Chapter 1 - The Woman Who Touched the Scar Nobody Was Allowed to Mention“How?”
Vincent asked the question without slowing down.
Hannah, still hanging over his shoulder with absolutely no dignity left, stared at the polished floor rushing beneath her.
“How was poking your neck different?”
“Because,” she said through clenched teeth, “at the time I thought you were an extremely rude executive blocking a supply closet.”
“And now?”
“Now I think you’re an extremely rude criminal blocking an emergency corridor.”
Daniel, somewhere behind them, shouted, “Vincent!”
A gunshot cracked through the hallway.
Hannah stopped fighting.
Vincent did not.
He moved faster.
The emergency corridor door slammed behind them as Daniel shoved it shut, and Vincent carried Hannah down a concrete staircase while alarms finally began screaming through the building.
Her heart hammered.
Not because of the gunfire.
Not entirely.
It was because Vincent Moretti, the man whose name people lowered their voices to say, was carrying her as though the fate of his entire organization depended on getting her out alive.
“Put me down,” she whispered.
“No.”
“I can walk.”
“No.”
“I promise I won't run.”
“I know.”
She blinked.
That answer surprised her enough that she stopped struggling.
Vincent descended another flight.
“Why did you say my name like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you already knew me.”
“I know everyone who works in my building.”
“I’m temporary.”
“I know.”
That somehow sounded worse.
They reached the basement.
Vincent finally set her down.
Hannah immediately stepped away, smoothing her cardigan with trembling hands.
Her knees were shaking.
She hated that he noticed.
Vincent turned toward her.
His expression was different now.
The cold executive mask was gone.
There was something harder underneath it.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Check.”
“I’m fine.”
“Hannah.”
She checked.
Her wrist was red where he had grabbed it.
Nothing else.
“I’m fine.”
Vincent gave a single nod.
Daniel burst through the stairwell door with a pistol in his hand.
“One down. One ran.”
Vincent looked at him.
“Alive?”
Daniel nodded.
“For now.”
Hannah stared between them.
“What exactly is happening?”
Neither man answered.
Her irritation returned before her fear could fully settle.
“You know what?”
Daniel looked at Vincent.
Vincent looked at Hannah.
“I have had a very long night,” she continued. “I had one job. Print compliance packets. I was already annoyed because someone was standing in front of the supply closet. Then I accidentally touched the neck of the scariest man in Chicago, two men with guns showed up, and now I’m in a basement with a man who apparently carries a gun like it’s a wallet.”
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
“You shouldn't have been on that floor.”
Hannah stared at him.
“I work there.”
“You shouldn't have been there tonight.”
“Why?”
Silence.
Her stomach tightened.
“Why?”
Daniel glanced at Vincent.
Vincent gave him a tiny nod.
Daniel reached inside his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“What is that?”
“Your temporary assignment record.”
Hannah frowned.
“That shouldn't be private.”
“It wouldn't be,” Daniel said, “except someone requested your file six hours ago.”
Her face went pale.
“Who?”
“We're trying to find out.”
Vincent took the paper.
His eyes scanned it.
Then he froze.
Hannah noticed immediately.
“What?”
Vincent looked up.
“Who referred you to Lakeshore Staffing?”
“Lakeshore found me.”
“That's not what I asked.”
She crossed her arms.
“My mother used to know someone there.”
“What was her name?”
“Evelyn Blake.”
Something shifted in Vincent's face.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Hannah's chest tightened.
“You know my mother?”
Vincent said nothing.
Daniel did.
“Vincent knew of her.”
Hannah stared at them.
“My mother died six years ago.”
“I know,” Vincent said quietly.
The basement seemed colder.
“How?”
Vincent's gaze fell briefly toward the scar on his neck.
“When I was twenty-eight, a warehouse exploded in South Chicago.”
Hannah swallowed.
She knew that story.
Everyone in Chicago knew some version of it.
But the official version had always been simple.
Industrial accident.
Three dead.
Several injured.
Case closed.
Vincent continued.
“Your mother was there.”
Hannah's mouth opened.
“No.”
“She wasn't listed as an employee.”
“My mother was a bookkeeper.”
“She was an accountant.”
“For a small shipping company.”
“For a company owned by my family.”
The silence after that was suffocating.
Hannah looked at his scar.
Then at him.
“That explosion gave you that scar.”
Vincent didn't answer.
She already knew.
“My mother told me she worked somewhere else.”
“She was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
Vincent's jaw tightened.
“From us.”
Hannah stepped backward.
“No.”
“I haven't lied to you.”
“You just didn't tell me.”
“Yes.”
“That is lying.”
Before Vincent could respond, Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Sir.”
Vincent turned.
“What?”
“They found the second man.”
“Where?”
“In the forty-first-floor archives.”
Vincent's eyes hardened.
“What was he looking for?”
Daniel looked directly at Hannah.
“Her personnel file.”
Hannah's blood ran cold.
Vincent immediately moved toward her.
“Stay here.”
She stepped in front of him.
“No.”
“Hannah.”
“No.”
“This is not a negotiation.”
“You don't get to drag me through a building, refuse to explain why armed men came after me, and then tell me to wait quietly in a basement.”
Vincent stared at her.
“You're scared.”
“Yes.”
“You should be.”
“Yes.”
“But you're still arguing.”
“Because you keep blocking my future.”
For a moment, neither moved.
Daniel looked away.
Hannah took a breath.
“I came here because I wanted a permanent job.”
Vincent's face remained unreadable.
“I've worked two jobs for three years,” she continued. “I finished my degree at night. I paid off my mother's medical debt. I applied for twelve permanent positions. This was supposed to be my chance.”
Vincent listened.
“I don't need saving,” she said. “I need answers.”
Something softened in his eyes.
Barely.
But she saw it.
“Then you'll get answers,” he said.
He stepped closer.
“But from now on, you stay where I can see you.”
Hannah raised an eyebrow.
“That sounds suspiciously like a threat.”
“It is.”
She stared at him.
Then glanced at Daniel.
“Is he always like this?”
Daniel answered immediately.
“Yes.”
Hannah sighed.
“Fantastic.”
Vincent almost smiled again.
May you like
This time she was certain.
And that frightened her far more than the guns.
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