Chapter 1 - The Price of One Kiss
“What do you want?”
Harper Hayes hated that her voice trembled.
Across from her, Dominic Russo closed the folder on his lap with deliberate calm. Rain hammered against the black Escalade’s windows, turning the underground garage into a gray blur of reflected lights and shadows.
For several seconds, he only watched her.
Harper had spent the last four days trying to convince herself that the man from the Luminary Gala would forget her. She had convinced herself that one reckless kiss in a hotel hallway could not possibly matter to someone like Dominic Russo.
Now she understood how foolish that hope had been.
Dominic leaned back against the leather seat. “I want to know why you kissed me.”
Harper blinked. “I already told you. Braden was following me.”
“I know.”
His answer was so immediate that her stomach tightened.
“You know?”
“Braden Calloway,” Dominic said. “Thirty-four. Senior partner at Northbridge Financial. His father sits on the board of two Chicago development companies. He has a history of drinking too much and assuming women are impressed by his last name.”
Harper stared at him. “You investigated him?”
“I investigated you.”
“That is not better.”
A faint expression touched Dominic’s face. It was not a smile. It was something colder, almost amused.
“No,” he said. “It is not.”
The car began moving.
Harper turned sharply toward the window. The Escalade rolled out of the garage, its tires hissing across wet pavement. Enzo sat behind the wheel. Another man occupied the passenger seat. Harper could not see his face, but she could feel his attention in the rearview mirror.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To dinner.”
“I did not agree to dinner.”
“You are welcome to refuse.”
The door locks clicked.
Harper looked at Dominic.
He met her eyes without apology.
“That does not feel like a refusal is an option.”
“It is,” he said. “But I would advise you to hear me out before making a decision.”
Harper crossed her arms, trying to steady herself. “Fine. Talk.”
Dominic removed a photograph from the folder and handed it to her.
It showed Braden leaving a bar with two men Harper had never seen before. The photo had been taken that same evening. Braden looked nervous.
“What is this?” she asked.
“Braden is in debt.”
“That has nothing to do with me.”
“It has everything to do with you.”
Dominic’s voice lowered.
“Three months ago, Braden began moving money through several shell companies. He used accounts tied to a construction group currently under investigation for fraud. Someone noticed irregularities in the transfers.”
Harper looked at the image again.
“I am an auditor,” she said slowly.
“Yes.”
“You think he wants something from me?”
“I think he already knows you have seen something.”
Harper shook her head. “I have not. I work in a different division.”
“Not officially.”
Dominic reached for another document. It was a printout of an internal report from Harper’s company. Her name appeared beside a review assignment she had received two weeks earlier.
Her hands went cold.
“That file was confidential.”
“Nothing is confidential,” Dominic said, “when enough money is involved.”
Harper looked up at him. “Are you involved in this?”
“Not in the way you think.”
“That is not reassuring.”
“I am not asking you to trust me, Harper.”
The use of her first name sounded too intimate in the quiet car.
“I am asking you to survive long enough to understand the situation.”
The Escalade stopped in front of a private restaurant near the Chicago River. There were no signs outside, no crowds, and no curious pedestrians. Enzo opened Harper’s door.
Inside, the restaurant was nearly empty. A hostess led them through a hallway and into a private dining room overlooking the dark river. The table had been prepared for two.
Harper remained standing.
“I am not hungry.”
“You should eat anyway.”
“I am not here because I want to be.”
Dominic’s eyes sharpened. “No. You are here because someone has placed you in danger, and I am offering you protection.”
“Why?”
That question finally changed something in his expression.
For the first time, Dominic looked away.
Outside the window, rain streaked down the glass like silver threads.
“Because you kissed me in front of men who now believe you matter to me,” he said.
Harper felt her pulse jump.
“And do I?”
Dominic looked back at her.
“I do not know yet.”
Dinner arrived, though Harper barely touched it. Dominic explained that Braden’s debt was not merely financial. He owed money to Victor D’Angelo, a violent businessman who had been trying to force his way into Chicago’s port operations.
Victor believed Braden could gain access to financial reports that would expose weaknesses in several companies connected to Dominic’s network.
The problem was that Braden had failed.
And Harper, without realizing it, had become a loose end.
“You are saying Victor thinks I know something,” Harper said.
“He thinks you could know something.”
“And you?”
“I think you are exactly what your file says you are. Smart. Careful. Overworked. And entirely unprepared for the kind of people who will use you if they get the chance.”
Harper hated that he was right.
“So what happens now?”
Dominic folded his hands on the table.
“Now you stop walking home alone. You do not leave work without security. You do not answer unknown numbers. And if Braden contacts you, you tell me immediately.”
“You cannot control my life.”
“No,” Dominic said. “But I can keep you alive.”
Harper pushed her chair back.
“I am leaving.”
Dominic did not stop her.
That frightened her more than if he had.
When she stepped outside, Enzo was waiting beside her car.
“Mr. Russo instructed me to drive you home,” he said.
“I can drive myself.”
“Your brake line was cut.”
Harper froze.
Enzo nodded toward her Honda Civic parked across the street.
A mechanic stood near it, examining the hood.
For one terrible moment, Harper could not breathe.
Dominic appeared behind her, his dark coat hanging perfectly over his suit.
“Now,” he said quietly, “do you understand why I came for you?”
Harper looked at the ruined car, then at the dangerous man standing beside her.
She had kissed him to escape one problem.
May you like
She had no idea that the kiss had opened the door to a world where every choice could cost her everything.
And Dominic Russo was standing at the center of it.
