CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 6
The Promise of a Dangerous Man
The first thing Lorenzo Rossi learned after becoming a father was that fear had changed.
Before Leo was born, Lorenzo feared losing power.
He feared betrayal.
He feared enemies gaining an advantage.
Those fears made him stronger.
They made him ruthless.
They made him the man everyone whispered about.
But now?
Now fear had a face.
A tiny face sleeping inside a nursery.
A small heartbeat that could stop if Lorenzo made one wrong decision.
And that terrified him more than any enemy ever had.
"Your sister."
Lorenzo repeated the words slowly.
Hunter stood across from his desk.
Her face was pale.
Her hands were trembling.
But she refused to sit.
Because sitting would mean admitting she was weak.
And Hunter Higgins had spent too long surviving to allow herself that.
"I don't understand."
Lorenzo watched her carefully.
"Neither do I."
He pushed the photograph across the desk.
Hunter looked at it again.
The woman beside Sophia's car.
The woman who looked almost exactly like her.
Same dark hair.
Same eyes.
Same face.
But Hunter knew.
Because she had seen her sister's face every day for twenty-four years.
"Her name was Harper."
Her voice cracked.
"Harper Higgins."
Lorenzo remained silent.
"She disappeared three years ago."
"Disappeared?"
Hunter nodded.
"She told me she was leaving New York."
A pause.
"She said she had found a better opportunity."
Lorenzo's expression hardened.
"With who?"
"I don't know."
She looked frustrated.
"I tried to find her."
"And?"
"Nothing."
Her eyes lowered.
"Nobody knew where she went."
Lorenzo leaned back.
"Why didn't you report her missing?"
The question was direct.
Too direct.
Hunter looked at him.
"Because Harper was an adult."
A bitter smile appeared.
"People don't search very hard for poor women who disappear."
The words were quiet.
But they carried weight.
Lorenzo understood that world.
A world where some lives mattered more than others.
A world where money decided whose pain received attention.
"Why didn't your background check find her?"
Hunter looked surprised.
"I don't know."
Neither did Lorenzo.
And that bothered him.
Because Rossi security did not miss things.
Not normally.
Someone had hidden Harper Higgins.
Someone powerful.
The investigation changed immediately.
Every file was reopened.
Every employee was questioned.
Every connection was examined.
And the more Lorenzo discovered...
the less he understood.
Harper Higgins had worked for a private medical company.
A company connected to several wealthy families.
Including...
the Rossis.
But the connection was buried.
Hidden behind fake names.
False records.
And someone had spent a lot of money making sure nobody found it.
Lorenzo stared at the documents.
"Who knew?"
Marcus stood beside him.
"We're still investigating."
"Find out."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Marcus knew that tone.
It was the tone before a storm.
Meanwhile, Hunter sat beside Leo's crib.
She had not left his side for hours.
Not because she was afraid.
Because she was thinking.
About Harper.
About the picture.
About all the things that suddenly made no sense.
She remembered her sister differently.
Harper was fearless.
Beautiful.
Ambitious.
She always believed the world owed her something.
Hunter was the opposite.
She accepted whatever life gave her.
Harper chased more.
Hunter survived with less.
They were sisters.
But they were never the same.
"Are you angry?"
Hunter looked down.
Lorenzo stood at the door.
She hadn't heard him enter.
"At you?"
"No."
She looked at Leo.
"I'm angry at myself."
"Why?"
"Because I should have looked harder for her."
Lorenzo was quiet.
"You were grieving."
"I should have done more."
The guilt in her voice was familiar.
Too familiar.
Lorenzo walked closer.
"You think everything that goes wrong is your fault."
Hunter looked up.
"Don't I have a reason?"
The question stopped him.
Because he knew that feeling.
The endless search for the moment where things could have changed.
The decision you could have made differently.
The person you could have saved.
"If I had left my business earlier..."
He stopped.
Hunter looked at him.
For the first time, Lorenzo almost said it.
Almost admitted it.
If he had chosen Sophia over the empire.
If he had listened.
If he had been home.
Maybe she would still be alive.
But he couldn't say it.
Not yet.
