Chapter 2 - The Woman Roman Had Been Protecting Without Her Knowledge
The doctors wanted to take Maisie to the hospital.
Nora refused at first.
Then Roman intervened.
“We go.”
Nora turned.
“She seems fine.”
“She inhaled smoke.”
“I know.”
“Then she gets checked.”
Something in his voice made Nora stop.
Not fear.
Authority.
The kind of authority that made people listen before they understood why.
Twenty minutes later, Nora sat in the back of an armored SUV beside Maisie.
Roman sat across from them.
Two security vehicles led.
Two followed.
Nora hated it.
“What happens now?”
Roman looked at Maisie.
“Now we find out who did this.”
“And then?”
“I deal with them.”
“That sounds vague.”
“It is.”
Nora stared.
“I need specifics.”
He met her eyes.
“They will never get near your daughter again.”
“How can you promise that?”
“I've spent a long time keeping promises.”
She almost laughed.
“You kidnapped me?”
“No.”
“You had your men watching me?”
“Yes.”
“You knew things about my life I never told you.”
“Yes.”
She stared.
“That does not make me feel safer.”
“It should.”
“It doesn't.”
Roman nodded.
“Then I have work to do.”
At the hospital, doctors examined Maisie.
Smoke exposure.
Minor cuts.
No serious burns.
The news nearly broke Nora apart.
She held her daughter for nearly an hour.
Roman waited outside.
When the doctor left, Nora stepped into the hallway.
Roman stood beside a window.
“You can go.”
“No.”
“She’s okay.”
“I know.”
“Then why stay?”
He looked at her.
“Because you aren't.”
Nora swallowed.
“I almost lost her.”
“You didn't.”
“Because she was smarter than both of us.”
A faint smile appeared.
“Yes.”
Nora looked toward him.
“You knew my daughter before I did.”
“I knew about her.”
“Why?”
Roman was silent.
Then he said:
“Your mother worked for my family.”
Nora froze.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Evelyn?”
He nodded.
“My grandmother?”
“No.”
Roman corrected himself.
“Your mother.”
Nora stared.
Her mother had died when Nora was seventeen.
She had been told it was a heart condition.
Sudden.
Unavoidable.
Roman looked away.
“She was working as a financial auditor.”
Nora's pulse changed.
“My mother was a nurse.”
“That was what the public knew.”
Nora stared.
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because the people who attacked tonight knew about her.”
He handed Nora a file.
Inside was a photograph.
Her mother.
Standing beside a younger Roman.
Nora's breath caught.
“What is this?”
“Taken twenty-five years ago.”
“Why?”
“Your mother discovered that someone inside my family's companies was moving money.”
Nora looked at the photograph.
“She told you.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“I promised to protect her.”
“What happened?”
Roman's face became hard.
“I failed.”
Nora looked up.
“She died.”
“I know.”
“You believe she was murdered.”
“Yes.”
Nora's eyes filled.
“By whom?”
Roman hesitated.
“That's what I've spent twenty years trying to prove.”
Nora stepped back.
“You've been protecting us?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother asked me to.”
Nora stared.
“She asked you to protect me?”
“And Maisie.”
Nora's breath caught.
“You knew about Maisie?”
“I knew she existed.”
“Before she was born?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you never come?”
“Because the person hunting your family was watching me too.”
Nora shook her head.
“This is insane.”
“I know.”
She looked toward Maisie's hospital room.
“What does the necklace mean?”
Roman glanced at her throat.
Nora wore a small silver locket.
Her mother had given it to her the week before she died.
Roman's eyes changed.
“That belonged to your mother.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“Your mother didn't give it to you.”
“What?”
“She gave it to me.”
Nora's heart stopped.
“When?”
“The night she died.”
She touched the locket.
“She told me to give it to you if you ever needed proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Roman's answer was quiet.
“That I didn't abandon her.”
Nora's fingers trembled.
She opened the locket.
Inside was a tiny piece of folded paper.
She had never seen it.
Roman watched as she pulled it out.
It contained three words.
Trust the DeLuca.
Nora looked at him.
“I spent twenty years thinking you were part of what killed her.”
“I know.”
“And you never defended yourself.”
“I thought keeping you alive mattered more.”
She cried.
Not because she trusted him.
Not yet.
Because the story of her entire life had cracked open.
Roman reached toward her.
Then stopped.
He didn't touch her.
“Take your time.”
Nora nodded.
The next morning, Maisie woke.
“Mama?”
Nora rushed to her.
“I’m here.”
“Mr. Roman?”
He appeared in the doorway.
“Yes?”
Maisie smiled.
“You got out.”
He laughed softly.
“You helped.”
“I got the water.”
“You did.”
She lifted her stuffed rabbit.
“Bunny helped too.”
Roman nodded.
“Bunny was very brave.”
Maisie giggled.
Nora watched them.
For the first time, she saw something strange.
Roman was dangerous.
She had always known that.
But around Maisie, he was gentle.
Almost awkward.
He didn't know how to speak to a toddler.
He didn't know how to smile naturally.
Yet he kept looking at her as though she were the most precious thing in the room.
Nora finally asked:
“Why did you call her family?”
Roman went still.
He looked at Nora.
Then at Maisie.
“Because she is.”
Nora froze.
“What?”
Roman closed the door.
“Her father isn't who you think.”
Nora's stomach dropped.
“You know who her father is?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Roman looked at her.
“Me.”
Silence.
Nora could barely breathe.
“What?”
Roman's voice broke slightly.
“Maisie's father is my younger brother.”
Nora stared.
“Your brother?”
“Adrian.”
She shook her head.
“Adrian DeLuca died before Maisie was born.”
“Yes.”
“Then how?”
Roman sat down.
“He didn't die.”
Nora's world stopped again.
“He disappeared.”
“He went into hiding.”
“Why?”
“Because he discovered who killed your mother.”
Nora looked at him.
“And Maisie?”
Roman swallowed.
“Adrian was her father.”
He paused.
“I brought you to work at my estate because I needed to know you were safe.”
Nora stared.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You watched us.”
“Yes.”
“You let me hate you.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if the wrong people knew what you knew, you'd both be dead.”
Nora looked toward her daughter.
Suddenly the last three years looked different.
Every time a stranger had seemed too interested.
Every time Roman's security had appeared nearby.
Every time bills she couldn't afford had somehow been paid.
Every time Maisie needed something and Roman's people had quietly arranged it.
She had thought it was charity.
It wasn't.
It was protection.
Nora whispered:
“You've been taking care of her.”
Roman answered:
“I've been trying.”
She looked at him.
Then at Maisie.
May you like
And for the first time, she wondered whether the most dangerous man in Chicago had spent three years protecting the one thing he couldn't admit belonged to his family.
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