Chapter 1 - The Man at the Next Table
Derek grabbed Penny's wrist and hissed, "You're dead when we get home."
Lorenzo Moretti rose from the next table and picked up the broken stem of Penny's wineglass.
A tiny black memory card was wedged beneath its base.
Three letters were written across it.
P.B.M.
Lorenzo suddenly knew Penny had not been brought to that restaurant by accident.
Penny Brooks didn't notice the memory card.
She noticed only Derek's fingers around her wrist.
They were tightening.
Her pulse hammered beneath his thumb, and for one strange second she thought about how carefully she had gotten dressed that evening.
She had curled her hair.
Put on the little gold earrings her mother had given her.
Bought the brown floral dress Derek said made her look "less embarrassing" than the emerald one she'd originally wanted.
She had spent nearly an hour covering the faint yellow bruise near her elbow.
All that work to pretend everything was normal.
And now twenty strangers were watching her boyfriend threaten to kill her.
"Remove your hand."
The voice came from beside their table.
Quiet.
Controlled.
Derek turned.
The man who had been eating alone one table away stood there in a charcoal suit.
Penny had noticed him earlier only because everyone else seemed to notice him without looking directly at him.
Tall.
Dark hair.
A faint scar through one eyebrow.
Behind him stood another man with a crooked nose and shoulders broad enough to block the aisle.
Derek gave an irritated laugh.
"This is private."
The stranger looked at Derek's hand.
"No."
Something changed in Derek's face.
Not much.
But Penny knew Derek better than anyone.
She recognized fear.
"It stopped being private," the stranger continued, "when you assaulted her in a room full of witnesses."
Derek released Penny.
She immediately pulled her wrist against her chest.
Red fingerprints were already appearing across her skin.
The stranger saw them.
His jaw tightened.
Then his attention shifted to Penny.
"Did you believe him?"
Penny swallowed.
"What?"
"When he said he would kill you."
"Dude," Derek snapped.
The stranger ignored him.
His eyes remained on Penny.
She had spent two years learning the consequences of telling the truth.
Derek had explanations for everything.
The hole in their bedroom door?
He'd been stressed.
The bruises?
She bruised easily.
The night he'd grabbed the back of her neck?
She had provoked him.
Every incident somehow became Penny's responsibility by morning.
Derek leaned toward her.
"Penny."
One word.
A warning.
She looked at him.
Then she looked at the stranger.
"Yes."
Silence.
Derek went pale.
The stranger straightened.
"My name is Lorenzo Moretti."
The restaurant changed.
Penny couldn't explain it any other way.
The maître d' lowered his gaze.
A waiter quietly retreated toward the kitchen.
A couple at a nearby table asked for their check without finishing dinner.
Derek's mouth opened.
Then closed.
"Mr. Moretti."
His voice had lost its swagger.
Penny stared at him.
"You know him?"
Derek ignored her.
"I didn't mean any disrespect."
Lorenzo's expression remained still.
"You didn't disrespect me."
Relief flashed across Derek's face.
Then Lorenzo nodded toward Penny.
"You threatened her."
"She's my girlfriend."
"That isn't ownership."
Derek glanced around.
"You don't understand."
"I understand six words perfectly."
Lorenzo repeated them.
"'You're dead when we get home.'"
Penny felt herself shaking.
Hearing the threat repeated aloud made it real in a way it hadn't been when Derek whispered it.
Lorenzo turned toward the heavyset man.
"Marco."
Marco stepped forward.
"Yes?"
"Ask the manager to preserve every second of security footage from tonight."
Derek's eyes widened.
"Wait."
"And call the police."
That surprised Penny.
Apparently it surprised Derek too.
"You don't need police."
"I don't," Lorenzo said. "She might."
Derek turned toward Penny.
"Tell him this is ridiculous."
Penny said nothing.
"Penny."
Nothing.
"Tell him!"
Lorenzo moved half a step between them.
Derek stopped.
For the first time in years, someone had interrupted the invisible line between Derek's anger and Penny's obedience.
And Derek didn't know what to do.
Penny slowly stood.
Her knees nearly gave way.
Lorenzo didn't touch her.
He simply pulled the empty chair beside him away from the table.
"You can sit there."
Penny stared at him.
"Why are you helping me?"
Something unreadable passed through his eyes.
"Because someone should have."
The answer hit harder than she expected.
Her eyes filled.
She hated that.
Derek always accused her of using tears as manipulation.
She wiped them away quickly.
"Don't apologize," Lorenzo said.
"I wasn't."
"Good."
Marco returned.
"Police are coming."
Derek backed away.
"Fine. She wants to embarrass me? Fine."
He grabbed his jacket.
Lorenzo spoke without looking at him.
"Stay."
Derek froze.
"You don't get to threaten someone and leave before the consequences arrive."
"You can't hold me here."
"No."
Lorenzo finally looked at him.
"But the security officer standing behind you can."
Derek turned.
Two restaurant security employees had appeared near the entrance.
His face twisted.
Then his eyes found Penny.
And the mask disappeared.
She saw him.
Really saw him.
Not the charming man she'd met at a friend's birthday party.
Not the boyfriend who brought flowers after frightening her.
Not the man who cried after breaking things.
This man hated her.
"You're going to regret this," Derek said.
Penny flinched.
Lorenzo didn't.
"Another threat," he said calmly. "Helpful."
Derek was escorted toward the lobby.
Penny watched until he disappeared.
Only then did she breathe.
Lorenzo returned to his table.
Something glittered beneath the overturned wineglass.
He reached down.
The base had cracked.
Wedged beneath it was a memory card no bigger than a fingernail.
Lorenzo's expression changed.
Marco noticed.
"What?"
Lorenzo showed him.
Marco went still.
"Where did that come from?"
"The glass."
Penny frowned.
"What is it?"
Lorenzo turned the card over.
Three tiny letters had been written on the label.
P.B.M.
Marco swore under his breath.
Penny looked between them.
"What does that mean?"
Neither answered.
Police arrived minutes later.
Penny gave her statement.
The waiter confirmed the threat.
So did the couple at the neighboring table.
Restaurant security provided footage.
Derek was taken away for questioning.
It should have felt like an ending.
Instead, Penny sat in the back office with a blanket around her shoulders while Lorenzo examined the memory card.
"Do those letters mean something?" she asked.
"Possibly."
"To me?"
His eyes lifted.
"That's what worries me."
Penny's phone vibrated.
She nearly dropped it.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Her apartment door.
Taken from the hallway.
Seconds ago.
Beneath it was one sentence.
YOU SHOULD HAVE GONE HOME WITH DEREK.
Penny stopped breathing.
Lorenzo took the phone.
His expression hardened.
Marco moved immediately toward the door.
Then another message arrived.
This one contained a photograph of Penny sleeping in her own bed.
Taken from inside her bedroom.
May you like
And beneath the photograph were four words.
WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