That night, the enemy made their next move.
A package arrived.
No name.
No address.
Just placed inside the main security gate.
Marcus brought it directly to Lorenzo.
Inside was a small object.
A bracelet.
Lorenzo recognized it immediately.
Because Sophia had worn one exactly like it.
The night she died.
Attached was a note.
Three words.
ASK YOUR WIFE.
Lorenzo stared.
His blood turned cold.
Sophia was dead.
There was no one to ask.
Unless...
Unless she had left something behind.
The next morning, Lorenzo called Hunter into his office.
"I need to ask you something."
She waited.
"Do you know anything about Sophia Rossi?"
The question surprised her.
"No."
"Did your sister ever mention her?"
Hunter thought.
Then stopped.
A memory appeared.
A small one.
Something she had forgotten.
"Once."
Lorenzo immediately focused.
"When?"
"About three years ago."
"What did she say?"
Hunter frowned.
"She said..."
She closed her eyes.
"She said rich people weren't as untouchable as they thought."
Lorenzo's expression changed.
"Anything else?"
"She said there were secrets in every powerful family."
A pause.
"Even yours."
Silence.
Because now everything connected.
Harper.
Sophia.
The bombing.
The betrayal.
Someone had been watching the Rossi family long before Leo was born.
That evening, Lorenzo found Hunter preparing to leave.
A small bag sat beside her.
His expression changed.
"Where are you going?"
She looked at him.
"Leaving."
The answer hit harder than he expected.
"Why?"
"Because every person close to you gets hurt."
Her voice was controlled.
"But I don't want Leo to become a target because of me."
Lorenzo stared.
The old Lorenzo would have ordered guards to stop her.
The old Lorenzo would have locked every exit.
The old Lorenzo would have controlled the situation.
But Sophia's letter was still in his mind.
He needs you.
Not a weapon.
Not a tyrant.
A father.
"You can't leave."
Hunter's expression hardened.
"Why?"
Lorenzo stepped closer.
Not threatening.
Not commanding.
Something much harder.
Honest.
"Because my son needs you."
Hunter looked away.
"That's not fair."
"No."
He nodded.
"It isn't."
A pause.
"But neither was losing Lily."
Her eyes immediately filled.
Lorenzo continued.
"And neither was losing Sophia."
The silence between them was heavy.
"I cannot change what happened."
His voice lowered.
"But I can promise you something."
Hunter looked at him.
Lorenzo Rossi did not make promises.
Not real ones.
Promises in his world were weapons.
But this time...
he meant it.
"No one will hurt you."
Hunter shook her head.
"You can't promise that."
"I can."
"You're just one man."
Lorenzo looked toward Leo's room.
Then back at her.
"No."
His voice was quiet.
"I'm a dangerous man."
A pause.
"And for the first time in my life..."
His eyes softened.
"I'm going to use that for something good."
Hunter said nothing.
Because she saw it.
The truth.
Lorenzo Rossi was not promising revenge.
He was promising protection.
Not as a mafia boss.
But as a father.
Later that night, Lorenzo stood in the hallway outside Hunter's room.
He had assigned two guards to protect her.
Not because he doubted her.
Because now he understood.
Everyone connected to him became vulnerable.
He looked through the security monitor.
Hunter was asleep.
Leo's room was beside hers.
For the first time in months, Lorenzo felt something close to peace.
Then Marcus called.
And destroyed it.
"Boss."
Lorenzo immediately knew from his voice.
Something had happened.
"What?"
"We found Harper Higgins."
Silence.
"Where?"
Marcus hesitated.
"At the old Rossi medical facility."
Lorenzo frowned.
"She's alive?"
A long pause.
"No."
Lorenzo's grip tightened.
"Then what did you find?"
Marcus lowered his voice.
"Records."
"What records?"
"Records showing Harper was involved in Leo's birth."
The world stopped.
Because if Harper Higgins was connected to Leo...
then Hunter was not just the woman who saved the heir.
She was connected to the Rossi family by blood and secrets.
And somewhere beneath the lies...
May you like
was the truth about Sophia's death.
TO BE CONTINUED...
