Chapter 2 - THE MAN AT HER DOORClaire returned home the next evening exhausted.
Her feet were swollen.
Her back hurt.
She had earned four dollars in tips after carrying luggage for a hotel guest who had clearly noticed she was pregnant and somehow still thought she needed the extra work.
She climbed the stairs slowly.
Second floor.
Third.
Fourth.
She stopped.
The baby kicked beneath her ribs.
"Okay," she whispered. "I know."
A man's voice came from behind her.
"Negotiating already?"
Claire nearly screamed.
A tall man stood on the landing.
Black coat.
Dark hair.
Sharp features.
The kind of face that looked more comfortable in a boardroom than in a building where the elevator had been broken for six months.
"Claire Bennett?"
"Who's asking?"
"My name is Luca Moretti."
The name meant nothing to her.
His presence did.
"Are you a debt collector?"
"No."
"Landlord's lawyer?"
"No."
"Then you're having a better night than most men who come looking for me."
For the first time, Luca almost smiled.
"I'm here for Arthur."
Claire froze.
Before she could answer, her apartment door opened.
Arthur appeared.
His expression hardened.
"Luca."
Claire looked from one man to the other.
"You know each other."
Arthur sighed.
"Unfortunately."
Luca stepped inside.
The truth followed him.
Arthur was not Arthur.
His real name was Arturo Bellini.
And Luca Moretti was not simply a wealthy businessman.
He was the grandson of one of Chicago's most feared criminal patriarchs.
Claire stared at them.
"So you're mafia."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"My business interests are complicated."
Claire blinked.
"That's the most mafia answer I've ever heard."
Margaret laughed.
Even Arthur smiled.
But the humor vanished when Luca revealed why Vincent Bellini wanted Arthur.
Arthur possessed evidence.
A ledger.
A record of decades of corruption.
And Vincent would kill anyone who stood between him and that ledger.
Then Luca dropped the name Claire least expected.
Daniel.
"Your husband worked on a Bellini-owned construction project."
Claire's blood went cold.
"Daniel wasn't involved with criminals."
"No," Luca said carefully. "But his death may have been connected to them."
Then came the worst revelation.
Grant Bennett—Daniel's brother—had received twenty-five thousand dollars from a company connected to Vincent Bellini three days after Daniel died.
Claire remembered Daniel's final warning.
If something happens, don't trust Grant.
She had laughed when he'd said it.
Now she couldn't breathe.
Before she could process anything, someone knocked.
Three sharp blows.
Grant.
Claire opened the door with the chain still attached.
Her brother-in-law stood outside.
Then he saw Arthur.
Then Luca.
The color drained from his face.
"What are they doing here?"
Claire stared.
"You know them?"
"No."
He was lying.
Everyone could see it.
Grant suddenly turned and ran.
Luca didn't stop him.
"Track him."
Claire stared at Luca.
"Why did you let him go?"
"Because frightened men run toward whoever they fear most."
"And that's Vincent?"
Luca's expression became cold.
"Exactly."
Hours later, Grant reached an abandoned warehouse.
And there, waiting for him, was Vincent Bellini.
Grant swallowed.
"She has Daniel's copy."
Vincent slowly turned.
"What copy?"
"The ledger."
Vincent's face changed.
"Daniel gave it to Claire before he died."
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For the first time, Vincent smiled.
"Then the widow just became the most valuable woman in Chicago."
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