Chapter 2 - The Cars at Sunrise
At 5:02 a.m., the rain stopped.
At 5:03, the street filled with black vehicles.
Sadi counted twelve before she stopped.
Twelve.
In her neighborhood.
Nobody owned twelve vehicles that matched each other.
Nobody except people who did not want to be noticed.
Ronan sat on her couch with a fresh dressing across his chest.
He looked pale.
But controlled.
The man at the door knocked again.
“Ronan Vale.”
Sadi turned.
“Vale?”
Ronan looked at her.
“Yes.”
“You didn't tell me your last name.”
“You didn't ask.”
“I also didn't ask if you were a Mafia boss.”
A faint smile appeared.
“I’m not technically a boss.”
“Wonderful.”
Sadi rubbed her forehead.
“Then why are twelve black SUVs outside my house?”
“My brother's idea of being subtle.”
“You have a brother?”
“Yes.”
“Is he also bleeding?”
“No.”
“Then I already like him less.”
Ronan almost laughed.
The door opened.
Sadi spun.
Three armed men entered.
The first one was enormous.
The second looked like he'd been born angry.
The third was a woman with silver-blond hair and a black coat.
She saw Ronan.
Her expression changed.
“Jesus.”
She crossed the room.
“Don't move.”
Ronan rolled his eyes.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
She looked at Sadi.
“You saved him?”
“Yes.”
“I'm Mara Vale.”
Sadi waited.
Mara stared.
“You don't know who that is?”
“Should I?”
Mara looked at Ronan.
“She really doesn't know.”
Ronan's mouth twitched.
“Apparently I'm less famous than you thought.”
Mara turned back to Sadi.
“The people outside belong to the Vale organization.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning every one of those men would die for him.”
Sadi looked around.
“Why?”
Mara's expression softened.
“Because he's their leader.”
Ronan corrected her.
“Former leader.”
Mara's eyes narrowed.
“That distinction hasn't been announced.”
Sadi crossed her arms.
“So what happens now?”
Mara hesitated.
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“Whether anyone else knows he is here.”
Sadi stared.
“Your twelve-car arrival wasn't exactly discreet.”
Mara actually smiled.
“Fair point.”
Ronan's brother arrived thirty seconds later.
Adrian Vale.
Older by four years.
Tall.
Black coat.
Cold expression.
He walked into the house, looked at Ronan, then at Sadi.
Then he looked around her tiny living room.
“You?”
Ronan nodded.
Adrian walked closer.
“You were shot.”
“Yes.”
“And she treated you.”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked at Sadi's bloody clothes.
Then at the discarded trauma kit.
“You're a medic.”
“Former EMT.”
“Why former?”
Sadi's face shut down.
“Not your business.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
Ronan spoke.
“Leave it.”
The command was quiet.
Adrian obeyed.
Sadi noticed.
The entire room noticed.
Ronan still commanded people.
Even injured.
Even half-dead.
Even in her living room.
Adrian crouched beside him.
“Who did it?”
“Caruso men.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“They wanted the ledger.”
Sadi's eyes moved between them.
“What ledger?”
Neither answered.
She sighed.
“Of course.”
Adrian stood.
“We need to move him.”
“No.”
Sadi stepped forward.
“He can't be moved yet.”
Adrian frowned.
“Excuse me?”
“You'll reopen the wound.”
“He needs a surgeon.”
“He needs rest first.”
“She's right.”
Everyone turned.
Ronan looked at his brother.
“If you move me now, I bleed again.”
Adrian's jaw worked.
He hated it.
But he nodded.
Sadi walked to the kitchen.
“Everybody who isn't bleeding gets out.”
Adrian looked offended.
Mara smiled.
“I like her.”
“You're staying,” Adrian said.
Sadi looked at him.
“You're not my boss.”
Silence.
Ronan laughed.
Not loudly.
But genuinely.
It was the first time Sadi had seen him laugh.
