Chapter 1
Isabella’s words seemed to stop the entire city.
Around us, Central Park remained alive with late-afternoon noise—carriage wheels rattling over pavement, dogs barking near the fountain, children laughing beneath the trees—but all I could hear was the blood rushing through my ears.
“There’s something he needs to know about you.”
Lily looked from her mother to me, still holding my hand as though we had known each other longer than a few minutes.
“What does she mean?” I asked.
Isabella’s face had gone pale.
She glanced beyond me toward the two Moretti guards standing at the edge of the path. They wore dark coats, their hands hidden but ready, watching every stranger who came within twenty feet of me.
“Not here,” she whispered.
I should have demanded an answer.
I should have ordered my men to take them both to the mansion, lock the gates, and refuse to let Isabella leave until she told me everything.
That was how Alessandro Moretti handled secrets.
But Lily’s small fingers tightened around mine.
She was not afraid of me.
And for reasons I could not explain, I did not want to give her a reason to become afraid.
“There’s a restaurant across the street,” I said. “Private rooms upstairs.”
Isabella hesitated.
May you like
“You have my word that no one will hurt you.”
Her eyes met mine.
