Chapter 2

The boardroom felt like an empty lung. The oxygen had left with Bella, leaving Dante standing in a silence so thick it was suffocating. He didn't look at the doors. He looked at the business card. Vance & Associates. The blue ink dinosaur was still there, a messy, three-legged ghost staring back at him.

​He reached for the intercom. His finger hovered over the button, trembling just enough to be a lie.

​"Marcus," Dante said.

​"Sir?" Marcus’s voice was thin, coming through the speaker like static. He was likely already halfway to the elevators, terrified for his job.

​"The audit stays. Do not touch the Singapore files. If a single byte of data is deleted, I’ll personally oversee your severance."

​"Understood, sir. And... the woman? Ms. Vance?"

​Dante looked at the park bench photo on his screen. Gray eyes. Three of them, he assumed, if the math held.

​"I want a deep dive. Not the usual corporate scrub. I want to know where she bought her coffee for the last thousand days. I want school records, medical bills, lease agreements. And Marcus?"

​"Sir?"

​"Keep it off the server. If this reaches my father’s desk, you won't need to look for a new job. You’ll just be gone."

​He clicked the line dead.

​He walked to the window. Below, the city was a grid of lights, a machine he had spent his life learning to move. But the machine had a glitch. A jasmine-scented, charcoal-suited glitch that had just told him he was running out of time.

​The lobby of Blackwood Global was a cathedral of glass and steel. Bella stood near the revolving doors, her portfolio gripped so tight her fingers felt numb. She checked her watch. 4:12 PM.

​She was late. The bus would be dropping them at the corner in eighteen minutes. Aunt Clara was there, but Leo needed his breathing treatment at 4:30 sharp, and Toby wouldn't go inside unless he saw her car. Maya would just sit on the curb and wait, her little face set in that stubborn line she’d inherited from a man who was currently thirty floors above them.

​"Ms. Vance."

​The voice was low. Friction against silk.

​Bella didn't turn around. She didn't have to. She knew the weight of his presence. It was a physical pressure, like the air before a storm.

​"You're supposed to be in your ivory tower, Dante," she said. She adjusted the strap of her bag.

​Dante stepped into her peripheral vision. He looked polished. Perfect. The gray suit was worth more than her car, but his eyes were dark, searching her face with a hunger he couldn't quite mask.

​"The tower is empty," Dante said. "I find I prefer the lobby. Better visibility."

​"I told you the terms. The audit happens in the office. Everything else is off-limits."

​"You walked into my boardroom and dropped a medical file on my table, Bella. You don't get to set the boundaries of 'off-limits' anymore."

​He stepped closer. Not enough to touch, but enough that she could feel the heat. A man in a suit nearby stopped to look, then caught Dante’s glare and hurried toward the street.

​"I need the referral," Bella said, her voice dropping. "That’s all. Sign the papers for the foundation specialist and I’ll be gone by Friday. You can keep your company. You can keep your secrets."

​"I don't sign blank checks. Not for strangers."

​"Strangers?" Bella finally looked at him. Her eyes were burning. "You want to play the stranger card now? After three years?"

​"I don't know them, Bella," Dante said, his voice a jagged whisper. "Leo. Maya. Toby. I don't know their middle names. I don't know if they like the dark. I don't know why one of them has a dinosaur drawn on the back of your business card."

​Bella flinched. She’d forgotten about the card.

​"They don't know you either," she said. "And I’d like to keep it that way."

​Dante’s jaw tightened. "The specialist is at the Children's Hospital. Dr. Aris. He doesn't just take referrals; he takes Blackwood's permission. If I don't call him, your appointment at 9:00 AM tomorrow doesn't happen."

​Bella felt the world tilt. She looked at her watch again. 4:15. The school bus was a yellow monster in her mind, getting closer to the corner.

​"What do you want, Dante? Money? I’ll give back the five million. I’ll give it back with interest. Just let him see the doctor."

​"I don't want the money. I never wanted the money." Dante stepped back, his hands sliding into his pockets. He looked composed again. The CEO. "I want to see them."

​The silence in the lobby was sudden and deafening. A courier hurried past, the squeak of his sneakers sounding like a scream.

​"No," Bella said.

​"It’s a reasonable request. If I’m to be their benefactor, I should meet the beneficiaries."

​"They aren't beneficiaries. They're children. They're my children."

​"Our children," Dante corrected. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't have to. The ownership was in the tone. "And I'm not asking for a weekend. I’m asking for dinner. Tonight. At the penthouse."

