie could answer, a housekeeper hurried inside carrying a small envelope.
“Mr. Romano, this was left at the front gate.”
Massimo opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Sophie leaving her flower shop the previous afternoon. A second photograph showed her locking the door alone at night.
Across the bottom, someone had written six words.
SEND THE FLORIST HOME. OR ELSE.
Sophie felt her stomach tighten.
Lucia covered her mouth.
Vittorio stood and walked toward the window.
Massimo's face became frighteningly still.
“Rafael.”
“Yes, boss?”
“Find out who delivered this.”
Sophie took a shaky breath.
“Maybe it's a prank.”
Massimo looked at her.
“People who threaten me don't usually waste paper.”
“Then what do they want from me?”
His silence was answer enough.
They wanted her afraid.
They wanted her to run.
And if she ran, whoever had arranged last night's deception would know the first part of the plan had worked.
Massimo folded the photograph.
“You're going back to your shop today,” he said. “But you're not going alone.”
Sophie bristled.
“You can't order me around.”
“No. But I can tell you that someone knows your schedule, your address, and when you're alone.”
She looked at the photograph again.
For the first time, the danger felt real.
Then Vittorio turned from the window.
“Perhaps the simplest solution is to pay the girl to disappear.”
Massimo looked at his uncle.
“Say that again.”
Vittorio's smile vanished.
May you like
And Sophie understood that the most dangerous person in the room might not be the man holding the power.
It might be the man who wanted to buy her silence.
