Chapter 4 - THE AIRPORT
Elena saw Dante before he saw her.
He stood near the arrivals barrier in a black overcoat, surrounded by two security men. His hair was shorter than she remembered, and there was a faint line of silver near his temple. He looked older, harder, and just as impossible to ignore.
Her body reacted before her mind did.
Her pulse jumped. Her hands went cold. Every instinct told her to turn around.
Mia followed her gaze.
“Oh, no.”
Elena tightened her grip on Leo's hand.
“Don't look at him.”
“I'm not looking. I'm assessing.”
“Just keep walking.”
They moved toward the exit.
Leo looked up from his toy car.
“Mommy?”
“What is it, sweetheart?”
He pointed toward Dante.
“That man looks like me.”
Elena's stomach dropped.
At almost the exact same moment, Dante turned.
His eyes found hers.
For one long second, he did not move. Then his gaze dropped to Leo.
Elena saw the calculation happen.
The dark hair. The gray eyes. The child's age. The resemblance that no explanation could soften.
“Elena?”
She lifted Leo into her arms.
Dante stepped forward.
“Elena!”
She turned and ran.
The terminal erupted into confusion as people moved aside. Dante pushed past two travelers and sprinted after her.
“Stop! Elena, please!”
She reached the curb where the waiting SUV stood. The driver opened the door. Elena climbed in with Leo while Mia followed.
“Drive!”
The doors locked just as Dante reached the vehicle. His palm struck the window once.
“ELENA!”
The SUV pulled away.
Leo looked frightened.
“Mommy, why is that man angry?”
Elena held him close.
“He isn't angry with you.”
“Did I do something?”
“No, sweetheart. You did nothing wrong.”
Her phone began ringing.
Dante.
She rejected the call.
A message appeared.
IS LEO MY SON?
She stared at the screen.
Then she typed:
YOU MARRIED MY SISTER.
His answer came almost immediately.
YOU DON'T KNOW WHY I MARRIED VICTORIA.
Anger rose through her.
YOU HAD EIGHT YEARS TO EXPLAIN.
The typing indicator appeared, disappeared, then returned.
LEO IS MINE, ISN'T HE?
Elena looked at her son.
LEO IS NOT A BARGAINING CHIP.
She blocked the number.
Less than a minute later, a message arrived from an unknown contact.
Before you block this number too, there is one thing Victoria never told you.
Elena's thumb froze.
Another message followed.
I didn't marry your sister because I loved her.
Her chest tightened.
Then came the final message.
The night before our wedding, Victoria showed me something about you and told me that if I didn't marry her, you would be the one who paid for it.
Elena read the words twice.
She had spent three years believing Dante had chosen Victoria because he wanted power, money, or a woman who could stand beside him in public.
Now he was telling her that her sister had threatened him with something involving her.
Her phone vibrated again.
Give me ten minutes, Elena. Then you can decide whether you still want to hate me.
Leo leaned against her side, sleepy and confused.
Elena looked out at the city.
For the first time since returning to Chicago, she was not wondering how quickly she could escape Dante Moretti.
She was wondering what her sister had done.
Mia took the phone from her hand.
“Don't answer yet.”
“He says Victoria threatened me.”
“Of course he says that.”
“What if it's true?”
“Then he can prove it.”
Elena looked at Leo.
“I can't let him near my son until I know.”
Mia nodded.
“Then don't.”
The SUV turned toward the hotel. Elena watched Chicago pass beyond the tinted glass, familiar buildings rising from the streets like memories she had tried to bury.
She had come to move her father's remains.
May you like
Instead, she had brought his grandson into the center of a war she did not understand.
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