Chapter 2 - Adrian Kane Followed Me Home, and the First Thing He Asked Was Whether My Daughter Had Been Born Under a Different NameI thought Adrian would forget the incident.
I was wrong.
By the time I arrived home, there were already three missed calls from the office.
I ignored them.
Mia was asleep in the back seat.
Gerald was tucked beneath her chin.
I carried her upstairs.
After putting her in bed, I returned downstairs.
The photograph was missing.
I had forgotten to take it back from Adrian.
That thought terrified me.
I checked my phone.
One new message.
We need to talk. —Adrian
I deleted it.
Five minutes later, the doorbell rang.
I froze.
I looked through the security camera.
Adrian Kane stood outside.
I opened the door only halfway.
“What are you doing here?”
“We need to talk.”
“About work?”
“No.”
I looked behind him.
“No security?”
“Not tonight.”
“Then this conversation isn't happening.”
He looked at me.
“Claire, the man in that photograph is Nathaniel Cross.”
My fingers tightened around the door.
I hadn't heard that name spoken aloud in years.
“Don't say his name.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“So it is him.”
I closed my eyes.
“Go home.”
“Is Mia his daughter?”
I didn't answer.
He understood.
“She's his daughter.”
I stepped outside and closed the door behind me.
“Keep your voice down.”
“Why?”
“Because you don't know who is listening.”
Adrian looked toward the street.
For the first time, the billionaire looked uncertain.
“What happened to Nathaniel?”
“He disappeared.”
“That's not an answer.”
“It's the only one you're getting.”
He stared at me.
“I owe him my life.”
I looked away.
“Then let him stay dead.”
Adrian's voice softened.
“Claire…”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
I looked at the dark windows of my house.
“I met Nathaniel when I was twenty-five.”
Adrian listened.
“He wasn't the man people thought he was.”
“He was worse?”
“No.”
I swallowed.
“He was better.”
Adrian didn't respond.
“He helped people who couldn't help themselves.”
“That's not what I heard.”
“Of course it isn't.”
I looked at him.
“People were afraid of him.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew too much.”
Adrian nodded.
“That sounds like him.”
I stared.
“You knew him well.”
“He saved my life.”
“How?”
Adrian looked toward the street.
“I was twenty-three.”
His voice became distant.
“My father had died. I inherited debt. My company was collapsing.”
He smiled bitterly.
“I was arrogant.”
“You still are.”
For the first time, Adrian almost smiled.
“Maybe.”
Then his expression became serious again.
“I had investors preparing to take everything.”
“What happened?”
“Nathaniel came to my office.”
“And?”
“He told me to fire my CFO.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because the man was stealing.”
“And you believed him?”
“No.”
Adrian looked at me.
“I thought he was bluffing.”
“So?”
“I checked the accounts.”
He paused.
“He was right.”
“What happened?”
“I fired the CFO.”
“And then?”
“The man tried to have me killed.”
My blood went cold.
Adrian continued.
“Nathaniel stopped him.”
I whispered:
“How?”
“He knew where the attack would happen.”
I understood.
“He had people everywhere.”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked at me.
“That was Nathaniel Cross.”
I said nothing.
“He saved me.”
He reached into his pocket.
Then pulled out a small metal coin.
I recognized it instantly.
A black coin.
One side carried a tiny silver star.
Nathaniel had given those coins only to people he trusted.
I stared at it.
“You still have that?”
“Seven years.”
I looked up.
“Why?”
“Because I promised him something.”
“What?”
“That if he ever needed me, I'd answer.”
I laughed bitterly.
“He won't.”
Adrian's eyes hardened.
“You know something I don't.”
I turned away.
“Go home.”
He didn't.
“Claire.”
I looked back.
“Is Nathaniel alive?”
I hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Adrian's expression changed.
“He's alive.”
I whispered:
“I don't know.”
It was the truth.
At least, the truth I had told myself for seven years.
Nathaniel had disappeared after the attack.
His enemies had claimed he was dead.
No body was ever found.
No funeral.
No grave.
Nothing.
I had been pregnant.
Terrified.
And alone.
So I had changed my name.
Changed Mia's name.
Moved.
Started over.
I became Claire Bennett.
A single mother with a respectable career.
Nobody knew who I had been.
Nobody knew who Mia's father was.
And nobody knew why I still checked the locks three times every night.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Why did you hide?”
“Because Nathaniel's enemies don't care whether he is alive.”
“What do they want?”
“His daughter.”
Adrian went silent.
I saw the realization hit him.
He looked toward the upstairs window.
“Mia.”
“Yes.”
“They would hurt her?”
“They would use her to reach him.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“Then you're not safe.”
“I know.”
“You need protection.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because protection attracts attention.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Then let me help.”
“You can't.”
“I can.”
“You don't understand the people we're dealing with.”
He looked at me.
“I understand more than you think.”
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
“Claire, I saw Nathaniel three months ago.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“He was alive.”
My heart pounded.
“Where?”
Adrian shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
He stepped closer.
“He came to one of my private meetings.”
“Why?”
“He didn't speak to me.”
“Then how do you know it was him?”
“Because nobody else walks into a room and makes twenty billionaires stop talking.”
I stared at him.
Nathaniel was alive.
After seven years.
He was alive.
And somehow, he was close enough to Adrian to be seen.
Before Adrian left, he said:
“You need to tell Mia the truth.”
I shook my head.
“She's six.”
“She's also the reason you're running.”
I looked at him.
“What if he comes back?”
Adrian's answer was quiet.
“Then maybe it's time you stopped running.”
That night, I couldn't sleep.
At 3:17 a.m., my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
No voice.
Only breathing.
Then three words.
“Tell her I’m coming.”
The line went dead.
I knew that voice.
I hadn't heard it in seven years.
But I knew it.
Nathaniel.
May you like
Mia's father.
And the man I had spent seven years believing was dead.
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