Chapter 3 - The Price of ProtectionCora didn't remember getting into the SUV.
One moment she was standing on the sidewalk.
The next, she was sitting beside Dante while the city blurred past the windows.
"Where are we going?"
"Somewhere safe."
"I have an apartment."
"Not anymore."
She turned.
"What does that mean?"
Dante looked at her.
"Your building has been watched since last night."
"You checked?"
"I have people who check."
"That's not reassuring."
"It wasn't meant to be."
The SUV descended into an underground garage beneath a building that looked like a luxury hotel.
They entered through a private elevator.
Cora crossed her arms.
"I don't trust you."
"You shouldn't."
She blinked.
That wasn't the answer she expected.
"Then why am I here?"
"Because right now, trusting me is safer than trusting the people trying to kill you."
The elevator doors opened.
A penthouse stretched across the entire top floor.
Glass walls.
Dark wood.
Marble floors.
A city of lights outside.
Cora stared.
"This is your home?"
"One of them."
"How many homes do you have?"
"Enough."
"That's obnoxious."
One corner of his mouth lifted.
"You called me obnoxious yesterday too."
"You were dying in garbage."
"I remember."
A woman in her fifties approached.
She wore a navy suit and carried herself like military personnel.
"This is Elena."
Cora looked at Dante.
"Your secretary?"
"Head of security."
Elena held out her hand.
"I'm responsible for keeping you alive."
Cora shook it.
"Is that usually a full-time job?"
"With Mr. Moretti, yes."
Dante walked away.
Cora watched him disappear down the hall.
She looked at Elena.
"How long do I have to stay?"
"Until the threat is handled."
"How long?"
Elena paused.
"Could be days."
Cora's face fell.
"I can't afford days without work."
Elena looked genuinely surprised.
"You were just fired."
"Exactly."
"You nearly saved Dante's life with a fast-food dinner."
"Halal cart."
"What?"
"The food was from a halal cart."
Elena smiled despite herself.
"You're unusual."
"So I've been told."
That evening, Cora was given a bedroom larger than her entire apartment.
A closet full of clothes in her size.
A phone.
A laptop.
Three meals.
She refused most of it.
Dante came into the kitchen at midnight and found her making instant noodles.
"You have a refrigerator full of food."
"I like noodles."
"You've eaten one meal today."
"Two."
He leaned against the counter.
"What?"
"One at breakfast. One at lunch."
"You've been counting."
"I own a security company. Counting is what we do."
Cora looked at him.
"You own a security company?"
He didn't answer.
She laughed.
"Right."
"What?"
"Nothing."
He opened a cabinet.
Pulled out a bottle of water.
"You should sleep."
"So should you."
"I don't sleep much."
"I noticed."
Their eyes met.
Something shifted.
Then his phone rang.
Dante answered.
His face changed.
"What?"
Cora couldn't hear the other voice.
Dante turned away.
"How many?"
A pause.
"Where?"
Another pause.
"Do not engage."
He hung up.
Elena appeared in the doorway.
"What happened?"
"They found the apartment."
Cora went still.
"Mine?"
Dante nodded.
"They're inside."
Her mouth went dry.
"My neighbors?"
"Alive."
"Mrs. Ellis?"
"Alive."
She exhaled.
"Then what..."
Dante's phone rang again.
This time, he answered immediately.
The voice on the other end was barely audible.
Dante listened.
Then his eyes slowly lifted toward Cora.
"What?"
He listened again.
His expression became unreadable.
"Cora."
She stood.
"What?"
"We need to talk."
"About what?"
Dante walked toward her.
He placed his phone on the counter.
A recording was playing.
Static.
Heavy breathing.
Then a woman's voice.
Cora's mother's voice.
Her eyes widened.
"How did you get that?"
Dante stared at her.
"We didn't."
The recording continued.
"I told you never to contact my daughter."
May you like
Cora couldn't breathe.
Her mother had been dead for eight years.
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