Chapter 1 - THE MESSAGE AT THE DINNER TABLE
Thursday. Fifty thousand. Don't make me ask again.
Naomi stared at the message until the letters blurred.
Across the table, Damian Russo had stopped looking at her neck.
He was looking at her phone.
“Who sent that?”
She turned the screen facedown.
“Nobody.”
Damian's expression didn't change.
But something in the room did.
The fire crackled behind him. Rain tapped against the tall windows. Beyond the dining room doors, ten powerful men waited to discover whether their boss intended to finish dinner or start a war.
“Naomi.”
She hated the way he said her name.
Not because it was cruel.
Because it was patient.
And patience was harder to resist than anger.
“It's personal.”
His gaze moved to the bruises beneath her ear.
“Someone put his hands around your throat.”
She swallowed.
Pain traveled down the side of her neck.
Damian noticed.
His jaw tightened.
“Can you breathe normally?”
“Yes.”
“Does it hurt to swallow?”
She hesitated.
“A little.”
He immediately reached for his phone.
“Enzo. Get the car ready. We're going to the hospital.”
Naomi stiffened.
“No.”
Damian looked at her.
“Those injuries need to be examined.”
“I'm fine.”
“You don't know that.”
She stood too quickly.
The room tilted.
Her fingers caught the edge of the table.
Damian rose, but he didn't grab her.
“Naomi.”
She closed her eyes.
“I don't want a scene.”
His voice softened.
“The scene happened when someone hurt you. Getting help isn't a scene.”
For a moment, she couldn't speak.
Then she whispered, “It was Caleb.”
Damian went completely still.
“Caleb who?”
“Caleb Warren.”
“Your former boyfriend?”
She nodded.
Damian's expression became unreadable.
“What did he want?”
“Money.”
“How much?”
She looked at the phone.
“Fifty thousand dollars.”
“From you?”
She shook her head.
“From you.”
Silence settled between them.
Then Damian asked the question that frightened her most.
“What did he say would happen if you refused?”
Naomi looked down.
“He said he'd make sure you learned what kind of woman you were marrying.”
Damian studied her.
“And what kind of woman is that?”
Her eyes filled.
“The kind who used to be stupid enough to love him.”
Damian didn't move.
Then he pulled out the chair beside her.
“Sit down, Naomi.”
She hesitated.
He added quietly, “Please.”
That word surprised her.
Damian Russo was a man who gave orders to people who obeyed without asking questions.
She had never heard him say please.
Naomi sat.
Damian took the opposite chair.
“Tell me what happened.”
And for the first time in two years, she told someone the truth.
She told him about Caleb's gambling.
About the loans he took in her name.
About the nights he disappeared and returned demanding money.
About the first time he shoved her against a kitchen cabinet.
She had left after the second.
Or tried to.
He had threatened to destroy her father's restoration business, then already struggling under medical debts.
She had paid him once to make him leave.
Then again.
Eventually, she had changed her number and moved apartments.
For almost two years, she hadn't heard from him.
Until the engagement photograph appeared.
Damian listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he remained silent for a long moment.
Then he said, “You should never have had to pay someone to leave you alone.”
Naomi looked away.
“I know that now.”
“Do you?”
She looked back sharply.
He continued, “Because you're sitting here trying to protect me from something that was done to you.”
Her throat tightened.
Damian leaned forward.
“You don't owe me an apology for his behavior.”
For a moment, Naomi forgot how to breathe.
Nobody had ever said anything like that to her.
Then Damian stood.
“We're going to the hospital.”
She looked up.
“And Caleb?”
His eyes hardened.
“We'll deal with him through the proper channels.”
She searched his face.
“You're not going to kill him?”
Damian looked at her for a long moment.
“No.”
“Promise?”
He nodded.
“I promise you I won't send anyone to hurt him.”
Naomi exhaled shakily.
Then Damian extended his hand.
Not demanding.
Offering.
“Come on.”
She looked at his hand.
Then placed hers in it.
And somewhere beyond the dining room, Damian's phone began ringing again.
May you like
This time, the caller was someone he had never expected to hear from.
Caleb Warren.
