Chapter 2 - The Photograph
Sebastian moved before Ruby could ask a question.
“Upstairs.”
His voice was calm.
That frightened her more than shouting would have.
“What?”
“Go back to my mother.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me why someone has a photograph of me.”
The front door opened fully.
Two security men stepped through first.
Then came a man in his early forties wearing a charcoal coat and a smile that seemed designed to insult whoever saw it.
Dante Bellini.
Ruby did not know the name.
But everyone else clearly did.
Sebastian stepped in front of her.
Not dramatically.
Simply enough that his body blocked Dante’s line of sight.
Dante noticed.
His smile widened.
“There he is.”
“You’re not welcome here.”
“I brought something.”
“You already sent it.”
Dante’s eyes shifted toward Ruby.
“Apparently it worked.”
Ruby felt Sebastian’s posture change.
Barely.
But the air around him became harder.
“Look at her again,” Sebastian said softly, “and this conversation ends.”
Dante chuckled.
“So that’s true.”
Ruby hated being discussed as though she were furniture.
“What’s true?”
Both men looked at her.
Sebastian’s expression warned her not to continue.
She continued.
“I’m standing right here.”
Dante inclined his head.
“Ruby Bennett.”
Sebastian took one step forward.
Dante raised both hands.
“Relax. Public records exist.”
“What do you want?”
“Five minutes.”
“You get two.”
Dante’s smile faded.
“This concerns the docks.”
Ruby looked at Sebastian.
He did not look back.
Dante continued.
“Your people intercepted a shipment that belonged to my uncle.”
“The shipment contained fentanyl.”
“It contained product.”
“It was going into neighborhoods with kids.”
Dante shrugged.
“Your sudden moral awakening is expensive.”
Ruby stared at Sebastian.
She had known, vaguely, what he was.
Elena never offered details.
Ruby never asked.
But the conversation stripped away every romanticized version of organized crime.
This was not suits and whispered respect.
It was poison.
Money.
Threats.
And apparently men who photographed innocent women to make points.
Sebastian’s voice became even quieter.
“I told your uncle three years ago. No narcotics through territory I control.”
“You don’t control everything.”
“No.”
Sebastian glanced at the photograph.
“But I control who walks out of this house.”
Dante stopped smiling.
Ruby’s stomach tightened.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Dante exhaled through his nose.
“You’ve become sentimental.”
“Leave.”
“You know what your father would say?”
Sebastian’s face did not change.
Elena’s voice came from the staircase.
“He’d say something stupid, because that was his specialty.”
Everyone turned.
Elena stood on the landing.
Ruby’s heart nearly stopped.
She wore a robe over her gown and had one hand gripping the banister.
“Elena!”
Ruby rushed toward her.
Sebastian reached her first.
“What are you doing?”
“Apparently hosting.”
“You should be in bed.”
“So should half the men you employ.”
“Elena.”
“Don’t Elena me.”
She looked past him.
Dante’s expression had changed.
The arrogance disappeared.
“Mrs. Romano.”
“Dante Bellini.”
He lowered his head slightly.
“You look well.”
“I look like an old woman who nearly died.”
“You look strong.”
“I am strong.”
She pointed toward the door.
“And you’re leaving.”
Dante looked at Sebastian.
“Still taking orders from your mother?”
“Always,” Sebastian said.
That surprised Ruby.
Dante gave a humorless laugh.
Then his gaze drifted toward Ruby one final time.
“Careful, Miss Bennett.”
Sebastian’s hand closed around the banister.
Dante continued.
“Men like Sebastian don’t have relationships.”
“Dante.”
“They have vulnerabilities.”
The warning was unmistakable.
Ruby met his stare.
“Then maybe you should stop confusing women with weaknesses.”
Silence.
Elena smiled.
Sebastian looked at Ruby as though she had just done something both impressive and deeply inconvenient.
Dante’s mouth tightened.
