Chapter 1 - “I’M WAITING FOR HER”
After fourteen months of raising a dangerous man’s terrified five-year-old son like he was my own, Victor Rossi looked me in the eyes and told me I was nothing but hired help his child happened to like.
But Victor had no idea Finn had heard everything.
Finn’s scream came from upstairs.
“Harper!”
I ran.
He was curled beneath his desk, hands covering his ears while police sirens wailed beyond the gates.
“I’m here.”
“Make it stop.”
“I can’t stop them, sweetheart. But I can stay.”
I sat on the carpet and held out my hand.
“Want the anchor?”
Finn crawled toward me and collapsed against my chest.
“Breathe with me.”
In.
Out.
Twenty minutes later, the sirens faded.
“Is Dad bad?” he whispered.
I swallowed.
Victor Rossi owned legitimate businesses across Chicago, but legitimate businessmen didn’t need armed guards surrounding their homes.
“Your dad loves you.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Before I could answer, the front doors slammed downstairs.
Victor was home.
I found him in the kitchen with blood across his knuckles and a bruise darkening his jaw.
“Finn asleep?”
“Yes. The sirens triggered another episode.”
Victor poured himself a drink.
“He needs to get over it.”
“He’s five.”
His eyes lifted.
“You baby him, Harper.”
“I comfort him.”
“You make him dependent on you.”
“He needs someone who makes him feel safe.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
“Safe?”
He stepped closer.
“You think because my son runs to you, you’re important?”
I stared at him.
“I never said that.”
“You walk around my house like you’re family.”
“I work here.”
“You act like you’re his mother.”
“That’s enough.”
His jaw tightened.
Nobody told Victor Rossi when enough was enough.
“You’re useful because Finn likes you,” he said. “That’s all.”
Something inside me cracked.
Then Victor chose the one wound he knew would hurt most.
“You’re almost thirty. You spend your life hiding in my house, raising someone else’s child.”
“Stop.”
“Who’s waiting for you outside, Harper?”
I couldn’t answer.
Because he knew.
My parents were gone.
My engagement had ended years ago.
There was no family waiting for me anywhere else.
Then a tiny voice came from behind us.
“I’m waiting for her.”
Victor froze.
Finn stood barefoot in the doorway, tears covering his cheeks.
May you like
“If Harper isn’t family, then I don’t want to be family either.”
For the first time since I’d met Victor Rossi, the most feared man in the room had absolutely nothing to say.
