Chapter 2 - The Girl Who Knew Roman’s Darkest Secret
I locked the bakery door.
The men outside didn't move.
One raised his hand and knocked.
Three slow taps.
Lily stood behind me.
“Who are they?” I whispered.
“I don't know.”
“You're sure?”
She nodded.
“They've been following me for weeks.”
My blood went cold.
I grabbed my phone.
Lily immediately caught my wrist.
“Don't call Roman.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because that's what they want.”
Before I could ask anything else, one of the men called through the door.
“Miss Bennett, we're not here to hurt anyone.”
“That usually means you're here to hurt someone.”
Silence.
Then the man smiled.
“We're here for Lily.”
Lily's grip tightened around my arm.
I moved her behind me.
“She doesn't want to go.”
“This isn't your decision.”
“It became my decision when you showed up at my bakery.”
The man's expression hardened.
“Mrs. Bennett—”
“Miss.”
He smiled again.
“Miss Bennett. You don't understand what you've involved yourself in.”
“No. I don't.”
I looked at Lily.
“But she does.”
The man's eyes shifted toward the teenager.
That was enough.
I grabbed the rolling pin from beneath the counter.
Lily whispered, “Seriously?”
“I run a bakery.”
“You're going to fight armed men with a rolling pin?”
“I don't know if they're armed.”
“They are.”
I looked at her.
“You could have mentioned that earlier.”
Before the situation became worse, headlights flashed through the bakery windows.
A black SUV stopped in front of the building.
The two men outside stepped back.
Roman emerged from the vehicle.
He didn't run.
He didn't shout.
He simply walked toward the door with an expression that made both men retreat.
Roman opened the bakery.
His eyes went immediately to Lily.
Then to me.
Then to the rolling pin.
“What happened?”
Lily ran to him.
Roman caught her.
She buried her face against his chest.
He closed his eyes.
For several seconds, he held her without speaking.
Then he looked at me.
“Who came here?”
“Two men.”
“Names?”
“They didn't give them.”
“Did they touch you?”
“No.”
“Lily?”
She shook her head.
Roman's jaw tightened.
Then he turned to his guard.
“Find them.”
The man nodded.
I stepped forward.
“Wait.”
Roman looked at me.
“They said they were looking for Lily.”
“I know.”
“They knew my name.”
His expression became still.
“Did they say anything else?”
“They called me Mrs. Bennett.”
Roman's eyes darkened.
Nobody spoke.
Then Lily whispered, “They know about the key.”
Roman turned toward her.
“What key?”
She pulled away from him.
The brass key was still on the counter.
Roman stared at it.
His face lost all color.
“Where did you get that?”
“My mother's things.”
“Lily.”
“She told me to give it to you if she died.”
Roman took one step toward the key.
Then stopped.
“Don't touch it.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“That key belonged to Elena.”
“Her mother?”
Roman nodded.
“Lily's mother.”
“What's it open?”
He looked at me.
“A safe.”
“What's inside?”
“I don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“No.”
Lily looked down.
“My mother said it contained proof.”
“Proof of what?”
She whispered the words.
“Who killed my father.”
The bakery became completely silent.
Roman closed his eyes.
Lily looked at him.
“You said my father died in an accident.”
Roman's face tightened.
“That is what I was told.”
“You're lying.”
“Lily—”
“My mother told me you knew.”
Roman didn't answer.
That silence was worse than a confession.
I looked at him.
“You knew something.”
He finally spoke.
“I knew Elena was afraid.”
“Of whom?”
“My family.”
Sophia.
The name entered my mind immediately.
Roman seemed to read it.
“Not Sophia.”
“Then who?”
“My father.”
“But he's dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then who is still carrying out whatever he started?”
Roman looked toward the window.
His voice dropped.
“My older brother.”
I stared at him.
“Victor?”
Roman nodded.
I had heard the name.
Everyone in Chicago had.
Victor Duca had disappeared years earlier after a violent internal war inside the Duca organization.
Some said he was dead.
Others said he'd fled the country.
Roman had never spoken about him.
Lily whispered, “My mother said Victor was still alive.”
Roman's face hardened.
“He isn't.”
“She was afraid of him.”
“She was afraid of many things.”
“No,” Lily said. “She was afraid of you.”
Roman froze.
I watched the pain cross his face.
Lily continued.
“She said you were the only person who could stop him, but you were too afraid to admit what happened.”
Roman looked at her.
“I was nineteen.”
“You were supposed to protect her.”
“I tried.”
“You failed.”
He didn't defend himself.
That was when I realized Roman Duca wasn't afraid of Victor.
He was afraid of the truth.
And somehow, Lily had just placed that truth in my hands.
The key belonged to a safe hidden somewhere in Chicago.
The safe contained evidence connected to Lily's parents.
And someone was willing to come after a sixteen-year-old girl to retrieve it.
Roman looked at me.
“You're coming with us.”
I crossed my arms.
“No.”
“Clare.”
“I am not getting dragged into your family war.”
“You already are.”
“Then get me out.”
He looked at me for several seconds.
Finally, he said something that surprised me.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because the men who came here weren't looking for Lily first.”
My stomach dropped.
“They were looking for me?”
Roman nodded.
“They know you're important to me.”
I laughed bitterly.
“We've known each other for four days.”
“That doesn't matter.”
“It matters to me.”
His expression softened.
“That's exactly why I'm worried.”
I didn't understand then.
But I would.
Because Roman wasn't using me as his fake girlfriend anymore.
May you like
He was protecting me.
And the worst part was that I was beginning to want him to.
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