Chapter 1 - The Man I Wasn't Supposed to Kiss
Maya Bennett climbed onto the stranger’s lap and whispered, “Don’t make me regret this.”
The powerful man caught her waist, and something hard beneath his jacket pressed against the edge of a black leather chair.
A silver cuff link on his wrist carried two engraved letters.
D.R.
Maya had just kissed the wrong man.
Three minutes earlier, she had been perfectly content to hate everyone in the room from the safety of a velvet barstool.
The rooftop lounge occupied the upper floor of one of Chicago’s most expensive hotels, all black marble, amber light, and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Michigan Avenue. Maya had come because her best friend, Vanessa, had insisted she needed one night without spreadsheets, deadlines, or her nightmare boss.
Maya had agreed.
That had been mistake number one.
Mistake number two had been ordering a second cocktail.
Mistake number three was Vanessa.
“You never take risks,” Vanessa said.
“I work in corporate compliance. Avoiding unnecessary risk is literally how I pay rent.”
Vanessa laughed.
Then one of the other women at their table said, “Maya's the safe friend.”
Maya looked over.
“The what?”
The woman hesitated.
Vanessa should have stopped there.
She didn't.
“You know what she means,” Vanessa said, already regretting the words. “You're beautiful, Maya. Obviously. But you're the safe one. The responsible one.”
Maya's smile disappeared.
Safe.
She knew that word.
She had heard nicer versions of it since high school.
Sweet.
Funny.
Comfortable.
Great personality.
The friend men asked for advice about other women.
And underneath all of it was the same message.
A woman with Maya's body wasn't supposed to walk into a room expecting to be desired.
Maya looked down at her royal-blue dress.
She had almost returned it because it hugged every curve instead of hiding them.
Tonight, for once, she had worn it anyway.
“Fine,” Maya said. “Give me a dare.”
Vanessa blinked.
“Maya—”
“You wanted reckless Maya. You're getting reckless Maya.”
One woman pointed across the room.
“Him.”
Vanessa immediately shook her head.
“No.”
That should have been Maya's first warning.
The man sat alone in a leather chair beside the marble bar.
Black suit.
Black shirt.
No tie.
Dark hair swept back from a face that looked as if smiling was something other people did.
A watch worth more than Maya's car gleamed beneath his cuff.
Tattoos covered part of one hand.
And several feet behind him stood a massive bald man in a black suit who had spent the entire evening watching the room instead of enjoying it.
Maya narrowed her eyes.
“Is that his bodyguard?”
“Probably,” Vanessa whispered.
“You picked him.”
“I changed my mind.”
Too late.
Maya stood.
She crossed the room before common sense could catch her.
The stranger noticed her halfway there.
He didn't look away.
That was what unsettled her most.
Most men reacted to Maya in one of two ways. Some looked too long. Others made a deliberate performance of not looking at all.
This man simply watched.
Calmly.
As though he had already decided to let whatever was coming happen.
Maya stopped in front of him.
“Hi.”
His dark eyes moved over her face.
“Hello.”
His voice was low and controlled.
She could still leave.
Instead Maya heard Vanessa's words again.
Safe friend.
She leaned closer.
“I need a favor.”
The corner of his mouth moved.
“Do you usually ask strangers for favors before learning their names?”
“Only on Thursdays.”
“It’s Friday.”
Maya glanced toward the windows.
“Then I'm already doing badly.”
Something almost resembling amusement appeared in his eyes.
“What favor?”
Maya's heart hammered.
“One kiss.”
Behind her, someone dropped a glass.
The stranger didn't even glance toward the sound.
“That's the favor?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It's a dare.”
That erased the hint of amusement.
His eyes moved toward Maya's table.
Vanessa immediately looked away.
Then he looked back at Maya.
“You let your friends decide who you kiss?”
“No.”
“Yet you're here.”
Maya lifted her chin.
“Maybe I decided the dare wasn't such a terrible idea.”
His gaze held hers.
For one dangerous second, Maya forgot the room.
Then he leaned back slightly.
He didn't invite her closer.
He didn't need to.
Maya placed one hand against his shoulder.
She hesitated.
He noticed.
“You can still walk away,” he said.
The words surprised her.
No teasing.
No pressure.
Just a choice.
Maya should have taken it.
Instead she sat sideways across his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and whispered, “Don't make me regret this.”
Then she kissed him.
The room disappeared.
It was supposed to last two seconds.
