Chapter 3 - The Price of Saving Roman Vale
Gabriel moved before Naen understood what was happening.
“Inside.”
He pushed the door closed.
Naen grabbed Leo.
“What was that?”
Gabriel looked through the blinds.
The sedan was already moving.
“Pack a bag.”
“No.”
“Ms. Walker—”
“This is my home.”
“And someone just photographed your child.”
That ended the argument.
Naen packed in four minutes.
Two changes of clothes.
Leo's dinosaur.
Medicine.
His favorite cereal because panic apparently didn't cancel breakfast.
Gabriel drove them to a gated property outside the city.
Naen expected a mansion designed to announce wealth.
Roman's house surprised her.
Large, yes.
But quiet.
Stone.
Glass.
Trees.
No gold lions.
No marble fountains.
Roman stood inside the entrance when they arrived.
He leaned heavily on his cane.
Naen stopped.
“You should be in bed.”
“You sound like my doctor.”
“Your doctor is probably smarter than you.”
Roman's gaze shifted to Leo.
The little boy stared at him.
“Your leg is broken.”
“Not exactly.”
“Did a dinosaur bite you?”
Roman considered.
“Yes.”
Naen stared at him.
Roman shrugged.
“It's easier.”
Leo nodded seriously.
“Which dinosaur?”
Roman looked helplessly at Naen.
She smiled despite herself.
“Careful. There are wrong answers.”
“Tyrannosaurus.”
Leo's face lit up.
“Cool.”
And just like that, Roman Vale—the man newspapers called an underworld king—had passed Leo's test.
For the next two days, Naen remained at the house while Gabriel's team investigated the sedan.
Roman gave her space.
That surprised her.
He never asked her to eat with him.
Never demanded conversation.
Never acted as if saving his life entitled him to hers.
But Leo destroyed boundaries naturally.
By breakfast on the second morning, he had convinced Roman to build a dinosaur puzzle.
Roman was terrible at it.
“You own restaurants,” Naen said from the doorway.
Roman looked up.
“That has nothing to do with prehistoric reptiles.”
“You've put the triceratops upside down.”
Roman looked at the piece.
“So I have.”
Leo giggled.
Naen found herself laughing too.
For one brief moment, everything felt normal.
Then Roman's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Where?”
He listened.
“Don't touch anything.”
Naen's smile disappeared.
“What happened?”
Roman looked at Leo.
“Gabriel, take him to the kitchen.”
Naen crossed her arms.
“No secrets about things that involve us.”
Roman waited until Leo left.
Then he said, “Your apartment was searched.”
Naen's stomach dropped.
“Robbed?”
“No valuables taken.”
“Then what were they looking for?”
“We don't know.”
Naen thought.
“My phone?”
Roman nodded.
“The phone you had in the alley.”
“But it died.”
“Maybe someone believes it recorded something.”
Naen remembered Roman's warning.
Walk away.
The black SUV.
His armed men.
“What happened before I found you?”
Roman was silent.
“Tell me.”
He walked toward the windows.
“My organization has been changing.”
“What does that mean?”
“My father built his power through things I won't defend.”
Naen waited.
“When I took control, I started moving legitimate operations away from everything else. Restaurants. Construction. Property. Shipping.”
“And somebody doesn't like that.”
“My uncle Victor.”
“Your uncle tried to kill you?”
Roman looked at her.
“I believe so.”
Naen sank into a chair.
“This is insane.”
“Yes.”
“I served onion soup three days ago.”
“I know.”
“I worried about table twelve complaining their wine was too warm.”
Roman nodded.
“Now someone is searching my apartment because I stopped you from bleeding to death.”
“Yes.”
Naen glared.
“You could at least pretend this is unusual.”
“For me, it isn't.”
“For me, it is!”
Roman's expression softened.
“I know.”
That quiet answer took some of her anger away.
He sat opposite her.
“I can send you somewhere safe.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere.”
“And Leo's school? My apartment? My life?”
Roman had no answer.
Naen rubbed her temples.
“I don't want your money.”
“I know.”
“I don't want to become part of your world.”
“I know that too.”
“Then why do I feel like it's already happened?”
Roman looked at her for a long time.
“Because you stopped in that alley.”
Naen's eyes burned.
“I couldn't let someone die.”
“And that's exactly why people like you are dangerous to people like me.”
“What does that mean?”
“You still believe lives matter more than consequences.”
Naen stared.
Roman's voice lowered.
“I'd forgotten people like that existed.”
The room became very quiet.
Naen looked away first.
That afternoon, she accepted the interview with Laura Restaurant Group.
Not because Roman offered it.
Because she needed a future.
The interview was conducted by an executive named Miriam Cole, not Roman.
Miriam was fifty, sharp-eyed and unimpressed by everything.
She asked Naen about inventory, staff conflicts, customer complaints and scheduling.
Naen answered honestly.
At the end, Miriam closed the folder.
“Roman told me not to hire you unless you earned it.”
Naen blinked.
“And?”
“You earned it.”
Naen's throat tightened.
“Really?”
“Assistant operations coordinator. Ninety-day trial.”
The salary was almost twice what she had made.
Health insurance began immediately.
Naen nearly cried.
Instead she shook Miriam's hand.
“Thank you.”
“Thank yourself.”
That night, Naen found Roman on the terrace.
Rain had stopped.
The city glowed in the distance.
“I got the job.”
“I heard.”
“You stayed out of it?”
“Yes.”
“Completely?”
Roman looked offended.
“Mostly.”
“Roman.”
“I told Miriam to be harder on you than the other applicants.”
Naen stared.
“That's not staying out of it.”
“I thought you'd complain if I made it easier.”
She tried not to smile.
“You're impossible.”
“I've also heard that.”
She leaned against the railing.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For giving me the chance without giving me the answer.”
Roman looked at her.
Something quiet passed between them.
Naen noticed how tired he looked.
“How bad does your side hurt?”
“Less.”
“Lie.”
“Quite a lot.”
“Better.”
He smiled.
Then Gabriel stepped onto the terrace.
“Boss.”
Roman turned.
Gabriel held a plastic evidence bag.
Inside was Naen's broken phone.
She stared.
“That was in my apartment.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel's expression was grim.
“They found it before we did.”
Roman straightened.
“But?”
Gabriel held up a tiny memory card.
“They missed this.”
Naen frowned.
“My phone doesn't have a memory card.”
Roman and Gabriel exchanged looks.
Naen's skin prickled.
“What?”
Gabriel placed the card on the table.
“It was hidden inside your phone case.”
“By who?”
“We don't know.”
Roman stared at it.
“Play it.”
Gabriel inserted it into a secure laptop.
A video appeared.
Dark.
Shaky.
Recorded from somewhere high above the alley.
Naen watched herself approaching Roman.
But the recording had started before she arrived.
A second figure stood over Roman.
Naen leaned closer.
The man's face appeared for only two seconds.
Roman went completely still.
“Impossible.”
Naen looked at him.
“You know him?”
Roman's face had lost its color.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
His answer came almost soundlessly.
“My brother.”
Naen frowned.
“You told me your brother died.”
Roman looked at the frozen image.
May you like
“He did.”
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