Chapter 2 - The First Sign of Jealousy
Three weeks later, the Valente organization held its annual charity gala at the Bellmont Hotel.
The event was a masterpiece of respectable criminality.
Judges drank champagne.
Council members laughed with developers.
Bankers shook hands with men whose names never appeared on official records.
And Dominic Valente stood in the middle of it all like a man who had personally purchased gravity.
Naomi hated formal events.
She hated the dresses.
She hated the champagne.
She especially hated the way men looked at her when she wore something other than a suit.
Tonight, she wore an emerald silk dress that exposed her shoulders and fell in a straight line to the floor.
Roman saw her first.
He nearly walked into a waiter.
“Jesus.”
Naomi raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That definitely wasn’t nothing.”
Roman cleared his throat.
“The boss is going to have a problem.”
She glanced toward the ballroom.
Dominic stood near the grand staircase.
His head turned.
His gaze landed on her.
And stopped.
For several seconds, he did not move.
Naomi felt heat rise along her neck.
Dominic finally looked away.
Roman muttered something under his breath.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re doing that again.”
“I’m regretting every career decision I’ve made since I was twenty-two.”
She laughed.
The sound caught Dominic’s attention again.
He approached without hurry.
“You’re late.”
“I’m three minutes early.”
“You’re wearing green.”
She looked down.
“Yes.”
“It’s noticeable.”
“That is usually what clothes are for.”
His jaw flexed.
Before he could answer, a handsome man in a navy tuxedo approached.
“Naomi Callahan?”
She turned.
“Daniel Harper.”
He smiled.
Daniel had worked in federal banking compliance with her years earlier. He was one of the few legitimate people from her previous life who had remained in contact.
“You look incredible.”
“Thank you.”
Daniel looked at Dominic.
“And you must be Dominic Valente.”
Dominic extended a hand.
“Must I?”
Daniel hesitated.
Roman coughed into his fist.
Naomi nearly smiled.
Daniel shook Dominic’s hand.
“I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I doubt any of it was flattering.”
“Actually, it was mostly about business.”
“Then you heard very little.”
Daniel laughed nervously.
Naomi touched his arm.
“Daniel helped me with the Harbor District audit.”
Dominic’s gaze dropped to Naomi’s hand.
Then returned to Daniel.
“I see.”
Daniel offered Naomi a smile.
“They’ve opened the rooftop. Want to see it?”
She nodded.
“Sure.”
Dominic’s voice came immediately.
“She’s working tonight.”
Naomi slowly turned.
“I am?”
“Yes.”
“What am I working on?”
“Me.”
Daniel looked between them.
Naomi stared.
Then she smiled.
“Are you jealous?”
The room around them seemed to disappear.
Dominic went completely still.
Roman’s eyes widened.
Daniel suddenly became fascinated by a nearby champagne tower.
Naomi waited.
Dominic looked at her for a long, unreadable moment.
Then he stepped closer.
Close enough that only she could hear his answer.
“Yes.”
One word.
Quiet.
Unmistakable.
Naomi’s smile faded.
Dominic looked over her shoulder at Daniel.
“Go upstairs.”
Daniel nodded immediately.
“I suddenly remember I have an urgent meeting.”
He disappeared.
Naomi’s heart was beating far too fast.
“You’re serious.”
“Painfully.”
“I thought you didn’t care.”
“I care about many things.”
“Not about me.”
His eyes hardened.
“That is the one thing you should never believe.”
She swallowed.
Dominic reached toward her wrist but stopped before touching it.
Instead, he lowered his hand.
“This is a dangerous conversation.”
“You started it.”
“No. You did.”
She laughed nervously.
“Then finish it.”
He said nothing.
She waited.
His eyes softened for the briefest moment.
“I have been trying to finish it for three years.”
Her breath caught.
Before she could answer, the ballroom lights went out.
A scream erupted.
Glass shattered.
Gunfire cracked through the darkness.
Dominic moved instantly.
He grabbed Naomi and pulled her behind a marble pillar as Roman drew his weapon.
“Stay down.”
“What happened?”
“We’ve been hit.”
Another shot.
Then another.
Security men shouted.
People stampeded toward the exits.
Dominic pressed his body against the pillar, shielding Naomi completely.
She looked at him.
“Dominic.”
“Quiet.”
“Listen.”
She heard it.
Footsteps.
Not from the ballroom.
From the private corridor behind them.
Someone had bypassed the main security line.
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Roman.”
“I hear it.”
Two men appeared.
The first raised a gun.
Dominic shot him once.
The second turned toward Naomi.
Roman fired.
The man dropped.
Silence returned in uneven waves.
Dominic immediately looked at Naomi.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He searched her face.
Her shoulders.
Her hands.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
He exhaled.
Naomi noticed blood on his sleeve.
“You’re hit.”
“Not mine.”
She stared at him.
It was the first time she understood that his fear had not been theoretical.
He had been terrified.
Terrified of losing her.
Dominic looked toward the bodies.
“This wasn’t random.”
“No,” Naomi said.
She crouched beside one of the dead attackers.
On his wrist was a small tattoo.
A black three-headed raven.
Her face went pale.
“What?”
She looked up.
“Varga.”
Dominic’s expression became murderous.
But Naomi saw something else.
A small silver chain around the attacker’s neck.
Attached to it was a photograph.
She picked it up.
The photograph showed Naomi standing outside her apartment.
Taken two days earlier.
Her blood turned cold.
Someone had been watching her.
Someone had been inside her life.
And now Dominic knew it.
He took the photograph from her hand.
His face became emotionless.
That was always when he was most dangerous.
“From now on,” he said, “you don't leave my sight.”
Naomi tried to joke.
“That sounds romantic.”
“It isn't.”
“Your face disagrees.”
He looked at her.
“Naomi.”
She stopped smiling.
“What?”
“If anyone touches you, I will bury them so deeply even their own mothers will forget their names.”
She should have been frightened.
May you like
Instead, for the first time in years, Naomi felt something far more dangerous.
Hope.
