Chapter 2 - The Man Across the Street
Elena Rossi expected Adrien Moretti to be angry.
Instead, he ordered fresh appetizers for four.
Then corrected himself.
“For five.”
Lily whispered:
“He counted Mommy.”
Sophie whispered back:
“He is good at math.”
Elena wanted the floor to open.
Adrien heard them.
He said nothing.
That made it worse.
The girls moved to a nearby table with dessert plates while Elena sat across from him.
“I really am sorry.”
“You already said that.”
“I should say it at least six more times.”
“I will stop counting after three.”
She smiled despite herself.
Adrien noticed.
So did the man across the street.
Victor Hale watched through rain-streaked glass.
Six years ago, Victor had been handsome in a way women forgave too easily.
Today he looked expensive.
Gray coat.
Designer watch.
Hair cut by someone who charged more than Elena spent on groceries in a week.
His driver waited in front.
Victor did not move.
He watched his daughters laugh with another man.
Then dialed a number.
“She brought them.”
The voice on the other end asked:
“All three?”
“Yes.”
“And Moretti?”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“With them.”
A pause.
“That complicates things.”
“No.”
Victor looked at Adrien.
“It improves them.”
Inside, Elena tried to explain the bakery disaster.
“Three-tier wedding cake. White chocolate supports. Someone stored it beside a heater.”
“Someone?”
“My assistant.”
“Still employed?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she is nineteen and cried harder than the bride.”
Adrien almost smiled.
“You are soft.”
“No.”
“You kept an employee who ruined a wedding cake.”
“I kept a teenager who made one expensive mistake.”
Adrien leaned back.
“Soft.”
Elena pointed her fork at him.
“Careful.”
Something flickered in his eyes.
Amusement.
“Noted.”
For twenty minutes, conversation became almost normal.
The triplets interrupted constantly.
Lily wanted to know why Adrien did not eat tomatoes.
Sophie asked if he had ever been arrested.
Elena nearly dropped her glass.
Adrien answered:
“No convictions.”
Elena stared.
“That is not reassuring.”
Emma watched him closely.
“Mommy says people who answer different questions are hiding things.”
Adrien looked at Elena.
“She does?”
Elena wanted to disappear.
“Sometimes.”
Adrien turned back to Emma.
“Then your mother is smart.”
Emma nodded.
“Very.”
After dinner, Adrien walked them to Elena’s car.
No security appeared.
That surprised her.
She had expected men.
Adrien had them.
They were simply better at staying unseen.
At the car, Lily asked:
“Did you pass?”
Elena said:
“Lily.”
“What?”
Adrien looked at Sophie.
Sophie opened the notebook.
“Twenty-two points out of thirty.”
Elena blinked.
“What happened to twenty-seven questions?”
“We skipped some.”
“Why?”
“Time.”
Adrien asked:
“What score do I need?”
Emma said:
“Twenty-three.”
Adrien looked offended.
“I failed?”
“One point.”
“Can I appeal?”
“No.”
Lily whispered:
“You can earn extra credit.”
Adrien smiled.
“What does that involve?”
“Pancakes.”
Elena laughed.
Real.
Unexpected.
Across the street, Victor saw it.
His hand tightened around his phone.
He had left Elena when she was twenty-six.
He had not known about the pregnancy until months later.
That was the story he told himself.
The truth was uglier.
Elena had called.
Twice.
He had ignored her.
Then his father warned him that triplets would complicate inheritance negotiations.
Victor chose silence.
Years later, regret arrived only after his father died and left him less than expected.
The Hale family trust had a clause.
Biological descendants.
Three daughters.
Three votes someday.
Suddenly fatherhood had financial value.
Victor hated himself just enough to call that love.
He watched Elena drive away.
Then told his driver:
“Follow them.”
The driver hesitated.
“Mr. Hale—”
“Do it.”
Adrien’s car remained outside Ferrante’s.
He watched Elena’s sedan disappear.
Dante emerged from the restaurant.
“Well?”
Adrien looked at him.
“You set me up with a woman who brought a committee.”
Dante laughed.
“Triplets?”
“You knew?”
“I knew she had children.”
“Three identical children is information worth mentioning.”
“I wanted you surprised.”
“You nearly got shot.”
“By who?”
“Me.”
Dante smiled.
“So you liked her.”
Adrien did not answer.
Dante’s expression changed.
“Oh.”
“Stop.”
“You smiled.”
“People smile.”
“You do not.”
Adrien started walking.
Dante followed.
“Second date?”
“I do not know.”
“Liar.”
Adrien stopped beside the car.
Something across the street caught his attention.
Black sedan.
Same one that had left after Elena.
His eyes narrowed.
“Plate.”
Dante looked.
“Gone.”
Adrien called security.
“Find the sedan that was parked across from Ferrante’s.”
A voice answered immediately.
“Already tracking.”
Dante looked at him.
“Problem?”
Adrien watched the empty street.
“Maybe.”
Twenty minutes later, Elena pulled into the parking lot behind Sweet Mercy Bakery.
The triplets were asleep.
Mostly.
Emma opened one eye.
“Is he bad?”
Elena looked at her in the rearview mirror.
“Who?”
“Mr. Moretti.”
Elena hesitated.
“He is complicated.”
“Grandma said complicated sometimes means bad.”
“Grandma said many things.”
“Was she wrong?”
“Rarely.”
Emma closed her eye.
Elena sat in silence.
She knew Adrien’s name before Dante arranged the date.
Everyone in Boston did.
Moretti.
Ports.
Restaurants.
Construction.
Money.
Rumors.
She had almost refused.
But loneliness had become too familiar.
Her mother’s last words before dying had been:
“You do not have to prove you can survive alone forever.”
So Elena said yes.
One dinner.
One risk.
Now she had a strange warmth in her chest.
That frightened her more than Adrien’s reputation.
She lifted sleeping Lily from the car.
Then heard footsteps.
A man stood near the bakery entrance.
Elena froze.
Victor Hale.
For six years, she had imagined this moment.
In none of those versions did he smile.
“Hello, Elena.”
Her arms tightened around Lily.
“What are you doing here?”
Victor looked toward the car.
Toward Sophie.
Emma.
His daughters.
“I came to meet my children.”
Elena’s blood went cold.
“No.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“I am their father.”
“You were a sperm donor with a phone you refused to answer.”
His jaw hardened.
“I made mistakes.”
“You made choices.”
“I want to fix them.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“You cannot keep them from me forever.”
Elena stared.
Then Victor added quietly:
“And you definitely cannot raise my daughters around Adrien Moretti.”
The bakery door opened behind them.
A man in a dark suit stepped out.
One of Adrien’s security men.
Victor stopped.
The guard said calmly:
“Ms. Rossi, Mr. Moretti asked us to make sure you arrived safely.”
Elena looked at him.
“When?”
“After dinner.”
Victor’s expression changed.
Elena understood.
Adrien had seen danger before she had.
The guard looked at Victor.
“Is there a problem?”
Victor smiled.
“Not tonight.”
He walked away.
Elena watched him leave.
Then looked at the sleeping triplets.
May you like
For six years she had wanted Victor to care.
Tonight, for the first time, she wished he had stayed gone.
