The ride back to Lake Forest was silent.
Claire sat beside Dominic in the rear seat of an armored SUV while two other vehicles followed.
Her red dress, which had felt like armor when she entered Adrian Cross’s party, suddenly felt absurd.
She stared through the window at Chicago passing in streaks of light.
Noah was safe.
Dominic had confirmed it repeatedly.
His security team had taken Noah to a protected apartment known only to a handful of people.
Claire wanted to see him.
Dominic promised she would.
Still, fear crawled beneath her skin.
Someone had been watching her brother.
Someone had been watching her.
And somehow all of it connected to the debt that had forced her marriage.
Claire turned toward Dominic.
“Tell me everything.”
He looked at her.
“You’re exhausted.”
“I’m not asking whether I’m tired.”
“I know.”
“Then start talking.”
Dominic glanced toward the driver.
“Privacy screen.”
The glass separating them from the front seat rose.
Claire folded her arms.
“Who is threatening Noah?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Who did my father owe?”
Dominic didn’t answer immediately.
“That isn’t a simple question.”
“Make it simple.”
“Your father believed he owed money to a private lender named Victor Hale.”
“Believed?”
“Hale was collecting for someone else.”
“Who?”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Someone my family has history with.”
Claire stared.
“What kind of history?”
“The kind that gets people killed.”
The calmness of his answer disturbed her more than shouting would have.
“Dominic.”
He looked out the window.
Then back.
“Salvatore Moretti.”
Claire knew the name.
Everyone in Chicago did.
Moretti had once been one of the most feared crime figures in the Midwest before disappearing from public life after a federal investigation.
“I thought he retired.”
“He did.”
“And now?”
“He wants something.”
“Me?”
Dominic’s gaze hardened.
“No.”
“You sound very certain.”
“I am.”
“How?”
“Because this started before you.”
Claire waited.
Dominic rubbed a hand across his face.
It was an oddly human gesture from a man who always appeared untouchable.
“My father and Moretti built businesses together twenty years ago. Eventually, they became enemies. Moretti believed my family betrayed him during a federal investigation.”
“Did they?”
“Yes.”
Claire blinked.
Dominic offered no excuse.
“What does that have to do with my father?”
“Robert borrowed money through a chain of companies connected to Moretti. By the time I discovered it, Moretti’s men were preparing to collect.”
Claire’s stomach twisted.
“Meaning?”
Dominic looked directly at her.
“Meaning your father was going to disappear.”
Her throat tightened.
“And Noah?”
“He would have been leverage.”
Claire looked down at her wedding ring.
“So you bought the debt.”
“Yes.”
“And demanded me in exchange.”
Silence.
Claire looked up.
“Right?”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Not exactly.”
She stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“The marriage wasn’t my idea.”
“Your father’s?”
“No.”
“My father’s?”
“Yes.”
Claire stopped breathing.
Dominic continued.
“Robert offered you.”
The sentence was so ugly that Claire almost rejected it instinctively.
“That’s impossible.”
“I wish it were.”
“My father told me your family demanded the marriage.”
“He lied.”
Claire pressed her palms against her knees.
Memory rearranged itself painfully.
Her father refusing to meet her eyes.
Her father insisting there was no alternative.
Her father telling her Dominic had chosen her.
Dominic continued quietly.
“I rejected the offer.”
Claire looked at him sharply.
“What?”
“The first time he made it, I told him no.”
“Then why did you marry me?”
Dominic’s gaze shifted away.
“Because Moretti learned about you.”
Claire waited.
“He learned Robert had a daughter,” Dominic said. “Then he learned you were raising Noah. Once Moretti knew Robert cared more about his own survival than protecting his children, you both became useful.”
Claire felt sick.
“I still don’t understand.”
“Moretti couldn’t touch a Russo wife without beginning a war.”
The realization came slowly.
“You married me to protect me.”
“Yes.”
Claire laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
Dominic looked exhausted now.
“I expected you never to know.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t want gratitude.”
“You certainly succeeded.”
His mouth almost twitched.
Claire hated herself for noticing.
“Why didn’t you tell me eight months ago?”
