Chapter 1 - The Girl Who Flew
“She flew,” Leo finished.
His tiny voice trembled, but his hand remained against my cheek as if he was afraid I might disappear if he let go.
The man beside us looked from his son to me.
Something unreadable moved across his face.
Then he turned toward the men surrounding the booth.
“Clear the room.”
Nobody argued.
Chairs scraped back.
Guests who had spent thousands of dollars for dinner suddenly forgot their coats, their drinks, and their dignity.
Two enormous men in dark suits began moving people toward the exits.
The jazz quartet stopped playing.
Julian stood frozen near the kitchen doors.
Chloe was on her knees beside the overturned tray, crying so hard she could barely breathe.
“I’m sorry,” she kept saying.
“I’m so sorry.”
I tried to push myself upright.
Pain ripped through my back.
My arms buckled.
The stranger caught me before my face hit the floor.
“Do not move.”
“I need to finish my shift.”
He stared at me.
For one second, I genuinely thought I had said something offensive.
Then his gaze dropped to my ruined uniform.
“You have glass embedded in your back.”
“I know.”
“And you are worried about finishing your shift.”
“I need the money.”
His expression changed again.
Not amusement.
Something heavier.
Something that looked suspiciously like anger on my behalf.
A man rushed toward us carrying a black medical bag.
The stranger barely glanced at him.
“Take care of her.”
The doctor knelt.
“We need to remove the larger pieces somewhere sterile.”
“No hospital,” the stranger said.
My fear cut cleanly through the pain.
I looked at him.
“I’m going to a hospital.”
His black eyes returned to mine.
“You misunderstand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
My voice came out weaker than I wanted.
“You don’t get to decide where I go because I protected your son.”
For the first time, the men around him looked nervous.
One of them actually stopped breathing.
The stranger studied me in complete silence.
Then Leo tugged on his father’s sleeve.
“Papa, she’s scared.”
His father looked down.
The terrifying man disappeared for half a heartbeat.
A father replaced him.
He crouched beside Leo.
“She has every right to be.”
Then he looked back at me.
“My physician has a private surgical suite three blocks away.”
He spoke slowly now.
“No police questions.”
“No reporters.”
“No men taking photographs of you while you are injured.”
“If you still want a public hospital after hearing that, I will personally take you.”
I swallowed.
That was the moment I understood something worse than the pain.
He wasn’t trying to hide me.
He was trying to protect me from being identified.
“Who are you?”
The question escaped before I could stop it.
The room went strangely still.
Even Chloe stopped crying.
The man’s gaze held mine.
“Alessandro Vitale.”
My stomach dropped.
I knew that name.
Everyone in the city knew that name.
Vitale Shipping.
Vitale Development.
Vitale Hospitality.
Charities.
Political donations.
And whispers.
Lots of whispers.
I looked at Leo.
Then back at Alessandro.
“Oh.”
His mouth almost curved.
Almost.
“Yes.”
The doctor touched my shoulder.
I hissed.
Alessandro’s almost-smile vanished.
“Move her now.”
Two men brought a stretcher.
“I can walk.”
“You tried that thirty seconds ago.”
“I’m not helpless.”
“No.”
His gaze dropped toward Leo.
“You are apparently reckless.”
Leo squeezed my hand.
“I like her.”
Alessandro stared at our joined fingers.
Then he said something in Italian under his breath.
I didn’t understand the words.
But the doctor did.
He suddenly looked very interested in his shoes.
They lifted me carefully.
As I was carried toward the private exit, I looked back.
Chloe was still kneeling beside the shattered glasses.
Julian stood beside her.
His face had gone pale.
But he wasn’t looking at Chloe.
He was looking at the brass strip her shoe had caught on.
And as one of Alessandro’s men bent to examine it, Julian quietly stepped backward.
The strip wasn’t loose.
It had been unscrewed.
May you like
Someone had wanted that tray to fall.
And Alessandro had just realized it too.
