Chapter 2 - The Syndicate's Proposal
The black Maybach glided effortlessly through the rain-slicked streets of downtown Chicago. Inside the plush leather interior, the silence was suffocating. I sat pressed against the passenger door, my fingers clutching my five-month baby bump beneath my thin sweater.
On my left hand, the diamond sparkled brilliantly under the streetlights.
""Take it off if it bothers you,"" Adrian said quietly from the opposite seat. He hadn't touched me since ushering me into the vehicle, but his commanding presence dominated every inch of the compartment.
""Who does this ring belong to?"" I whispered, my voice trembling despite my best efforts. ""And why did you tell Nathan that lie?""
Adrian leaned back against the headrest, crossing one tailored trouser leg over the other. Up close, the sharp angles of his jaw and the faint, jagged scar cutting through his left eyebrow made him look lethally handsome. He was thirty-two, ruthless, and feared by politicians and police commissioners alike.
""It belongs to you,"" he replied simply. ""And it wasn't entirely a lie. It was an arrangement. One you desperately need.""
""I don't need a mafia boss to play savior,"" I said, my pride flaring through my exhaustion. ""I had seventeen dollars left, Adrian. I was surviving.""
""You were starving yourself so you could afford vitamins,"" he countered bluntly, his gaze piercing through my defense. ""You live in a broken-down studio in West Garfield with a radiator that doesn't work and a landlord who threatens to evict you every week. Is that how you plan to raise a child?""
Shame burned my cheeks. ""How do you know that?""
""I know everything that happens in this city, Claire. Especially when it involves the woman who saved my brother's life two years ago.""
I froze. Memories from my former career as a trauma nurse flashed before me. Two years ago, a man had stumbled into my emergency room bleeding to death from gunshot wounds. Standard hospital protocol demanded police notification, but before the authorities arrived, the patient had begged me to stabilize him quietly. I had stopped the arterial bleeding in a back supply closet, risking my nursing license to save a stranger. I never found out who he was—until now.
""Julian,"" Adrian stated, his eyes softening marginally. ""My younger brother. You kept him alive while the Cartel was watching the main entrance. The Moretti family does not forget debts, Claire. Ever.""
""So this is charity? Repayment?""
""No,"" Adrian leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees, his intense gaze locking onto mine. ""This is mutual survival. My father’s will requires me to be legally married and have an heir on the way by my thirty-third birthday, which is next month. If I don't, control of the Moretti shipping logistics and our legitimate holdings defaults to my treasonous uncle Marco.""
""And you want me?"" I shook my head in disbelief. ""I'm pregnant with another man's child!""
""Nathan doesn't know it's his, and the city now believes it's mine,"" Adrian reasoned, his voice calm, methodical, and chillingly persuasive. ""Marry me, Claire. Give me the appearance of a stable family for one year. In exchange, your child gets the Moretti name, total physical protection, and a trust fund worth fifty million dollars on the day they are born. Nathan Vance will never dare look in your direction again.""
I stared at him, overwhelmed by the enormity of what he was offering. A gilded cage, but one that guaranteed my baby would never go hungry.
May you like
""What happens after one year?"" I asked, my voice barely audible.
""We divorce cleanly,"" Adrian said, though something dark and unreadable flickered deep within his eyes. ""You take the money and your child, and you walk away completely free. Do we have a deal?""
