Chapter 2 - Table Four
The stranger disappeared before Roman could reach him.
Sadi barely noticed.
Her mother had already crossed the ballroom with the determined expression of a woman approaching a social emergency.
“Sadi,” Linda Miller whispered. “Who is this?”
Roman extended his hand.
“Roman Rossi.”
Linda did not take it.
She knew the name.
Everybody in Chicago knew the name.
Some pretended they did not.
“That Roman Rossi?”
Sadi closed her eyes briefly.
Roman answered, “I’m unaware of another.”
Her mother’s attention swung back to Sadi.
“You’re dating him?”
Roman said, “Yes.”
At exactly the same moment Sadi said, “Sort of.”
Roman looked at her.
She smiled through clenched teeth.
“New relationship.”
“How new?” Linda asked.
Roman answered smoothly.
“New enough that your daughter is still pretending she doesn’t steal my side of the bed.”
Sadi nearly inhaled her own tongue.
Roman’s face remained completely serious.
Her mother stared.
Behind Linda, Derek had clearly heard.
Good.
Sadi decided not to murder Roman until later.
Chloe rushed over next.
Unlike their mother, Sadi’s younger sister looked genuinely happy to see her.
“You came.”
Then she noticed Roman.
“Oh.”
Roman nodded.
“Congratulations.”
Chloe blinked.
“Thank you.”
Sadi hugged her sister.
Chloe whispered into her ear, “Where did you find him?”
“My workplace.”
“That sounds illegal.”
“You have no idea.”
Then Sadi noticed Chloe’s fiancé.
Ethan Ward stood twenty feet away speaking to two men near the bar.
Handsome.
Polished.
Expensive tuxedo.
But when he noticed Roman, his smile vanished.
That was man number two reacting badly.
Roman saw that too.
He leaned closer to Sadi.
“Your future brother-in-law knows me.”
“You’ve met?”
“No.”
“Then how—”
“Fear recognizes people faster than introductions do.”
Sadi sighed.
“Please remember tonight is about Chloe.”
“I remember.”
“And you’re here as my boyfriend.”
Roman looked down at her.
“Yes.”
“So stop doing the mafia stare.”
“I don’t have a mafia stare.”
“You absolutely have a mafia stare.”
“What does it look like?”
“Like you’re measuring people for unmarked graves.”
Roman considered that.
“Efficient.”
Sadi elbowed him.
A server approached.
Champagne.
Roman took two glasses and handed one to Sadi.
Derek finally walked over.
Amanda followed.
Sadi recognized her immediately from social media.
Tiny waist.
Perfect blonde ponytail.
Beautiful.
But she also looked nervous.
Not smug.
That surprised Sadi.
Derek smiled.
“Sadi.”
“Derek.”
He looked her up and down.
“You look… good.”
Sadi felt the old reflex.
The urge to interpret surprise as insult.
Before she could, Roman said, “She does.”
Derek looked at him.
“And you are?”
“Roman.”
“Just Roman?”
Sadi spoke before Roman could.
“Yes. Like Cher.”
Roman slowly turned his head toward her.
She smiled innocently.
Amanda covered a laugh.
Derek did not.
He looked at Sadi again.
“I didn’t know you were seeing someone.”
“You haven’t spoken to me in two years.”
“Still.”
Sadi raised an eyebrow.
“Was I supposed to submit updates?”
Roman took a sip of champagne.
Amanda suddenly said, “Sadi, your dress is beautiful.”
The compliment seemed genuine.
Sadi softened.
“Thank you.”
Derek’s jaw tightened.
Maybe his new fiancée was not the enemy he had trained Sadi to imagine.
Interesting.
Dinner began.
Linda had not moved the seating chart.
Roman solved the problem without threats.
He simply sat beside Sadi at table four.
Nobody challenged him.
Derek ended up across from them.
Linda looked horrified.
Sadi felt wonderful.
For fifteen minutes.
Then Ethan stood to make a toast.
He thanked friends.
Family.
His parents.
Chloe.
He spoke perfectly.
Too perfectly.
Then his phone vibrated.
His face changed.
Roman saw it.
Ethan excused himself.
Sadi watched him disappear through a side corridor.
Roman started to rise.
She grabbed his wrist.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You promised.”
“I promised not to threaten Derek.”
“This is my sister’s dinner.”
“And your sister’s fiancé just received a message that terrified him.”
Sadi released Roman’s wrist.
“You really think something is wrong?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me.”
He hesitated.
That bothered her.
“Roman.”
“The man who left when we entered works for Dominic Moretti.”
Sadi’s stomach dropped.
The Moretti name appeared in newspapers only when reporters were feeling brave.
“What would someone like that want with Ethan?”
“That is what I would like to know.”
Across the table Derek was watching them.
“What are you two whispering about?”
Sadi smiled.
“Christmas cookies.”
Roman nodded.
“Extremely serious cookies.”
Derek looked unconvinced.
Dinner continued.
Sadi tried to focus on Chloe.
But when her sister leaned over, her perfume could not hide the tremor in her voice.
“Can I talk to you?”
“Of course.”
“Alone.”
Roman looked at Chloe.
She looked back.
Something silent passed between them.
Then Roman said, “I’ll stay here.”
Sadi followed Chloe into the bridal suite.
The moment the door closed, Chloe started crying.
Sadi forgot every resentment she had ever carried toward her younger sister.
“What happened?”
Chloe locked the door.
“Ethan owes money.”
Sadi’s heart sank.
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Chloe.”
“I swear.”
“Who?”
Chloe looked terrified.
“Some investment people.”
Sadi already knew that was not true.
“Is one named Moretti?”
Chloe stopped breathing.
That was enough.
Sadi sat beside her.
“How long?”
“Six months.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Mom said you already had enough problems.”
The sentence cut deeper than Sadi expected.
“What does that mean?”
Chloe looked ashamed.
“She thinks you’re fragile.”
Sadi laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
“Of course she does.”
Chloe grabbed her hand.
“Sadi, there’s more.”
The door handle moved.
Both women froze.
Then stopped.
A white envelope slid beneath the door.
Sadi stared at it.
No footsteps followed.
She picked it up.
Her name was written across the front.
Not Chloe’s.
Hers.
Inside was a photograph.
Sadi at the Rossi estate.
Taken through the kitchen window.
On the back were six words.
TELL ROMAN TO STAY OUT OF THIS.
Sadi felt cold.
Chloe whispered, “Why do they have a picture of you?”
May you like
Sadi looked at the door.
For the first time that night, being Roman Rossi’s fake girlfriend no longer felt like a game.
