Chapter 3: The Warning
Clara stared at the message until the words blurred.
For a moment, she forgot how to breathe.
Then she remembered Leo.
She locked her phone immediately.
Too late.
Rico had already seen her expression.
“What is it?””
“Nothing.””
His eyes narrowed.
“That answer has never worked on me.””
Clara looked around the empty restaurant.
“I need to go.””
Leo immediately looked up.
“No.””
The small voice broke something in the room.
Clara looked at him.
“I have to, sweetheart.””
He shook his head.
“No go.””
Rico watched silently.
Six months.
Six months of doctors telling him his son needed stability.
Six months of therapists saying Leo needed connection.
And somehow, in one evening, a waitress had become someone his son was afraid to lose.
“Clara.””
She looked at Rico.
“Please.””
That word surprised her.
Not because he said it.
Because of how he said it.
Not as a command.
As a father.
She sat back down.
“Someone threatened me.””
Dante immediately moved.
“Who?””
“I don’t know.””
Rico’s expression changed.
“Show me.””
Clara hesitated.
Then handed him the phone.
Rico read the message.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
Dante looked over his shoulder.
“Sir.””
Rico didn’t answer.
He read the message again.
Then again.
Finally, he placed the phone on the table.
“Who else knows?””
“No one.””
“Are you sure?””
“Yes.””
Rico looked at her.
“Why did they send it?””
Clara gave a humorless laugh.
“Maybe because I’m a waitress who accidentally became friends with your son.””
Rico didn’t smile.
“People don’t threaten strangers.””
A silence followed.
Clara looked at Leo.
“Your son has a lot of enemies.””
Rico’s face hardened.
“My son has no enemies.””
The words were immediate.
Protective.
Clara held his gaze.
“Then someone is using him to hurt you.””
Rico said nothing.
Because she was right.
Dante stepped away and made a call.
Rico picked up Clara’s phone.
“You’re staying somewhere else tonight.””
“What?””
“My security will take you home.””
“No.””
His eyebrow lifted.
“No?””
“I don’t need a bodyguard.””
“You received a death threat.””
“And you have a three-year-old who finally stopped crying because he trusts me. I’m not running away the first time things get difficult.””
Rico stared at her.
“You have no idea what you’re involved in.””
Clara’s voice softened.
“Neither does he.””
She pointed toward Leo.
“He’s three. He didn’t choose your life.””
The words hit.
Hard.
Rico looked at his son.
And for once, he didn’t see an heir.
He didn’t see the Moretti name.
He saw a little boy who just wanted his mother.
Leo yawned.
His fingers were still wrapped around Clara’s hand.
Dante returned.
“Sir.””
Rico looked up.
“We traced the number.””
“And?””
Dante’s expression was grim.
“It came from inside the Moretti organization.””
The silence that followed felt heavier than any threat.
Clara slowly looked at Rico.
Someone close.
Someone trusted.
Someone who knew exactly where to hurt him.
Rico stood.
“Lock down the building.””
Dante nodded.
“Already done.””
Rico looked toward Leo.
Then Clara.
“From this moment forward, you don’t go anywhere alone.””
Clara opened her mouth to argue.
Then she saw his face.
Not anger.
Fear.
The same fear she had seen when he watched Leo hold her hand.
The fear of losing someone else.
Before she could answer, Dante’s phone rang.
He listened.
His face changed.
“Sir…”
Rico turned.
“What?””
Dante swallowed.
“The person who sent the message left another one.””
“Where?””
Dante looked toward Leo.
“On the old security camera system.””
Rico went still.
“Play it.””
Dante connected the device.
The screen flickered.
Static.
Then a figure appeared.
A voice filled the empty restaurant.
May you like
And when Rico heard the first words, all the blood drained from his face.
Because the person speaking was someone he thought was dead.