Then he walked out.
The door closed behind him.
Sebastian immediately turned to security.
“Double the perimeter. Nobody comes in without clearance. Nobody leaves alone.”
Ruby helped Elena toward a chair.
“What were you thinking?”
“I heard voices.”
“You could have fallen.”
“I didn’t.”
“That is not a medical defense.”
Sebastian crouched in front of his mother.
His anger was gone.
“You scared me.”
Elena looked at him.
Her face softened.
“I know.”
Ruby saw it again.
The man beneath the reputation.
He touched Elena’s wrist.
“Your pulse is fast.”
“It happens when unpleasant men enter my house.”
“You’re going back upstairs.”
“Yes, doctor.”
“Now.”
“Yes, dictator.”
Ruby almost smiled.
Then Sebastian stood and looked toward her.
“You’re staying here tonight.”
“No.”
His jaw flexed.
“Elena needs overnight care.”
“The night nurse arrives at seven.”
“She’s not coming.”
Ruby stared at him.
“You canceled my colleague?”
“I reassigned her.”
“You cannot reassign people who don’t work for you.”
“I spoke with the agency.”
“You what?”
“I arranged twenty-four-hour coverage.”
“Without asking me.”
“Yes.”
Ruby looked at Elena.
“Is he always like this?”
“Worse.”
“Mother.”
Ruby crossed her arms.
“I’m going home.”
“No.”
That one word did it.
She stepped closer.
“Listen carefully, Sebastian. You can terrify half the city. You can surround this mansion with armed men. You can buy every pharmacy in the state if that entertains you. But you do not own my time.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I’m trying to keep you alive.”
“Then explain the danger.”
“You saw enough.”
“No. I saw a photograph of myself delivered by a man who threatened me because of something you’re involved in.”
“It wasn’t because of you.”
“That is not comforting.”
He looked away.
Ruby lowered her voice.
“I deserve the truth.”
Something in her tone reached him.
Sebastian glanced toward the staircase, where Elena now sat resting with one of the attendants.
Then he motioned toward the library.
“Five minutes.”
Ruby followed.
The library doors shut.
Sebastian remained standing.
“There are families in this city who make money through businesses most people never see.”
“Crime.”
“Yes.”
No excuse.
No euphemism.
Ruby appreciated that more than she expected.
“My father was part of that world. I inherited more of it than I wanted.”
“You could walk away.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because power doesn’t disappear when good men surrender it.”
Ruby studied him.
“That sounds convenient.”
“It probably does.”
“Do you hurt people?”
His face became unreadable.
“When necessary.”
She hated the answer.
“Define necessary.”
“If someone threatens my family.”
“Like Dante threatened me?”
Sebastian said nothing.
Ruby took a breath.
“This is why I shouldn’t be here.”
His gaze snapped back to hers.
“I know.”
The words landed harder than she expected.
He continued.
“You should never have been pulled into this.”
“Then let me leave.”
“I can’t.”
“You just said—”
“Dante knows your name. Your car. Your schedule.”
Cold crept through her.
Sebastian placed the photograph on the desk.
Ruby forced herself to look.
It showed her leaving the mansion that morning with a canvas tote over one shoulder.
Taken from across the street.
On the back, one line had been written.
YOU FOUND A NEW WEAKNESS.
Ruby swallowed.
“Is that what I am?”
Sebastian’s eyes lifted.
“To him?”
“To you.”
He did not answer quickly enough.
Ruby laughed once.
Not because anything was funny.
“Unbelievable.”
She turned.
“Ruby.”
She stopped.
His voice sounded different.
“I’ve spent my life making certain nobody could be used against me.”
“That’s healthy.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
She looked back.
Sebastian stood beside the desk, suddenly less like a mafia boss and more like a man confessing something he did not know how to phrase.
“I came here the first day because my mother was sick.”
Ruby waited.
“The second day, she didn’t need anything.”
Her heart beat harder.