Maybe three.
Enough to win the stupid dare and walk back to Vanessa with her dignity restored.
Then his hand settled at her waist.
Not grabbing.
Not demanding.
Simply steady.
Certain.
The gesture sent a completely unreasonable tremor through her.
Maya pulled back first.
His face remained inches from hers.
“Well,” she whispered.
“Well,” he repeated.
She became aware of the silence.
Maya looked toward the bar.
Five women were staring.
One had her hand over her mouth.
The bartender had stopped polishing a glass.
Even Vanessa looked pale.
Maya turned toward the bald bodyguard.
He looked less shocked than everyone else.
Mostly, he looked tired.
Like this was somehow going to become paperwork.
Maya looked back at the stranger.
“Why is everyone staring?”
“Perhaps they're impressed.”
“They look terrified.”
“Sometimes people confuse the two.”
Maya started to stand.
His hand remained around her waist for one extra second.
Then he released her.
She stepped away.
“Who are you?”
He adjusted one cuff.
“Dominic.”
“Dominic what?”
His eyes settled on hers.
“Romano.”
Behind Maya, Vanessa made a strangled sound.
Maya knew the name.
Everyone in Chicago business knew the name.
Romano Global Logistics controlled warehouses, trucking contracts, port operations, and distribution networks across half the Midwest.
Dominic Romano had turned an old family transportation company into a multibillion-dollar empire before he was forty.
But that wasn't why people whispered.
There were other stories.
Stories involving his late father.
Organized crime.
Union bosses.
Politicians.
Men who had crossed the Romano family and abruptly discovered opportunities in other states.
Nothing proven.
Everything rumored.
Maya stared.
“You're that Dominic Romano.”
His eyebrow rose.
“Apparently.”
“I kissed you.”
“I noticed.”
“For a dare.”
“You mentioned that.”
Maya wanted the marble floor to open.
Instead she straightened her dress.
“Okay. This has been sufficiently humiliating.”
She turned.
“Maya.”
She stopped.
She had never told him her name.
Slowly, she faced him.
Dominic glanced toward her table.
“Your friend has been shouting it with her eyes for the last thirty seconds.”
Maya exhaled.
“Right.”
He stood.
That was another surprise.
He was taller than she expected.
Much taller.
“Good night, Maya Bennett.”
Her stomach tightened.
Now he knew her last name too.
She looked toward Vanessa.
Vanessa was still too far away to have said it.
Maya turned back.
“How do you know my last name?”
Dominic's expression changed.
Barely.
But Maya saw it.
Recognition.
Not of her.
Of the name.
“Where do you work?”
“No.”
His eyes sharpened.
“No?”
“You don't get to interrogate me because I kissed you.”
For the first time, Dominic smiled.
It transformed his face in a way Maya absolutely did not need.
“Good night, Maya.”
She returned to her friends.
Vanessa grabbed her arm.
“Do you understand what you just did?”
“I completed your stupid dare.”
“You kissed Dominic Romano.”
“So I've been informed.”
“Maya, people don't just walk up to that man.”
“I did.”
“You sat on his lap.”
Maya took her purse.
“You've described the evening accurately.”
She left before Vanessa could continue.
Outside, Chicago air hit her face.
Maya laughed once.
Mostly because the alternative was screaming.
Tomorrow she would return to Bennett & Cross Consulting, bury herself in quarterly compliance reviews, and pretend tonight had never happened.
Dominic Romano belonged to another universe.
Their paths would never cross again.
At 8:43 the following morning, Maya received an emergency message from her boss.
MANDATORY EXECUTIVE MEETING. 9:00 A.M. BOARDROOM. DO NOT BE LATE.
Maya ran three blocks from the train.
At 8:58, she pushed open the boardroom doors.
Her boss, Charles Mercer, was standing beside the table.
He looked terrified.
Twelve executives sat silently.
At the head of the table sat a man in a black suit.
Dominic Romano slowly looked up.
Maya stopped breathing.
He placed a thick folder on the table.
Her full name was printed across the cover.
Then Dominic opened it.
The first page contained Maya's signature beneath a transfer for $4.8 million.
She had never seen it before.
Dominic looked directly at her.
“Ms. Bennett,” he said. “We need to discuss why your name is attached to stolen money.”
Charles quietly locked the boardroom door.
May you like
And Maya heard someone behind her whisper:
“She wasn't supposed to find out yet.”
