Chapter 5 - The Ex’s Hidden Secret
Bradley arrived at the mansion pale and sweating.
He looked nothing like the confident man in the bakery.
Leo sat behind his desk.
Chloe stood nearby.
Bradley kept glancing at her.
“I didn’t hurt anyone.”
Leo’s voice was flat.
“Then start talking.”
Bradley swallowed.
“About what?”
“Why are you interested in Chloe?”
“I’m her ex.”
“That does not answer the question.”
Bradley looked at Chloe.
“I saw something.”
“What?”
“Three weeks ago.”
Chloe crossed her arms.
“Where?”
“Outside a private clinic.”
Leo’s expression changed.
“Which one?”
Bradley named it.
It was the clinic where Chloe had gone for blood tests before the pregnancy had been discovered by Leo.
She felt cold.
“What did you see?”
“You.”
Bradley looked at Leo.
“Her brother.”
Danny’s face appeared in Bradley’s mind.
Danny had been there that day.
Bradley had recognized him.
But that was not all.
“I saw a man talking to Danny.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Leo stood.
Bradley stepped back.
“He had a scar on his neck.”
Leo froze.
“What shape?”
“A crescent.”
Leo’s face changed.
Chloe noticed.
“Who is that?”
Leo looked at her.
“One of Vincent Valenti’s men.”
Bradley continued.
“They paid me.”
Chloe stared.
“What?”
“Not to hurt you.”
“To do what?”
“Follow you.”
Her heart dropped.
“For how long?”
“Two months.”
Leo walked around the desk.
“Why?”
Bradley hesitated.
“Because they knew about the pregnancy before I did.”
Silence.
Chloe felt sick.
“How?”
Bradley looked directly at her.
“Someone inside the Moretti organization told them.”
Leo’s eyes hardened.
“Name.”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why should I believe you?”
Bradley’s voice cracked.
“Because they threatened my mother.”
That stopped Chloe.
Bradley was still a selfish man.
Still arrogant.
Still cruel.
But fear had stripped away his confidence.
“They said if I didn’t report where you went, they would kill her.”
Leo stared at him.
“Did they order you to hurt Chloe?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
Bradley looked at Chloe.
“I wanted to warn you.”
She did not know whether to believe him.
Then Bradley reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone.
He showed them a series of photographs.
Chloe entering the clinic.
Danny meeting a stranger.
Leo’s SUV.
Her former workplace.
The bakery.
The mansion.
Someone had been tracking everything.
Then Chloe noticed something.
A photograph of her standing outside her apartment.
Taken from inside the building.
She went pale.
“He was inside.”
Leo nodded.
“Exactly.”
Then Bradley spoke.
“There’s one more thing.”
“What?”
“I heard a name.”
“Whose?”
Bradley hesitated.
“Elena.”
Chloe froze.
Leo’s expression became unreadable.
The woman who had managed Chloe’s groceries.
The woman who had welcomed her to the mansion.
The woman who seemed harmless.
Elena.
Leo immediately ordered the house locked down.
But Elena was gone.
Her bedroom was empty.
Her car was gone.
Her passport was missing.
On her nightstand lay a single envelope.
Leo opened it.
Inside was a photograph of him holding Chloe’s hand over the ultrasound monitor.
On the back:
YOU SHOULD HAVE LET THE CHILD GO.
For several minutes, no one spoke.
Then Chloe whispered:
“Elena betrayed us.”
Leo looked at the photograph.
“No.”
“What?”
“She’s covering for someone.”
“Who?”
Leo’s eyes darkened.
“I don’t know.”
That night, Chloe could not stop shaking.
She sat in bed with both hands around her stomach.
Leo entered without knocking.
He noticed immediately.
He sat beside her.
“I’m here.”
“What if they get me?”
“They won’t.”
“What if they get the baby?”
“They won’t.”
“What if you can’t protect us?”
Leo stared into her eyes.
“I will burn every enemy I have before I let anyone touch you.”
She believed him.
That was the terrifying part.
She reached for his hand.
He let her.
“Leo?”
“Yes?”
“Were you serious when you said I could leave after the baby is born?”
“Yes.”
“What if I don’t want to leave?”
He looked down.
“You don’t know what you’re choosing.”
“I know what I feel.”
His fingers tightened around hers.
“Chloe.”
She moved closer.
“I’m scared too.”
“For what?”
“For losing you.”
Leo’s face changed.
He touched her cheek.
Then he kissed her.
Not like a criminal.
Not like a king.
Like a man who had spent months convincing himself he could live without wanting anything.
The kiss was gentle.
Almost painfully so.
When they separated, Chloe whispered:
“This changes things.”
“I know.”
Before they could say more, an alarm erupted.
A security guard rushed in.
“Mr. Moretti, we found Elena.”
Leo stood.
May you like
“Where?”
“Dead.”
