CHAPTER 4 – FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS
CHAPTER 4 – FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS
Twenty minutes later...
The shooting stopped.
Police sirens echoed through downtown Chicago.
The attackers had vanished into the rain as quickly as they had appeared.
Valentino's looked like a war zone.
Broken glass covered every floor.
Bullet holes scarred the walls.
Three bodyguards were wounded.
Two attackers lay dead.
Dominic stood silently in the middle of the destruction.
Detectives would arrive within minutes.
Questions would follow.
Too many questions.
He turned to his security chief.
"Clean this up."
The man nodded.
"As always."
Within seconds, phones appeared.
Calls were made.
Evidence quietly began disappearing.
Emily watched in stunned silence.
This was a world completely different from hers.
A world where crime scenes could simply... vanish.
An ambulance crew examined Ava.
"No physical injuries."
"But emotionally..."
The medic sighed.
"She needs specialized psychiatric treatment."
Ava immediately recoiled.
"No hospitals!"
She clung to Emily again.
The medic couldn't even approach.
Dominic dismissed them.
"Leave us."
Soon the restaurant was almost empty.
Rain continued tapping softly against the broken windows.
Dominic walked toward Emily.
His expensive suit was stained with blood that wasn't entirely his own.
"You should leave."
Emily nodded.
"I probably should."
She took one step.
Ava burst into tears.
"Don't go!"
Emily stopped.
The child wrapped herself around her leg.
Her entire body trembled.
"I don't want to be alone anymore."
Dominic closed his eyes.
For several long seconds...
Nobody spoke.
Finally he asked quietly,
"What do you know about children?"
Emily almost laughed.
"I raised my younger brother after our mother started getting sick."
"What happened to him?"
"He joined the Army."
"What happened to your mother?"
Emily looked toward the rain.
"Cancer."
Dominic's voice softened.
"I'm sorry."
"So am I."
Silence settled between them.
Two people from completely different worlds...
Connected by loss.
Dominic reached inside his jacket and removed a business card.
Solid black.
Only a phone number embossed in silver.
"No name?"
Emily asked.
"You already know who I am."
She couldn't argue with that.
Then he spoke the sentence that would change her life.
"I'll pay you fifty thousand dollars."
Emily stared.
"For what?"
"One week."
She frowned.
"Doing what?"
"Living at my estate."
"Why?"
He looked toward Ava.
"Be her nanny."
Emily actually laughed.
"You've got the wrong person."
"I don't."
"I've never been a nanny."
"I don't need a nanny."
He paused.
"I need the first person my daughter has trusted since her mother died."
Emily's smile disappeared.
"Mr. Moretti..."
"No."
His voice was almost pleading now.
"Dominic."
She hesitated.
"I work here."
"I'll buy the restaurant."
"You can't solve everything with money."
"I know."
His eyes drifted toward Ava.
"That's exactly how I ended up here."
The little girl looked up at Emily with exhausted eyes.
"Please."
One word.
Barely audible.
But powerful enough to silence every objection.
Emily thought about her overdue rent.
The hospital bills.
The collection notices.
The apartment she might lose next month.
Fifty thousand dollars.
It was more money than she'd earned in two years.
Yet something told her this offer came with a price far greater than money.
She looked at Dominic.
"If I say yes..."
"You'll have one week."
"And after that?"
"If you survive it..."
A faint, humorless smile crossed his face.
"...you can walk away."
Emily extended her hand.
"I have three rules."
Dominic raised an eyebrow.
"You have conditions?"
"I do."
He nodded.
"I'm listening."
"First... no lying to me about Ava."
"Agreed."
"Second... I don't answer to bodyguards."
"Done."
She took a deep breath.
"And third..."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"If someone is hurting that little girl..."
"I don't care who they are."
"...I will stop them."
Dominic didn't smile.
He simply shook her hand.
"You start tonight."
As they walked toward the waiting black SUV, neither of them noticed the lone figure standing across the street beneath a broken umbrella.
Watching.
Smiling.
Holding a small photograph of Ava.
A voice murmured into a phone.
"She's accepted the job."
A pause.
Then the chilling reply came through the speaker.
May you like
"Good."
"Now bring the nanny to us too."
