Chapter 1 - The Secret Beneath Her Sweater
Bradley smirked as he swirled his iced latte, his eyes moving over Chloe’s oversized sweater with a mixture of pity and disgust.
“You really let yourself go, Chloe,” he said. “You got fat.”
Chloe looked down at the slight swell of her stomach pressing against the cheap wool.
She did not tell him the truth.
She did not tell him that the weight was the visible beginning of a sixteen-week secret, and she certainly did not tell him that the father was the man currently running the city’s underground.
It was safer to let Bradley believe she was ruined.
Six months ago, Chloe Bennett had believed her life was finally settling into something predictable.
She had been wrong.
That morning at the bakery, the bell over the door had sounded bright and cheerful when she walked in, but nothing about her body felt cheerful. Her lower back ached, her ankles were swollen, and the nausea that had dominated the first trimester had only recently eased enough to let her think about food without wanting to run for the bathroom.
All she wanted was a cheese Danish.
That was it.
A cheap pastry. A warm drink. Ten quiet minutes.
Instead, she had found Bradley.
He stood beside the display case in a navy suit that probably cost more than the rent on her first apartment. His hair was perfectly styled. His smile was perfectly polished.
He looked exactly the same.
Which somehow made him worse.
The woman beside him stared at Chloe as though she had wandered into a room where she did not belong.
Bradley’s eyes traveled downward again.
“I heard you lost your apartment,” he said.
Chloe tightened her grip on the pastry bag.
“I’m doing fine.”
“Sure you are.”
He laughed.
A year earlier, those words would have destroyed her. Bradley had been very good at making small insults sound like objective truths. He had criticized her clothes, her salary, her friends, her laugh, and even the way she ate.
When they broke up, he told her she would eventually realize he had been the best thing that ever happened to her.
She had believed him for far too long.
Now she simply looked at his face and wondered how she had once mistaken cruelty for confidence.
“You got fat, Chloe. Seriously. What happened to all that gym discipline?”
Chloe stared at him.
Then she smiled.
“Life happened.”
Bradley blinked.
He had expected shame.
He had gotten indifference.
“You should really take care of yourself,” he said. “Weight creeps up on people.”
Chloe glanced toward the bakery window.
Rain streaked the glass.
Her hand moved instinctively toward her stomach.
“Take care of yourself, Brad.”
She walked out before he could answer.
Outside, the October wind cut through her coat.
She took one bite of the Danish and immediately lost her appetite.
“You got fat.”
She leaned against the brick wall.
The words should not have hurt.
But pregnancy had made her emotional in ways she did not fully understand, and Bradley had always known where to press.
Her eyes stung.
Then a black SUV rolled silently to the curb.
The rear door opened.
Leo Moretti stepped out.
Tall.
Broad.
Dark coat.
Cold eyes.
The city knew him through rumors, headlines that never carried his name, frightened whispers in private rooms, and men who lowered their voices when discussing the Moretti organization.
Chloe knew him differently.
At least, she was beginning to.
Leo stopped in front of her.
His eyes moved over her face, her posture, and finally the hand resting protectively over her stomach.
“You’re late.”
“I ran into someone.”
“Who?”
“My ex.”
Something changed in Leo’s expression.
“What did he say?”
“Nothing important.”
Leo looked toward the bakery.
Chloe sighed.
“He made a comment about my weight.”
Leo’s jaw tightened.
She knew that look.
She had seen it once before when a man at the casino had grabbed her wrist without permission.
That man had apologized before sunrise.
“Get in the car,” Leo said.
The clinic was hidden behind high walls on the edge of the city.
Dr. Aris was waiting.
Chloe climbed onto the examination table while Leo stood near the window.
When the ultrasound machine came alive, neither of them spoke.
Then the heartbeat filled the room.
Fast.
Steady.
Real.
Leo slowly turned.
For several seconds, the most feared man in the city simply stared at the monitor.
Dr. Aris cleared his throat.
“Sixteen weeks. Growth is excellent.”
Leo’s eyes remained on the screen.
“The baby?”
“Healthy.”
“And Chloe?”
“A little anemic. Low blood pressure. She needs rest, iron, proper nutrition, and as little stress as possible.”
Leo looked at her.
“You hear that?”
Chloe rolled her eyes.
“I was in the room.”
“Good.”
The doctor gave a nervous smile.
Leo dropped an envelope onto the counter.
“We’ll return in four weeks.”
After they left, Chloe climbed into the SUV.
“I’m not a prisoner,” she said.
Leo turned his head.
“I know.”
“Then stop giving me orders.”
“I’m responsible for you.”
“For my baby,” she corrected.
His gaze hardened.
“For both of you.”
She looked away.
The restaurant that night was elegant enough to intimidate her.
Leo sat opposite her, watching her struggle with swollen fingers.
Her knife slipped.
Leo immediately took it.
Without saying anything, he cut the steak into manageable pieces and pushed the plate back.
She stared at him.
“Thank you.”
He nodded.
Then his expression changed.
His eyes moved toward the dining room.
Bradley.
Chloe froze.
Leo saw him instantly.
“The man in the gray suit?”
“He’s nobody.”
“You said he was your ex.”
“That’s practically nobody.”
Leo’s mouth tightened.
“What did he say?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re lying.”
Chloe looked at him.
“He told me I got fat.”
Leo stared at Bradley for several seconds.
Then he leaned back.
“Does he know?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Chloe stopped breathing.
“Know what?”
Leo’s eyes came back to hers.
“That you’re carrying my child.”
Her heart raced.
“This was supposed to be temporary.”
“It still is.”
“Then why do you look at me like that?”
He said nothing.
That silence terrified her more than an answer would have.
Later that evening, in the car, Leo received a phone call.
He listened.
His expression changed.
“Repeat that.”
A pause.
“Who accessed the file?”
Another pause.
His fingers tightened around the phone.
“No one enters the house tonight.”
He hung up.
Chloe frowned.
“What happened?”
Leo looked out the window.
“Someone knows about the pregnancy.”
The warmth inside the SUV suddenly disappeared.
“Who?”
“I don’t know yet.”
She put both hands over her stomach.
Leo looked at them.
Then he made a decision.
“From tonight forward, you don’t go anywhere alone.”
“Leo—”
“No.”
His tone was final.
May you like
“What does that mean?”
“It means whoever is watching us just made the biggest mistake of their life.”
