Chapter 2 - The Platinum Watch and the Freight Boss
"And during the week?" Gabriel repeated.
"I teach fourth grade," Hannah said flatly, keeping the jacket extended.
He didn't take it.
"A fourth-grade teacher who caters on weekends and hides from corrupt ex-detectives employed by Thomas Archer." Gabriel’s gaze dropped to the silver locket resting against her collarbone, then back to her eyes. "That's a lot of overtime, Miss..."
"Reed. Hannah Reed."
Gabriel’s brow furrowed, just a fraction.
"Reed," he murmured. "Any relation to David Reed?"
Hannah’s hand dropped. The jacket slid off her arm and pooled silently onto the stone terrace.
"How do you know my brother-in-law?" she whispered.
David was the reason for the catering job. The reason for the hiding. The reason Warren Pike was hunting her in a ballroom full of billionaires.
"I don't," Gabriel said, leaning down to pick up his jacket, brushing off a stray leaf. "But I know Thomas Archer. He’s a property developer with a fondness for acquiring waterfront real estate slightly below market value. Usually through aggressive zoning leverage or sudden, tragic bankruptcies of the previous owners."
He looked at her, his dark eyes missing nothing.
"Six months ago, Archer acquired a large tract of land in the South Loop. A project managed by an independent contractor named David Reed. A contractor who died in a car accident three weeks ago."
Hannah’s throat closed.
Three weeks ago.
The phone call in the middle of the night. The flashing lights. The grim police officer telling her that David’s car had missed a curve and plunged into the river. He had left behind massive, inexplicable debts, a ruined contracting business, and Lily.
Her seven-year-old niece.
"It wasn't an accident," Hannah said, the words spilling out before her common sense could stop them. "David was a meticulous driver. He never drank. He wouldn't have missed that curve."
"I agree," Gabriel said simply.
Hannah stared at him. "You agree?"
"Warren Pike doesn't follow catering staff to charity galas unless there is a loose end that needs clipping." Gabriel stepped closer, forcing her to look up at him. "What did David give you, Hannah?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"If you want to survive the night, you need to stop lying to me."
"I'm not!" She backed away until her spine hit the stone railing overlooking the river. "He didn't give me anything! I was cleaning out his apartment so I could move Lily into my place. I found... things. Discrepancies."
"Financial records."
"Emails," she corrected softly. "Printouts hidden in a false bottom of his toolbox. Archer wasn't just acquiring land. He was burying toxic waste beneath the foundation of the new residential high-rises. Massive amounts of it. It’s illegal, it’s dangerous, and it saves Archer millions in disposal fees. David found out. He threatened to go to the EPA."
"And two days later, his car goes into the river," Gabriel deduced, his voice low and dangerous.
"Yes. And yesterday, Pike showed up at my school. Asking questions about David’s 'missing personal effects.'" Hannah shivered, though not entirely from the cold this time. "I told him I threw everything away. But he didn't believe me."
"Because you have the printouts."
Hannah hesitated. She was talking to Gabriel Moretti. Her sister had warned her about men like him. But right now, the man standing in front of her was the only reason Pike hadn't dragged her into an alley.
"I have a flash drive," she admitted quietly. "I hid it."
"Where?"
"Somewhere safe."
Gabriel stared at her for a long moment. Then, surprisingly, he nodded.
"Smart," he acknowledged. "Keep it there. But Archer knows you have something, and he sent Pike to retrieve it. Pike called Archer when he realized you weren't alone. They are re-evaluating their approach."
"I have to go to the police," Hannah said, her voice rising slightly in panic.
"Pike was the police, Hannah," Gabriel reminded her coldly. "He still has friends on the force. If you walk into a precinct with that drive, it will disappear into an evidence locker, and you’ll likely suffer a tragic accident on your way home."
"Then what do I do?"
"You leave this party with me."
Hannah blinked. "Excuse me?"
"You grabbed my arm and pretended we were intimately acquainted," Gabriel pointed out, a faint trace of amusement returning to his eyes. "We are going to make Pike believe it wasn't an act. We are going to walk out of the front lobby together. I will put you in my car, and I will drive you home."
"Why?" she demanded. "Why would you help me? We don't know each other."
Gabriel looked out over the black water of the Chicago River. For a second, the dangerous aura surrounding him vanished, replaced by a shadow of something deeply weary.
"Let’s just say Thomas Archer and I have overlapping business interests," Gabriel said softly. "And I prefer my competitors to operate in the light. If Archer is burying toxic waste on prime real estate, he’s destabilizing the market. It’s bad for business."
It was a cold, calculating answer. It felt honest.
"My niece is with a babysitter," Hannah said, her protective instincts flaring. "I can't bring trouble to her."
"My men are already securing the perimeter of your apartment building," Gabriel said.
Hannah froze. "How do you know where I live?"
Gabriel looked back at her, his expression unreadable.
"Elias checked your catering credentials while we were talking," he said. "I like to know who is holding onto my arm."
He extended his hand. Not a demand, but an offer.
"Shall we?"
Hannah looked at his hand. The gold cufflink catching the dim light. The faint scar across his knuckles.
She placed her hand in his.
His grip was warm and solid. He didn't pull her. He simply guided her back toward the French doors leading into the ballroom.
"Smile, Hannah," Gabriel murmured as the music washed over them again. "You’re having a wonderful time."
They walked across the ballroom floor. Hannah felt the weight of hundreds of eyes on them. Gabriel Moretti did not walk through a room unnoticed. But she also felt a strange, terrifying sense of security.
They reached the grand staircase leading to the lobby.
As they descended, Hannah saw Elias waiting near the exit. But he wasn't alone.
Standing near the coat check, arguing quietly with a hotel security guard, was Warren Pike.
Pike looked up. His eyes locked onto Hannah, then shifted to Gabriel’s hand resting firmly on the small of her back.
Pike’s face darkened, but he didn't move forward.
Gabriel didn't break his stride. He walked Hannah directly past Pike, ignoring the ex-detective entirely.
They stepped out into the freezing October night. A sleek, black armored SUV idled at the curb.
Elias opened the rear door.
"Get in," Gabriel said.
Hannah slid into the plush leather seat. Gabriel climbed in beside her.
"My apartment is in Logan Square," she said nervously as the car pulled into traffic.
"I know," Gabriel replied, checking his phone.
He frowned.
"Elias," Gabriel said, his voice suddenly sharp. "Call Marcus. The perimeter team at Logan Square isn't checking in."
Hannah’s heart stopped.
"What?" she breathed.
Elias tapped an earpiece. "Boss. Marcus isn't responding. Neither is the secondary team."
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Gabriel looked at Hannah, the calm facade finally fracturing.
"Pike wasn't calling Archer to re-evaluate," Gabriel said, his voice a low, lethal rumble. "He was calling him to authorize a hit on your apartment."
