Chapter 4 - Someone Had Been Watching UsI didn’t sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the photograph.
Lily holding my hand outside the hospital.
Me carrying my work tote.
A normal afternoon.
Except someone had been watching.
At six in the morning, I found Giovanni in his study.
He was already dressed.
White shirt.
Dark trousers.
No jacket.
Three phones sat on the desk beside him.
“You sleep?” he asked.
“No.”
“Coffee?”
“Yes.”
He poured a cup without asking how I took it.
Then added cream.
I stared.
“How did you know?”
“You didn’t touch the black coffee at the wedding.”
That was becoming a problem.
He noticed everything.
I sat across from him.
“Tell me what you found.”
“Very little.”
“That’s not comforting.”
“The image was sent anonymously to one of my security people after midnight.”
“Why?”
“To prove someone had access to you before yesterday.”
“Access?”
“Information. Routine. Location.”
I wrapped both hands around the coffee.
“Is this connected to Tyler?”
“Possibly.”
My head snapped up.
“Why?”
“His financial records are messy.”
“You investigated him overnight?”
“Yes.”
“Is that legal?”
He paused.
“Mostly.”
“Giovanni.”
“He owes money.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“To who?”
“We’re identifying that.”
Tyler had always spent money like tomorrow was someone else’s problem.
Cars.
Trips.
Restaurants.
When we were married, every argument about bills ended with him accusing me of being afraid of life.
I had thought he was irresponsible.
Maybe irresponsibility had become something worse.
“What about Vanessa?”
“Her family has money.”
“I know.”
“Tyler has borrowed from them.”
“How much?”
Giovanni gave me a look.
“A lot.”
I stood.
“I need to talk to him.”
“No.”
“There it is again.”
“What?”
“You deciding things for me.”
His jaw tightened.
“I’m trying to keep you safe.”
“And I appreciate that. But Tyler is Lily’s father.”
“Biologically.”
The word landed hard.
He realized it immediately.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. You’re right.”
I looked toward the window.
“I hate that you’re right.”
Giovanni came around the desk.
He stopped several feet away.
“You don’t have to prove anything to him.”
“I’m not.”
“Then why talk to him?”
“Because if he brought danger anywhere near Lily, I need to know.”
Giovanni studied me.
Then nodded.
“We talk to him together.”
“We?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not my actual husband.”
“I’m aware.”
“Then stop acting like one.”
Silence.
Something changed in his eyes.
“Is that what I’m doing?”
My pulse skipped.
I looked away.
“I don’t know.”
Before either of us could say more, Lily appeared in the doorway wearing borrowed pajamas three sizes too large.
“Mommy?”
I turned.
“Hey, bug.”
She walked toward me, rubbing her eyes.
Then noticed Giovanni.
“Do you have pancakes?”
He blinked.
I covered my smile.
“I believe we can locate some.”
She looked around the study.
“Your house is too big.”
“I agree.”
“You could lose somebody.”
“I have.”
The words came quietly.
Lily didn’t notice.
I did.
At breakfast, she asked him seventeen questions.
Did he own a horse?
No.
Did he own a helicopter?
Yes.
Could it fly to Disney World?
Technically.
Did he have children?
No.
Why?
At that one, Giovanni looked at me before answering.
“I never had the chance.”
Lily considered this.
“You can borrow me.”
I nearly dropped my fork.
Giovanni stared at her.
Then slowly smiled.
“That’s generous.”
“You have to give me back.”
“Understood.”
Something inside my chest tightened.
This was dangerous.
Not the anonymous photograph.
Not Tyler.
This.
Watching my daughter make Giovanni laugh.
Watching him cut her pancake when she struggled with the knife.
Watching him listen as she explained that syrup should never touch strawberries.
It felt like a picture of something I had stopped allowing myself to want.
A family.
Not perfect.
Just present.
By nine, Maya took Lily to a private playroom downstairs while Giovanni and I drove to meet Tyler.
We chose a restaurant owned by one of Giovanni’s companies.
Of course.
Tyler arrived twenty minutes late.
Vanessa came with him.
When she saw Giovanni, her expression changed.
“What is this?” she asked.
I looked at Tyler.
“Were you having financial problems while we were married?”
He laughed.
“What?”
“Answer me.”
“That was six years ago.”
“Answer.”
He looked toward Giovanni.
“You had your new husband investigate me?”
Giovanni remained silent.
Tyler’s face tightened.
“You’re unbelievable, Jess.”
I leaned forward.
“Someone has been watching me and Lily.”
That erased his smile.
“What?”
Vanessa looked at him.
“Tyler?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know anything about that.”
Giovanni spoke for the first time.
“You owe Martin Kessler four hundred thousand dollars.”
Tyler went white.
Vanessa froze.
“What?”
Tyler turned to her.
“It’s not what—”
“Four hundred thousand?”
“Business investment.”
Giovanni almost looked amused.
“Kessler doesn’t invest.”
Tyler stared at him.
“You know him?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I know everyone who lends money the way Kessler does.”
Vanessa’s voice shook.
“You told me we owed eighty thousand.”
Tyler rubbed his face.
“This isn’t the place.”
I felt sick.
“Did you use Lily’s information for anything?”
His eyes snapped toward me.
“No.”
“Did you?”
“No!”
Giovanni watched him.
“Careful.”
Tyler looked at him.
“Don’t threaten me.”
“That wasn’t a threat.”
Somehow that was worse.
I leaned closer.
“Did anyone ask about me?”
Tyler hesitated.
There.
The hesitation.
My stomach dropped.
“Who?”
“No one.”
“You’re lying.”
“No.”
“Tyler.”
He looked at Vanessa.
Then at me.
“A few weeks ago Kessler asked whether you still worked at St. Matthew’s.”
My skin went cold.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“And you told him?”
“He already knew!”
“Did you tell him about Lily?”
“No.”
His eyes shifted.
I stood.
“You did.”
“It was just conversation.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That she goes to school near your apartment.”
My chair hit the floor behind me.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“You told a loan shark where your daughter goes to school?”
“I didn’t give him the school!”
“You told him enough!”
“Jess, calm down.”
Giovanni stood.
He didn’t raise his voice.
“Never tell her to calm down again.”
Tyler looked at him.
Then at me.
“Why would Kessler care about Jessica?”
Giovanni answered.
“Leverage.”
Silence.
Tyler’s face lost color.
Against him.
Not me.
Tyler owed money.
And someone had discovered the easiest way to frighten a desperate man was through the family he had abandoned.
I grabbed my purse.
“I’m taking Lily somewhere else.”
Giovanni nodded.
“We’ll increase security.”
Tyler stood.
“Jessica, wait.”
I turned.
“You don’t get to say her name.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“Then start acting like it.”
His expression broke.
For one second, I saw shame.
Then anger replaced it.
“This is because of him.”
He pointed at Giovanni.
“You think he’s some hero? You don’t know anything about the Fierros.”
Giovanni went still.
Tyler laughed bitterly.
“Ask him about his brother.”
I looked at Giovanni.
He said nothing.
Tyler saw my confusion.
“Oh.”
His smile returned.
“He didn’t tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
Tyler stared at Giovanni.
“Go ahead.”
No answer.
So Tyler said it.
“Ask your fake husband why his younger brother ended up dead after crossing Martin Kessler.”
The restaurant seemed to disappear.
I turned toward Giovanni.
May you like
His face had gone completely blank.
But his eyes told me Tyler had finally said something true.
