The Plus-Size Woman Paid a Stranger $200 to Pretend He Loved Her at Her Sister’s Wedding
Part 2
Nicholas fired twice.
The gunmen collapsed with shattered knees, and Nicholas dragged Linda toward the armored Audi before the approaching sirens reached the alley.
He drove into the underground streets beneath Chicago, his hands steady on the wheel while Linda sat barefoot beside him in her torn burgundy gown.
“You’re not in waste management,” she whispered.
“I am Nicholas Russo, head of the Chicago syndicate.”
The truth made the air disappear from her lungs.
“You used me. You saw a desperate fat woman and decided I would make a convenient shield.”
Nicholas slammed on the brakes.
The car stopped beneath flickering orange lights.
He turned toward her.
“Never speak about yourself that way in front of me again.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I know you entered a ballroom filled with people who had taught you to feel ashamed, and you still walked through the door.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I barely fit inside your car.”
“And I adjusted the seat belt.”
“You could have any woman you wanted.”
Nicholas took her face gently between his hands.
“I live among people who lie with every breath. You are the most honest person I have met in years.”
His thumbs wiped away her tears.
“You are beautiful, Linda. Not despite your body. Not after you change it. Now.”
She searched his expression for cruelty and found none.
Nicholas drove her to a fortified penthouse in Fulton Market. Armed men flooded the hallways while an older lieutenant brought Linda tea and clean clothes.
After ordering the Morettis to withdraw, Nicholas sat beside her.
“What happens now?” she asked. “Do I go home?”
He removed the two hundred-dollar bills from his pocket and placed them on the table.
“I’m keeping these.”
“You said I could pay after the wedding.”
“They are a retainer.”
“For what?”
“For the opportunity to prove that tonight was not an act.”
Linda’s heart pounded.
“I manage a paper supply branch. I bake bread when I’m nervous. I am not made for your world.”
“I will handle my world.”
He leaned closer.
“You only have to decide whether you want to know the man beneath it.”
Before she could answer, his lieutenant entered with a phone.
“Boss, Moretti knows the woman’s name.”
May you like
Nicholas rose.
Linda saw the dread he tried to hide.
