Chapter 3 - The Price of ProtectionI had spent five years learning how to live without depending on anyone.
After Tyler left, survival became a schedule.
Wake Lily.
Pack lunch.
Drop her at daycare.
Work twelve hours.
Pick her up.
Cook dinner.
Laundry.
Bills.
Repeat.
I learned how to repair a leaking faucet from online videos.
How to stretch groceries six days.
How to hide panic behind a smile when Lily asked whether Santa could afford the doll she wanted.
Depending on people had become dangerous.
Then Giovanni Fierro entered my life and, within an hour, strangers were outside my apartment.
“I’m going home,” I said.
Giovanni’s jaw tightened.
“No.”
“That wasn’t a question.”
“Jessica, someone found your address less than twenty minutes after that photograph appeared.”
“My daughter is there.”
“That is exactly why you are not walking into the building without protection.”
“You don’t decide where I go.”
“No.”
He paused.
“But I can explain the risk.”
That stopped me.
He gestured toward the lounge chairs.
I remained standing.
“So explain.”
Giovanni looked toward Elena and Bianca.
“Leave.”
Bianca’s expression hardened.
“Giovanni—”
“Now.”
Elena studied him.
Then me.
“Call me when you decide whether this woman is worth starting a war.”
She walked out.
Bianca followed.
The door shut.
I stared at Giovanni.
“A war?”
“Dramatic language.”
“Your aunt didn’t sound dramatic.”
He sighed.
“My family owns businesses that attract competitors.”
“That sounds like the polished billionaire version of saying enemies.”
“Sometimes they’re the same thing.”
“Who was outside my apartment?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Then how do you know he’s connected to you?”
“I don’t.”
That answer terrified me more.
I crossed my arms.
“Tell me everything.”
He was quiet.
Then he sat.
For the first time that night, he looked tired.
“My father built Fierro Capital with his brother. After my father died, my uncle controlled the company until I was old enough to challenge him.”
“How did your father die?”
“Car accident.”
The pause after those words told me there was more.
“You don’t believe that.”
His eyes met mine.
“No.”
I sat across from him.
“What happened to your uncle?”
“Retired.”
“Voluntarily?”
“Eventually.”
I almost laughed despite myself.
“People are afraid of you.”
“Yes.”
The honesty surprised me.
“Should I be?”
“No.”
“You answered quickly.”
“Because that one is easy.”
Something about his certainty unsettled me.
He continued.
“My family’s businesses are legitimate, Jessica. But wealth creates resentment. Control creates enemies. My name brings attention.”
“And now that attention is on me.”
“Yes.”
“Because you wanted to avoid a date with Bianca.”
His expression darkened.
“It was more complicated.”
“Then explain.”
“My aunt wants an alliance between Fierro Capital and Bianca’s father’s company. Marriage would make that alliance permanent.”
“This is the twenty-first century.”
“My aunt occasionally disagrees.”
I stared at him.
“So you grabbed the nearest miserable woman and made her your wife?”
“You weren’t nearest.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“I saw you before Tyler approached you.”
“How long?”
“Since dinner.”
“Why?”
His answer came slowly.
“You looked like you were trying very hard not to need anyone.”
That hit too close.
I looked away.
He continued.
“Then your ex-husband came over. I heard enough.”
“So you rescued me?”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“I gave you an excuse to rescue yourself.”
I hated how much I liked that answer.
My phone rang.
Maya.
I answered instantly.
“Is Lily okay?”
“She’s fine,” Maya said. “Confused because two extremely serious men are standing in the hallway.”
I glared at Giovanni.
He looked unapologetic.
“Let me talk to her.”
A moment later Lily’s voice came through.
“Mommy?”
“Hi, bug.”
“Are you bringing cake?”
My eyes burned.
“Yes.”
“Chocolate?”
“I promised vanilla.”
“I changed my mind.”
Of course she had.
I laughed through the tears.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Miss Maya says there are bodyguards.”
I closed my eyes.
“They’re just helping tonight.”
“Are we famous?”
“No.”
Giovanni coughed quietly.
I glared at him again.
Lily whispered, “Did you meet a prince?”
“What?”
“Miss Maya showed me the picture.”
“Maya!”
I heard my best friend protesting in the background.
Lily continued.
“He looks like a prince.”
Giovanni’s eyebrow lifted.
I turned away so he wouldn’t see me smile.
“He is definitely not a prince.”
“Does he have a castle?”
“No.”
Giovanni said quietly, “Technically—”
I covered the phone.
“Do not.”
His mouth twitched.
I spoke to Lily another minute, then hung up.
When I looked back, Giovanni was watching me differently.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“You’re a good mother.”
Four simple words.