“Because you had already lost control of your life. Your father sold you a lie. I wasn’t going to replace it with another obligation.”
“So instead you married me and treated me like furniture?”
His jaw tightened.
“That was a mistake.”
“A mistake?”
“Yes.”
“Which part?”
“All of it.”
Claire looked away before he could see how much those words hurt.
Dominic reached toward her.
Stopped.
Then lowered his hand.
“The marriage was supposed to be temporary.”
Claire slowly turned back.
“What?”
“One year.”
The car seemed suddenly too small.
“You planned to divorce me?”
“Yes.”
“In four months?”
“Yes.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Wonderful. Any other decisions about my life you made without consulting me?”
“You would have received the house, financial independence, and permanent security for Noah.”
“You planned my divorce settlement too?”
“I wanted you protected.”
“You keep saying that like it excuses everything.”
“I know it doesn’t.”
That answer silenced her.
Dominic wasn’t arguing.
Wasn’t defending himself.
For the first time, he looked like a man who knew he had failed.
Claire stared at him.
“Then why did you tell me tonight that you never wanted me?”
He went still.
“That was different.”
“How?”
He didn’t answer.
“Dominic.”
His eyes met hers.
“Because wanting you was never part of the agreement.”
Something hot moved through Claire’s chest.
She refused to mistake it for hope.
“And?”
“And I broke that rule months ago.”
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
Dominic continued before she could speak.
“I knew exactly what marrying you would do to your life. I thought distance was the only decent thing I could give you.”
“That makes absolutely no sense.”
“I know.”
“You ignored me because you cared about me?”
“When you say it like that, it sounds stupid.”
“It is stupid.”
“Yes.”
Claire almost smiled.
Almost.
Then anger returned.
“You could have asked what I wanted.”
“I should have.”
“You could have told me the truth.”
“Yes.”
“You could have eaten risotto tonight.”
Dominic blinked.
Of everything she could have said, that clearly surprised him.
“The risotto?”
“I spent three hours making it.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t.”
Dominic looked toward the window.
“I’m beginning to understand that I know very little.”
That quiet admission hurt more than excuses would have.
The vehicle turned through the gates of their property.
Security lights illuminated the grounds.
More guards than usual surrounded the house.
When they entered, Mrs. Alvarez hurried toward Claire.
“Are you all right?”
Claire hugged her.
“I’m fine.”
Mrs. Alvarez looked at Dominic over Claire’s shoulder.
Whatever she communicated with that look made Dominic almost appear ashamed.
Claire pulled away.
“I want to see Noah.”
“He’s coming here,” Dominic said.
“What?”
“I changed the plan.”
“Why?”
“Because you would try to leave and find him otherwise.”
Claire stared at him.
“You know me better than you pretend.”
“Yes.”
The answer came too quickly.
Before she could respond, Dominic’s phone rang.
He checked the screen.
His expression hardened.
“What?”
He walked into the study.
Claire followed.
He answered.
“Russo.”
A distorted voice came through the speaker.
Claire couldn’t understand the words.
Dominic listened.
His face became colder with every second.
Then he said, “If you go near the boy again, there will be nowhere on this earth you can hide.”
The voice spoke again.
Dominic hung up.
Claire stood in the doorway.
“Who was it?”
“We don’t know.”
“What did they say?”
Dominic hesitated.
She crossed her arms.
“We’re done hiding information.”
He nodded.
“They want something from me.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“Records from my father’s organization. Names. Payments. Accounts. Everything.”
“Do you have it?”
“No.”
“Then why do they think you do?”
“Because my father died believing I did.”
Claire frowned.
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
Behind them, someone cleared his throat.
They turned.
Robert Bennett stood at the entrance to the study.
Claire’s father looked ten years older than the last time she had seen him.
Dominic immediately stepped between them.
Claire stared.
“How did you get in here?”
Robert raised both hands.
“I asked the guards to tell Dominic I came peacefully.”
Dominic’s voice was ice.
“You have thirty seconds before I remove you.”
Robert looked at Claire.
“I know where the ledger is.”
Silence.
Claire stared at her father.
Then something far worse occurred to her.
“How?”
Robert’s eyes filled with shame.
“Because I stole it.”