“The third day, I told myself I was checking security.”
“And today?”
He looked at the roses.
“Today I bought flowers I knew she hated.”
Ruby stared.
“Why?”
His answer was almost too quiet.
“Because you were here.”
For one ridiculous second, she forgot Dante.
Forgot the photograph.
Forgot everything.
Then reality returned.
“You barely know me.”
“I know.”
“You know nothing about me.”
“I know you read mystery novels during your lunch break.”
She blinked.
“I know you hate cinnamon in coffee.”
Her lips parted.
“I know you pretend not to sing when you wash dishes.”
She stared at him.
“I know you make my mother laugh.”
His voice lowered.
“And I know I started finding reasons to come here because I wanted to hear you laugh too.”
Ruby could not speak.
Sebastian looked almost annoyed with himself.
“This is precisely why Dante’s message matters.”
Because it was real.
He did not say that.
He did not have to.
Ruby looked down.
“I’m not becoming someone’s hostage because you have a crush on me.”
The corner of his mouth twitched.
“A crush?”
“What would you call it?”
“A complication.”
“That is less flattering.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
She sighed.
“This is insane.”
“Yes.”
“Dangerous.”
“Yes.”
“And I still want to go home.”
“No.”
She glared.
He held up a hand.
“Not an order.”
“Sounded like one.”
“A request.”
“Try again.”
His face registered genuine confusion.
Ruby waited.
Sebastian Romano, apparently a man who could negotiate with criminals but not women, took several seconds.
“Would you please stay here tonight because I would prefer not to spend the next twelve hours imagining Dante Bellini outside your apartment?”
That was better.
Annoyingly better.
Ruby folded her arms.
“One night.”
“Agreed.”
“And I’m sleeping in the guest room.”
“Obviously.”
“And nobody follows me to the bathroom.”
He looked offended.
“Ruby.”
“I don’t know your security protocols.”
He almost smiled again.
They returned to Elena’s room.
The older woman took one look at their faces.
“Well?”
“Well what?” Ruby asked.
“Did he finally admit it?”
Sebastian said, “You’re going to sleep.”
Elena grinned.
“I’ll take that as yes.”
Dinner that night felt strangely normal.
Elena ate at a small table in her suite.
Ruby sat beside her.
Sebastian remained longer than usual.
He removed his jacket, loosened his tie, and even helped cut his mother’s chicken when her hands became tired.
Ruby noticed things she wished she did not.
How patient he was with Elena.
How he listened when Ruby explained medication side effects.
How he never once made a comment about what Ruby ate.
That last detail should not have mattered.
It did.
Her ex had treated every restaurant meal like a referendum on her body.
Sebastian simply passed her the bread.
At ten, Elena fell asleep.
Ruby checked her vitals and stepped into the hallway.
Sebastian stood near the windows.
“You should go home.”
“I will.”
“You look exhausted.”
“I’m fine.”
“That usually means exhausted.”
He glanced at her.
“You diagnose everyone?”
“Occupational hazard.”
He looked out toward the dark grounds.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“My mother.”
Ruby softened.
“She’s easy to love.”
Sebastian’s expression became distant.
“Yes.”
A movement outside caught his attention.
He straightened.
Ruby followed his gaze.
Nothing.
Only the garden lights.
“Sebastian?”
“Go to your room.”
Her stomach tightened.
“What did you see?”
He was already reaching for his phone.
Then every light in the mansion went out.
Darkness swallowed the hallway.
Ruby heard Elena’s medical monitor alarm from the bedroom.
She turned.
Sebastian caught her wrist.
“Wait.”
A second sound came from downstairs.
Glass breaking.
Then a man shouted from the foyer.
“Boss!”
Sebastian released Ruby and moved toward the stairs.
The emergency lights flickered on.
Ruby looked toward Elena’s room.
The door was open.
May you like
The bed was empty.
And the balcony curtains were moving.
