Chapter 3 - Her Abusive Ex Offered a Deal—But the Woman He Had Controlled for Three Years Finally Set the TrapCameron chose the restaurant where he and Nora had celebrated their first anniversary.
That told her everything.
He wanted familiar ground.
He wanted memories.
He wanted her to remember the version of him she had once loved.
The restaurant occupied the forty-second floor of a downtown hotel. White tablecloths. Floor-to-ceiling windows. Piano music soft enough to make wealthy people feel sophisticated.
Nora entered at 8:03 p.m.
Alone.
At least, Cameron believed she was alone.
Luca had wanted six men inside.
Nora negotiated him down to two.
Sofia sat at the bar wearing an evening dress.
Marco was in the kitchen.
Luca waited in a private room one floor below.
The microphone beneath Nora's necklace transmitted everything.
Cameron stood when she approached.
For one terrible second, her body remembered loving him.
He looked exactly as he had on their second date.
Navy suit.
White shirt.
No tie.
Perfect hair.
Gentle smile.
That was the cruelty of people like Cameron.
Monsters would be easier if they always looked like monsters.
“You came.”
Nora sat.
“You said you had information.”
He looked around.
“Where's Moretti?”
“Not here.”
Technically true.
He was one floor below.
Cameron smiled.
“I knew you wouldn't trust him forever.”
Nora said nothing.
“You always come back when you calm down.”
There it was.
The old script.
Cameron reached across the table.
Nora moved her hand.
His smile tightened.
“I miss you.”
“I don't miss being afraid of you.”
“You were never afraid of me.”
“Yes, Cameron. I was.”
He sighed.
“You're doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Rewriting things.”
Nora almost admired the predictability.
“I have photographs of the bruises.”
“You bruise easily.”
“You broke my bedroom door.”
“You locked me out.”
“You tracked my phone.”
“Because you disappeared.”
“You took my bank cards.”
“You were spending irresponsibly.”
“I bought groceries.”
Cameron leaned forward.
“Nora, listen to yourself.”
For years, that sentence had worked.
It made her replay conversations.
Question tone.
Question memory.
Question herself.
Tonight it sounded almost pathetic.
“No,” she said. “You listen to me.”
Cameron blinked.
“I left because you hurt me.”
“Nora—”
“You controlled my money because you wanted me dependent.”
“That isn't—”
“You isolated me from my friends because they noticed what you were doing.”
His jaw tightened.
“And when I found your father's accounts, you realized that if I ever stopped being scared of you, you had a different problem.”
Silence.
Cameron leaned back.
For the first time, the boyfriend disappeared.
The businessman arrived.
“Where's the drive?”
“Safe.”
“With Moretti?”
“Safe.”
“My father will destroy you.”
“Probably.”
Cameron stared.
Nora smiled faintly.
“You don't know what to do when fear stops working, do you?”
His face changed.
One floor below, Luca heard every word through his earpiece.
Marco's voice came quietly.
“Boss, breathe.”
Luca ignored him.
Upstairs, Cameron poured wine.
Nora didn't touch hers.
“You think Luca Moretti is different from me?”
“Yes.”
Cameron laughed.
“You don't know him.”
“I know enough.”
“He kills people.”
Nora's expression didn't change.
“Does that frighten you?”
“Yes.”
Cameron looked pleased.
“Good.”
“But Luca has never lied to me about what he is.”
The pleasure vanished.
“You think you're special to him?”
“No.”
That answer was honest.
And painful in a way Nora hadn't expected.
She had spent three days in Luca's house.
They had eaten breakfast together.
Argued over strategy.
Worked through financial records until midnight.
He had never touched her without permission.
Never demanded gratitude.
Never turned protection into ownership.
And somewhere between shattered windows and cold coffee, Nora had begun noticing things she wished she didn't notice.
The way Luca listened.
The rare smile.
The grief he carried quietly.
The fact that when she entered a room, his eyes always checked whether she was okay before returning to whatever he had been doing.
Cameron watched her.
“Oh.”
Nora stiffened.
“You like him.”
“This isn't about Luca.”
“Of course it is.”
“No. That's another thing you never understood. Leaving you wasn't about another man.”
Cameron leaned forward.
“It always is.”
“No.”
Her voice was steady.
“I left because I finally preferred being alone to being loved by you.”
That hurt him.
She saw it.
Not emotionally.
Ego.
Cameron reached into his jacket.
Luca was moving before Marco stopped him.
“Wait.”
Cameron placed an envelope on the table.
“Isabella Moretti.”
Nora didn't touch it.
“What about her?”
“My father didn't kill her.”
“Then who did?”
“Her husband.”
Nora's stomach tightened.
“Anthony Russo?”
Cameron nodded.
“But Richard helped cover it up.”
“Why?”
“Because Moretti's father asked him to.”
Nora went still.
Cameron pushed the envelope toward her.
“Luca thinks his father failed Isabella because he was old-fashioned.”
“He did.”
“He did more than fail her.”
Nora opened the envelope.
Photocopies.
Bank transfers.
Police reports.
A confidential settlement.
Cameron lowered his voice.
“Isabella went to her father. She told him Anthony was hurting her.”
Nora already knew.
“Her father told Anthony to control his wife.”
Nora's stomach turned.
“Three nights later, Anthony beat Isabella badly enough that she tried to leave.”
Cameron looked toward the window.
“Anthony followed.”
“What happened?”
