Chapter Three: The Awakening
When she woke again, she was moving.
The soft purr of an expensive engine.
The smooth glide that spoke of quality suspension.
Her head rested against something cool and firm.
A window.
Her body curled awkwardly across a leather seat that smelled new and costly.
“She’s coming around.”
She forced her eyes open.
Alessio Russo watched her from the opposite seat.
His expression impossible to read in the darkness.
Broken only by passing street lights that cast strange, shifting patterns across his face.
“Where are you taking me?”
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“To your daughter.”
He spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
As if powerful men regularly escorted collapsed waitresses home to their babies.
“You’re suffering from exhaustion and malnutrition. My doctor is meeting us there.”
“How do you know where I live?”
Fear began to pierce through the fog of her exhaustion.
“Your ID was in your wallet.”
Again, that matter-of-fact tone.
As if the invasion of her privacy was of no consequence.
She should have been terrified.
She should have demanded to be let out of the car immediately.
But all she could think about was Lily.
How she needed to get to her.
If this man was taking her there faster than she could have managed on her own, then so be it.
The car slowed.
Stopped.
She recognized the crumbling brownstone where she rented a tiny one-bedroom apartment on the third floor.
Even in her state.
She registered the incongruity of the sleek black SUV parked on this run-down street.
“Wait here.”
Russo instructed someone—presumably the driver.
Then, to her surprise, he opened the door himself.
Extended a hand to her.
“Can you walk?”
She nodded.
Though she wasn’t entirely sure it was true.
His hand was warm and strong as he helped her from the car.
The simple touch sent an unexpected jolt through her.
So startling that she nearly pulled away.
But she needed the support too badly to refuse it.
They had barely taken two steps toward the building when the front door burst open.
Mrs. Patel emerged, her small frame vibrating with agitation.
She froze when she saw Harper leaning against a strange man in an expensive suit.
“Harper. Thank God. The baby won’t stop crying. I’ve tried everything.”
Her accented voice pitched high with distress.
“Who is this man? Are you all right?”
Before Harper could answer, Lily’s wails reached them.
Even from three floors up, the sound tore at her heart.
She lurched forward.
Suddenly finding strength she didn’t know she had.
“I need to get to her.”
She gasped, already moving toward the stairs.
To her shock, Russo swept her up into his arms.
As if she weighed nothing at all.
“Which apartment?”
He demanded.
“3C.”
Mrs. Patel answered for her, hurrying ahead to hold the door.
“The elevator doesn’t work.”
He carried her up three flights of stairs without any sign of exertion.
She clung to his neck.
Too weak and desperate to feel embarrassed.
All she could think about was Lily.
Her cries growing louder with each step.
