Chapter 4 - THE CALL I NEVER WANTED TO ANSWER

My phone kept vibrating.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The name on the screen burned into my eyes.

MARK.

For four days, I had convinced myself I was finally free.

Four days without his angry voice.

Four days without walking on eggshells.

Four days without wondering if one wrong word would set him off.

But seeing his name again made my hands freeze.

Adrian noticed.

He didn’t ask who it was.

He already knew.

“Don’t answer.”

His voice was quiet.

I looked at him.

“You don’t even know what he wants.”

“Yes, I do.”

The confidence in his answer scared me.

“How?”

“Because men like that don’t call to apologize.”

The phone stopped.

Then started again.

Maya stirred beside me.

“Mommy?”

I quickly turned the phone face down.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. Go back to sleep.”

But Maya wasn’t asleep anymore.

She looked at me with those big innocent eyes.

“Is Daddy angry?”

The question hit harder than I expected.

Adrian heard it.

His expression changed instantly.

Not anger.

Something worse.

Recognition.

Because he understood.

A child didn’t ask that question unless they had learned to expect anger.

I swallowed.

“He’s not here.”

Maya nodded slowly.

But she didn’t look convinced.

Adrian leaned back.

His voice became colder.

“Your husband hurt you.”

It wasn’t a question.

I stared at him.

“How did you know?”

He looked toward the window.

“Because you flinch every time a man raises his voice.”

I hated that he noticed.

I hated that a stranger saw the truth I spent months hiding.

“I’m fine.”

Adrian looked at me.

“No, you’re not.”

The words were simple.

But they almost broke me.

Because everyone else had told me the opposite.

Mark told me I was too sensitive.

His family told me I exaggerated.

Even I started believing it.

But this dangerous stranger looked at me for ten minutes and saw what everyone else ignored.

The baby in his arms suddenly moved.

Leo.

He opened his eyes.

And the moment he saw Adrian, he reached for him.

Adrian immediately picked him up.

The transformation was unbelievable.

The feared man disappeared.

The father returned.

“Hey, little man.”

His voice softened.

“You scared me today.”

Leo grabbed his finger.

Adrian stared at that tiny hand holding his.

Then quietly said:

“I almost lost you.”

I looked away.

Because there was pain in those words.

A pain I understood.

Then his bodyguard returned.

“Sir.”

Adrian’s expression changed.

“What happened?”

The man looked at me.

“There’s a problem.”

“What kind?”

The bodyguard hesitated.

Then handed Adrian a tablet.

Adrian looked at the screen.

His face went completely still.

I watched his eyes move.

Then stop.

“What is it?”

He didn’t answer.

“Adrian?”

Finally, he turned the screen toward me.

And my blood went cold.

It was a picture of me.

Not from the airport.

Not from the plane.

From outside my old house in Ohio.

Taken two days before I escaped.

Someone had been watching me.

Someone knew I was leaving.

And underneath the picture was one sentence:

SHE KNOWS TOO MUCH.

I looked at Adrian.

“What does that mean?”

His eyes became dangerous.

“It means…”

He locked the tablet.

“Your husband may not be the only person looking for you.”

My heart stopped.

“What are you saying?”

Adrian stared toward the dark airplane window.

“I’m saying you didn’t accidentally sit on my flight.”

I felt a chill.

“What?”

He looked back at me.

“Someone wanted you close to me.”

The baby slept peacefully.

Maya held my hand.

And suddenly the safest place I thought I found…

Was becoming the most dangerous place I had ever been.

Because someone had planned for me to meet Adrian Viscari.

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TO BE CONTINUED…