“Her car went through a barrier.”
Nora's fingers tightened.
“The official report said she lost control.”
“She didn't.”
Nora looked at him.
“Anthony hit her car.”
Silence.
“And Richard?”
“Paid the investigator. Paid a police captain. Paid a witness. Belladonna Holdings funded it.”
Nora felt sick.
“Why would Luca's father cover up his daughter's murder?”
“Because Anthony Russo's family controlled half the docks, and a murder prosecution would have started a war.”
One floor below, Luca sat absolutely still.
His father had chosen business over Isabella.
Even after she died.
Marco removed his earpiece.
He didn't need to hear more.
Upstairs, Nora studied Cameron.
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because I want the drive.”
“No.”
His expression hardened.
“Nora.”
“There are records on it beyond Isabella.”
“Those records could put my father in prison.”
“Good.”
His hand tightened around his glass.
“You don't understand what happens if Richard goes down.”
“Explain.”
“People die.”
“They already have.”
“Nora.”
“No.”
Cameron stared at her.
She saw the calculation begin.
Charm had failed.
Guilt had failed.
Fear had failed.
Now came anger.
“You ungrateful little—”
He stopped himself.
Nora leaned back.
“There you are.”
“What?”
“The real Cameron.”
His eyes went cold.
“You think sitting on Moretti's lap made you powerful?”
“No.”
Nora stood.
“Walking away from you did.”
Cameron grabbed her wrist.
Everything happened at once.
Sofia rose from the bar.
Marco emerged from the kitchen.
And Luca Moretti entered the restaurant.
He didn't run.
He didn't shout.
He simply walked toward them.
Cameron's hand remained around Nora's wrist.
Luca stopped six feet away.
“Take your hand off her.”
Cameron smiled.
“I knew you were here.”
“Then this was a particularly stupid decision.”
“This is between me and Nora.”
Luca looked at Nora.
“Is it?”
That mattered.
Even now, he asked her.
Nora looked at Cameron's hand.
“Let go.”
He tightened his grip.
“No.”
Nora moved.
Sofia had taught her exactly once.
Thumb toward the weakest point.
Rotate.
Step back.
Cameron's grip broke.
His shock lasted longer than the pain.
Nora moved beside Sofia.
Luca never touched Cameron.
He didn't need to.
“Get out,” Nora said.
Cameron stared at her.
“You'll come back.”
“No.”
“You always do.”
“Not this time.”
His face twisted.
“You're nothing without me.”
Nora looked at the man she had once planned to marry.
She expected pain.
Instead she felt exhausted.
“I had to become nothing before I could figure out who I was without you.”
Cameron went pale.
Security escorted him away.
Nora stood shaking.
Luca remained several feet from her.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He nodded.
“Do you want to leave?”
“Yes.”
They rode down in the elevator alone.
For forty floors, neither spoke.
Then Nora looked at him.
“I'm sorry.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“Don't.”
“For what your father did.”
“You didn't do it.”
“I know.”
The elevator descended.
“Isabella asked him for help,” Luca said quietly.
“Yes.”
“He sent her back.”
Nora didn't know what to say.
So she said the truth.
“She deserved better.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
When they reached the parking garage, he didn't move.
“Nora.”
She looked at him.
“I need to tell you something.”
Her heart beat faster.
“What?”
“You can't stay at my house.”
She felt the words like a physical blow.
“Oh.”
“Not because I want you gone.”
“Then why?”
“Because Richard Price knows where you are. The shooting proved that.”
“Okay.”
“I have another property.”
She nodded.
Luca continued.
“And because I am becoming personally involved.”
Nora stopped.
“What does that mean?”
He looked at her.
For the first time since meeting him, Luca Moretti looked uncertain.
“I think about you when you're not in the room.”
Her breath caught.
“I notice when you haven't eaten.”
“Luca—”
“I know what coffee you drink. I know you hate closed doors. I know you pretend you're fine when you're scared because you think fear inconveniences people.”
Nora's eyes burned.
“And I know you're vulnerable right now.”
He stepped back.
“So I am not going to use that vulnerability to make myself important to you.”
She stared.
Cameron had called control love.
Luca was standing in front of her admitting desire and choosing restraint.
It was almost unbearably intimate.
“What if I want you to be important to me?”
His expression shifted.
“Then I wait until you're free enough to know that's what you actually want.”
Nora smiled through tears.
“You are an extremely confusing criminal.”
For the first time, Luca laughed.
A real laugh.
Quiet.
Unexpected.
Beautiful.
Then a car engine roared.
Luca's expression changed.
Headlights exploded from the darkness.
“Sofia!”
The SUV accelerated directly toward Nora.
Luca grabbed her.
They hit the concrete as gunfire erupted.
The SUV smashed through a parking barrier and disappeared up the ramp.
Sofia fired but missed.
Marco shouted into his radio.
Nora pushed herself upright.
“Luca?”
He didn't answer.
She looked down.
Blood spread across his white shirt.
Her heart stopped.
“Luca.”
His hand pressed against his side.
“Nora.”
“No.”
“I'm okay.”
“You're bleeding.”
“I've had worse.”
“Stop saying stupid things.”
His knees buckled.
Nora caught him with Sofia.
For the first time since she had met Luca Moretti, the most dangerous man in the room looked mortal.
May you like
And as Nora pressed both hands against the wound, she realized something that frightened her more than Cameron ever had.
She could lose him.
Related Stories
