Chapter 3 - The Ghost of the Chesapeake
Mara spent the afternoon sitting by the massive stone fireplace in Adrian’s study, staring into the dancing flames.
Her mind inevitably drifted back to the yacht party on the Chesapeake Bay, the night that had changed her destiny forever.
Blake had forced her to attend, demanding she smile and play the perfect, obedient accessory for his wealthy clients.
When Blake had abandoned her to gamble in the lower deck, Mara had sneaked away to the quiet of the upper balcony to cry in the dark.
That was where she had found Adrian Moretti, bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to his side, hiding in the shadows.
Her nursing instincts had taken over, overriding her fear as she used her silk scarf and a stolen bottle of vodka to clean and bind his wound.
Adrian had watched her work in stunned silence, mesmerized by the gentle hands of a stranger who asked for absolutely nothing in return.
In that fleeting hour of shared vulnerability, two broken people had found a desperate, consuming spark in the darkness.
One moment of reckless passion against the moonlit railing had resulted in the secret she now carried in her womb.
Adrian had given her a small, silver panic button that night, telling her to press it only if her life was ever in absolute peril.
“I thought you would forget about me,” Mara said aloud, realizing Adrian had quietly entered the study.
He walked over to the fireplace, the orange light casting harsh shadows across the pale scar on his eyebrow.
“I have had men watching your apartment building every single day since that night on the boat,” Adrian confessed.
Mara gasped, looking up at him in shock.
“If you were watching, why didn't you stop him from hurting me?” she demanded, a sudden flash of anger cutting through her grief.
Adrian knelt in front of her chair, looking up with an expression of pure agony.
“Because my world is a war zone, Mara, and bringing you into it forcibly would have made you a target for my enemies,” he explained desperately.
He reached out, his fingertips brushing a stray tear from her cheek with heartbreaking gentleness.
“I had to wait until you made the choice to ask for my help, until you pressed the button,” he whispered.
May you like
Mara closed her eyes, leaning into the warmth of his large, calloused hand.
“I’m pressing it now,” she told him fiercely. “I want him destroyed.”