They nearly undid me.
Tyler had spent years making motherhood sound like the evidence of my failure.
Giovanni said it like it was the most important thing about me.
I stood.
“I need to get home.”
“I’ll take you.”
“No.”
“Jessica.”
“I’m not bringing a billionaire stranger into my one-bedroom apartment.”
“You already married him.”
“Fake married.”
“For tonight, the distinction is becoming increasingly inconvenient.”
Despite everything, I laughed.
He did too.
Quietly.
For the first time, he looked younger.
Less dangerous.
More human.
We left through a private elevator.
A black SUV waited underground.
I hesitated.
“This feels like kidnapping.”
“If it were kidnapping, I would have chosen a less public wedding.”
I got inside.
Chicago glittered beyond the tinted windows.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked, “What happens tomorrow?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“Whether anyone believes us.”
I stared at him.
“You want to continue?”
“I want to make sure you and Lily are safe.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“No.”
He looked out the window.
“But if we announce a separation tomorrow, every reporter will investigate why. They’ll dig into your divorce. Your finances. Your daughter.”
My stomach tightened.
“If we stay married?”
“Interest peaks and eventually settles.”
“How long?”
“A few weeks.”
I laughed.
“You want me to pretend to be your wife for weeks?”
“I’ll compensate you for the inconvenience.”
My expression changed.
He saw it immediately.
“That came out badly.”
“Yes.”
“I wasn’t trying to buy you.”
“That is exactly what it sounded like.”
“I was trying to make sure you don’t lose income because of something I caused.”
That was different.
Still dangerous.
“I don’t want your money.”
“I expected that.”
“Why?”
“Because Tyler used money to make you feel small.”
I stared at him.
Again, he had listened.
The SUV slowed near my building.
Several photographers waited outside.
My heart sank.
“How?”
“Fast world.”
The driver continued past.
“Where are we going?”
“My house.”
“No.”
“Jessica.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Your building entrance is surrounded.”
“I’ll stay with Maya.”
“Her address will be next.”
I hated that he was right.
“What about Lily?”
“She’ll be brought to us through the garage.”
“To your house?”
“If you agree.”
I looked at him.
“You really mean that.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His expression became unreadable.
“Because I started this.”
Twenty minutes later, iron gates opened before a stone mansion overlooking Lake Michigan.
Lily would definitely call it a castle.
I stared through the window.
“This is ridiculous.”
Giovanni glanced at me.
“I hear that often.”
We entered through an underground garage.
Maya arrived fifteen minutes later with Lily.
The moment my daughter saw me, she ran.
I dropped to my knees.
She crashed into my arms.
“I missed you!”
“I missed you too.”
Then she noticed Giovanni.
She froze.
He froze too.
For the first time all night, Giovanni Fierro looked uncertain.
Lily whispered, “That’s him.”
I stood.
“Lily, this is Mr. Fierro.”
She stared.
“The prince?”
“No.”
Giovanni cleared his throat.
“Definitely not.”
She considered him.
Then looked at me.
“Is he your boyfriend?”
“No.”
“Your husband?”
Silence.
Maya covered her mouth.
I closed my eyes.
Giovanni crouched so he was closer to Lily’s height.
“Your mom and I are helping each other.”
Lily studied him seriously.
“With what?”
He looked at me.
I had no idea what he would say.
Then Giovanni answered,
“With difficult people.”
Lily nodded immediately.
“I know difficult people.”
I nearly choked.
“Who?”
“Madison at school.”
Giovanni nodded solemnly.
“I’m sorry.”
“She steals crayons.”
“Unacceptable.”
Lily smiled.
And just like that, one of the most feared men in Chicago was discussing crayon theft with my five-year-old daughter.
Later, after Lily fell asleep in an enormous guest room, I found Giovanni standing alone in the kitchen.
He had removed his jacket.
His sleeves were rolled to his forearms.
For some reason, that felt more intimate than dancing.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what?”
“Not frightening her.”
He looked surprised.
“I wouldn’t.”
“I know.”
The admission surprised both of us.
For several seconds, we simply stood there.
Then his phone vibrated.
He read the message.
Every trace of softness disappeared.
“What?”
He turned the screen toward me.
It was a photograph.
Me.
Leaving the hospital three weeks earlier.
Lily beside me.
Someone had taken it from across the street.
My skin went cold.
“This isn’t from tonight.”
“No.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Before we met.”
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
“If this person was watching me before tonight…”
Giovanni finished the thought.
“Then whoever followed you has nothing to do with our fake marriage.”
I stared at the picture of my daughter.
May you like
And suddenly Giovanni wasn’t the danger that had entered my life.
He might have been the first person to notice danger had already been there.
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