​"They have a routine, Dante. They have a home. I am not bringing them into your cage so you can look at them like assets on a balance sheet."

​"Then the referral stays on my desk."

​Bella felt the bile rise in her throat. "That’s low. Even for a Blackwood."

​"It’s an audit, Bella. You said it yourself. You want the leverage? This is the price. Dinner. Tonight. Seven o'clock. I’ll send a car."

​"The bus drops them at 4:30," Bella said, her voice shaking. "They need a snack. They need a nap. Leo needs his nebulizer. Maya needs to finish her drawing. Toby... Toby won't eat if it’s a new place."

​"Then bring the nebulizer. Bring the crayons. I have a chef. He can make whatever Toby wants."

​Dante looked at his phone. He swiped a notification away without looking at it.

​"I have a car waiting outside for you now," Dante said. "Go. Pick them up. I’ll see you at seven."

​"Dante, listen to me—"

​"I’m done listening, Bella. For three years, all I had was the sound of my own pulse. Tonight, I want to hear theirs."

​He turned and walked toward the private elevators. He didn't look back. He knew he didn't have to. He had the doctor. He had the power. He had the clock.

​Bella stood in the center of the marble floor, the scent of his jasmine-and-rain ghost still clinging to her. She looked at the revolving doors.

​The car was there. A black sedan with tinted windows. The driver was standing by the rear door, his face a blank mask of professional indifference.

​She walked out. The humid city air hit her like a physical blow. She got into the car.

​"Where to, Ms. Vance?" the driver asked.

​"The corner of Maple and Second," she said. Her voice sounded like it belonged to someone else. Someone who was losing a war she hadn't even started.

​The car pulled away from the curb.

​Bella pulled her phone out. She looked at the lock screen. The three of them were sitting in a pile of autumn leaves. Leo was in the middle, looking tired but happy. Maya was making a face at the camera. Toby was holding a red ball.

​They looked so small.

​She thought about the penthouse. The cold marble. The sharp edges. The man who lived there.

​The car stopped at a red light.

​"Sir?" the driver said, looking into the rearview mirror.

​"Yes?"

​"Mr. Blackwood mentioned you might need to stop at a pharmacy? For a prescription?"

​Bella’s grip on the leather folder tightened. Dante had already mapped her route. He’d already checked the medical records. He knew about the nebulizer. He probably knew the brand of the solution.

​"No," Bella said. "Just the kids."

​She watched the city blur past. She thought about the dinner. The "reasonable request." It wasn't about dinner. It was about the door. Once she let him through it, she’d never be able to close it again.

​The car pulled up to the corner. The yellow bus was already there, its lights flashing.

​Bella jumped out before the car had fully stopped.

​"Mommy!"

​Toby was the first one off. He hit her at full speed, his backpack bouncing against her legs. Maya followed, her eyes wide as she took in the black sedan. Leo came last, walking slow, his breathing a little heavy, his hand tucked into Aunt Clara’s.

​"Who’s the fancy car for?" Maya asked, squinting at the driver.

​"It’s for work, baby," Bella said, smoothing Maya’s hair. She looked at Clara. The older woman’s eyes were sharp. She saw the tremor in Bella’s hands.

​"The audit go okay?" Clara asked.

​"Dante’s back," Bella whispered.

​Clara’s face went stone-still. She looked at the boys, then at the car. "What does he want?"

​"He wants dinner," Bella said.

​She looked at Leo. He looked pale. The 4:30 treatment was non-negotiable.

​"Toby, Maya, Leo... go with Aunt Clara. Get your snacks. I’ll be inside in a minute."

​The kids grumbled but moved, a messy pack of three, heading toward the small house on the corner. Bella waited until they were inside the gate before she turned back to the driver.

​"Tell Mr. Blackwood the children are staying home," Bella said.

​The driver blinked. "He was very specific about the arrangements, ma'am."

​"I don't care. Tell him I’m coming to the penthouse at seven. Alone. We’re going to discuss the referral, and then I’m leaving."

​"Ms. Vance, he won't be pleased."

​"He has a billion dollars and a skyscraper," Bella said, her voice finally finding its edge. "He can be disappointed for one night. Tell him if he wants to see them, he signs the paper first. That’s the audit."

​She didn't wait for an answer. She walked toward the gate, the sound of Toby’s laughter coming from the porch.

​She didn't look back at the black car.

​She knew the cliff she was standing on. She knew Dante would call the hospital. She knew the referral might vanish.

​But as she stepped into the house and heard the first wheeze from Leo’s chest, she knew she couldn't let the wolf into the nursery. Not yet.