Adrian stared.
“What's funny?”
“You.”
Ronan looked at Sadi.
“She just told Adrian Vale he isn't her boss.”
Sadi shrugged.
“He isn't.”
Mara smiled wider.
“I definitely like her.”
By sunrise, the entire house had transformed.
Men surrounded the property.
A doctor arrived.
Security systems were installed.
Sadi watched in disbelief as strangers ran cables through walls in less than twenty minutes.
“This is insane.”
Mara stood beside her.
“That's what happens around Ronan.”
“Who shot him?”
“We don't know yet.”
“Who are the Carusos?”
“Our enemies.”
“Why are they after him?”
Mara hesitated.
“Because Ronan was supposed to deliver something.”
“The ledger.”
Mara looked at her.
Ronan had not told her that.
“You heard us.”
“Yes.”
“What do you think it is?”
“Something important.”
Mara smiled.
“You're surprisingly calm.”
“I work emergency medicine.”
“That's not what I mean.”
Sadi looked at her.
“I’m used to bad situations.”
Mara nodded.
“So is Ronan.”
But Sadi knew that wasn't the whole truth.
Because when Ronan looked at her, his eyes changed.
He was not looking at her like a medic.
He was looking at her like a mystery.
Someone who had walked into his life by accident.
Someone who knew nothing about his world.
Someone who had no idea how dangerous he was.
At 8:30 a.m., the doctor finished examining him.
“He'll live.”
Adrian exhaled.
Sadi looked relieved.
“Can I leave now?”
Ronan opened his eyes.
“No.”
Sadi stared.
“No?”
“You can't leave.”
“Why?”
“Because they know where you live.”
“That doesn't mean I'm staying here.”
Ronan looked at her.
“You have no security.”
“I have a lock.”
He almost smiled.
“A lock won't stop them.”
“I survived thirty-one years without your security.”
“You survived because nobody knew who you were.”
Sadi froze.
“What does that mean?”
Ronan went quiet.
Adrian's expression changed.
Sadi looked between them.
“What?”
Ronan slowly said:
“Your name isn't the only thing we found.”
Her stomach dropped.
“What else?”
“We found your employment history.”
“You investigated me?”
“I investigate anyone who saves my life.”
Sadi stepped closer.
“Then you should know I want nothing from you.”
“I know.”
“And you should know I don't care about your money.”
“I know.”
“And I don't care about your organization.”
“I know.”
“Then why can't I leave?”
Ronan looked at her.
“Because someone has been watching your house for three months.”
The room went cold.
“What?”
He nodded toward the window.
“The Carusos didn't find me here by accident.”
Sadi's mind raced.
“Then how?”
“They were already watching you.”
“Why me?”
Ronan looked toward his brother.
Adrian spoke.
“We don't know.”
Sadi's fear finally showed.
“My house was empty.”
Ronan corrected her.
“No.”
He pointed at the hallway.
“You weren't alone.”
She frowned.
Then noticed something.
Her kitchen window.
A tiny red reflection.
A camera.
Hidden across the street.
She stared.
“I didn't see that.”
“You weren't supposed to.”
The words made her skin crawl.
Ronan stood despite the pain.
Sadi immediately stepped forward.
“Sit down.”
“I need to show you something.”
He walked with difficulty toward the hallway.
In the wall near her bedroom was a small hole.
Behind it—
a listening device.
Sadi covered her mouth.
“They've been listening?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
Ronan's face hardened.
“At least three months.”
Sadi looked at him.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Then a voice crackled from the hidden speaker.
“You should ask your father.”
Ronan froze.
Everyone froze.
Adrian ripped the device from the wall.
The voice came again.
“You're closer than you realize.”
Then silence.
Ronan stared at Sadi.
“What did your father do?”
Sadi laughed nervously.
“My father has been dead for twenty years.”
May you like
Ronan's expression became unreadable.
“Mine too.”
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