Chapter 4 - The Man Behind the Threat
The next morning, the shop did not open.
Noah had sent workers before sunrise to replace the front lock, install reinforced glass, and repair the broken security camera her father had meant to fix before he died.
Lyra argued with every person who arrived.
They ignored her politely.
At noon, she called Noah.
“You cannot buy my shop.”
“I did not buy your shop.”
“You replaced half the front wall.”
“It was weak.”
“It was eighty years old.”
“It was weak for eighty years.”
She closed her eyes.
“Take it out of my invoice.”
“No.”
“Then I will not finish your suit.”
“You will.”
“You are unbelievably arrogant.”
“I have been told.”
His voice sounded tired.
That made her pause.
“Where are you?”
“A meeting.”
“With whom?”
He was quiet for a moment.
Then he said, “The man who sent the photograph is named Victor Salerno.”
Lyra knew the name.
Everyone did.
Salerno ran the east-side docks and had been fighting for control of the garment district for months. He was older than Noah, crueler by reputation, and famous for treating people as pieces in a game.
“What does he want?” she asked.
“To see whether I will make mistakes over you.”
Lyra sat down behind the cutting table.
“And will you?”
Noah did not answer quickly.
“That is what I am trying to avoid.”
She looked at the half-finished suit hanging near the window.
“Why me?”
“Because you are the only person in months who has looked at me and spoken honestly.”
“That is not a reason to drag me into your world.”
“No,” Noah said. “It is a reason I should keep you out of it.”
The sentence surprised her.
Then Noah continued.
“I am moving you temporarily.”
“No.”
“Lyra.”
“No. I am not leaving the shop because two criminal men are competing over who can frighten me more.”
“It is not safe.”
“My father built this place.”
“And I am trying to make sure you are alive to keep it.”
She stood.
“You want to help me?”
“Yes.”
“Then help me protect the shop legally. Help me find out who owns the building and why the landlord has been raising the rent every month. Help me get security that answers to me.”
Noah was silent.
Then he said, “All right.”
“Really?”
“You said legally.”
“Yes.”
“I know people who do legal things.”
“I am sure they are thrilled to hear that.”
A sound that might have been laughter moved through the phone.
It was brief.
But real.
By evening, Noah’s accountant discovered that Lyra’s landlord had been using a shell company connected to Salerno’s organization. The rent increases were not random. Salerno wanted the building.
Not because it was valuable.
Because Lyra’s shop sat beside an alley that connected to a warehouse corridor used for deliveries.
Her father had unknowingly refused to sell access to a route Salerno needed.
Now Salerno was using threats to make Lyra leave.
The boyfriend question had been bait.
The photograph had been pressure.
And Noah’s jealousy had given Salerno exactly the reaction he wanted.
When Noah arrived at the shop that night, he found Lyra standing beneath the old sign above the door.
“You knew this could happen,” she said.
“I knew Salerno wanted the building.”
“You did not tell me.”
“I did not know he would target you.”
“You should have.”
Noah looked down.
“Yes.”
It was becoming a pattern.
Noah did not defend himself when he was wrong.
He simply stood there and accepted the truth.
Lyra looked at the rain-dark street.
“I will not leave.”
“I know.”
“And I will not become your hidden woman in some guarded apartment.”
“I know.”
“And I am not dating you because I am afraid.”
Noah’s eyes met hers.
“Then do not date me.”
She stared.
“What?”
“Do not say yes because I can protect you.”
The words came slowly, like they cost him something.
“Say yes only if you want me.”
May you like
The rain softened.
For the first time since the threat arrived, Lyra felt the air return to her lungs.
