The Crime Boss’s Son Asked a Billionaire Stranger for Her Empty Chair... Then She Saw the Necklace She Had Fastened Around Her Missing Baby
·Part 2: “I asked Ms. Carter if I could sit with her.”
Adrian’s gaze shifted to Emily.
She felt herself being measured in the space of a breath. Wealth. Influence. Threat. Motive.
“My apologies,” he said in flawless, emotionless English. “My son occasionally forgets that strangers may prefer privacy.”
“He asked permission.”
“That does not make his decision appropriate.”
“He saw someone sitting alone and tried to be kind. I would hesitate before punishing him for that.”
One of the bodyguards looked as though Emily had stepped in front of a moving train.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“You speak freely.”
“So do people who have nothing to hide.”
A flicker of something passed through his face. It might have been irritation. It might have been reluctant amusement.
His hand settled on Evan’s shoulder.
“We are leaving.”
Panic rose inside Emily as sharply as a blade.
The last time her son had been carried through a pair of closing doors, she had spent seven years trying to find out what waited on the other side.
“Mr. Kane, please wait.”
Adrian paused.
Emily stood, forcing her legs to remain steady.
The silver pendant had disappeared beneath Evan’s shirt again.
“The necklace your son is wearing,” she said. “Where did he get it?”
Adrian did not answer immediately.
His fingers tightened almost imperceptibly on Evan’s shoulder.
“It came with him.”
“From where?”
“Why does that concern you?”
Emily looked at Evan. She could not release the truth in a crowded restaurant beneath the eyes of armed men and curious strangers. Not when one accusation might cause Adrian to close every door before she could prove anything.
“I recognize the craftsmanship.”
“You recognize an imperfect piece of silver jewelry?”
“I used to make jewelry.”
The lie was incomplete enough to sound like one.
Adrian knew it.
His gaze remained on her face for several seconds before he turned toward the exit.
“Good evening, Ms. Carter.”
Evan looked back as his father guided him away.
“I hope I see you again.”
Emily’s throat closed.
“So do I.”
The boy disappeared through the doors.
Only then did Emily sit down because her knees could no longer support her.
Her phone was already in her hand.
Michael Reed, her chief legal officer and oldest friend, answered on the third ring.
“Emily, it’s after midnight in California. Is something wrong?”
May you like
“Cancel tomorrow’s meetings.”
“What happened?”
