Chapter 2 - The Man Everyone Feared Came Upstairs
Darkness swallowed the apartment.
Mila gasped.
Her phone slipped in her hand.
“Luca?”
She had called him without realizing it.
He answered on the first ring.
“I’m here.”
The steadiness of his voice immediately cut through the panic.
“The power just went out.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because the entire building still has electricity except your floor.”
Mila turned toward the window.
Across the street, apartment windows glowed warmly.
Below her, the lobby lights remained on.
Only her floor was dark.
Her heart began pounding again.
“Stay away from the windows,” Luca said.
Mila moved automatically.
“Where are you?”
“Stairs.”
She heard something through the phone.
Boots.
Doors.
Men speaking quietly.
Then Luca’s voice became distant as he gave an instruction to someone beside him.
“Check the electrical room. Nobody leaves the building.”
Mila pressed her back against the kitchen wall.
“Luca…”
“I’m thirty seconds away.”
Another sound came from outside her apartment.
Not a knock.
A soft scrape.
Mila stared toward the door.
“Someone’s there.”
Luca stopped breathing for half a second.
“Do not go near it.”
The scrape came again.
Mila backed farther away.
Then the hallway erupted.
A heavy thud.
A man cursed.
Furniture—or maybe a body—hit the wall.
Mila flinched.
Then silence.
Three knocks sounded.
Calm.
Controlled.
“Mila.”
Luca.
She rushed toward the door but stopped before touching the lock.
“How do I know it’s you?”
A pause.
Then his voice came through the wood.
“Because you rescheduled my dentist appointment three times and told me if I canceled again, you would personally remove the tooth.”
Mila blinked.
Despite everything, a startled laugh escaped her.
“That was private.”
“So open the door.”
She unlocked it.
Luca stood in the hallway.
Rain had darkened his hair.
His black suit jacket was wet along the shoulders.
His expression was calm, but his eyes were not.
Behind him stood two men from his security team.
Farther down the hall, a third man was holding Daniel against the wall.
Mila’s stomach turned.
Daniel’s lip was bleeding.
Luca stepped inside.
His attention immediately moved over Mila.
Face.
Hands.
Arms.
Clothing.
He was checking for injuries.
“Did he touch you?”
“No.”
“Did anyone enter the apartment?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Luca closed the door.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
The strange intimacy of the situation suddenly hit Mila.
Her boss was standing inside her apartment after midnight.
She was barefoot, tipsy, and frightened.
He was soaked by rain and carrying the kind of authority that made the entire hallway feel smaller.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
His eyebrows drew together.
“For what?”
“The text.”
Luca stared at her.
“Your apartment was being watched and a man followed you home.”
“I still shouldn’t have—”
“Mila.”
His tone stopped her.
“You asked me to come.”
She looked down.
“And I came.”
Something in his voice made her look up again.
He wasn’t angry.
That somehow made everything more difficult.
Behind him, one of his men appeared in the doorway.
“Mr. Romano.”
Luca turned.
The man held up a small object.
A camera.
Mila stared at it.
“Where did you find that?”
“Smoke detector in the hallway.”
Her stomach dropped.
The security man continued.
“There may be others.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“Search everything.”
Mila crossed her arms over herself.
“How long?”
The guard hesitated.
Luca noticed.
“How long?” he repeated.
“Based on battery life? Maybe two weeks.”
Mila felt suddenly exposed.
Two weeks.
Someone had watched her leave.
Return.
Carry groceries.
Take out trash.
Wait for elevators.
Live.
Luca stepped closer.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“You’re not staying here tonight.”
“I can go to a hotel.”
“No.”
She frowned.
“No?”
“You’re coming with me.”
“That seems excessive.”
“Mila.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
His tone was frustratingly calm.
She crossed her arms.
“You can’t order me around outside the office.”
“I can when someone has placed surveillance equipment outside your apartment.”
“That isn’t how employment law works.”
For the first time all evening, Luca almost smiled.
Almost.
“Fine.”
He stepped closer.
“Please come with me.”
Mila stared at him.
“You hate saying that word.”
“I do.”
“Say it again.”
His mouth twitched.
“No.”
Despite her fear, she smiled.
The moment lasted barely a second.
Then the security guard returned.
“We found something else.”
He handed Luca a photograph.
Luca looked at it.
Every trace of amusement disappeared.
“What is it?” Mila asked.
Luca didn’t answer.
“Luca.”
He turned the photograph over before she could see it.
“Nothing.”
“You’re terrible at lying.”
“I’m excellent at lying.”
“That wasn’t comforting.”
He studied her.
Then handed her the photograph.
Mila’s breath caught.
It showed her leaving Romano Holdings.
Taken from across the street.
A date was printed in the corner.
Three weeks earlier.
Another photo showed her buying coffee.
Another showed her entering the subway.
Another showed her outside a bookstore.
There were dozens.
Mila looked up.
“Why?”
Luca’s expression was unreadable.
“I don’t know yet.”
Yet.
That word carried a promise.
He would find out.
Mila turned toward the hallway.
Daniel was still there.
“Ask him.”
“I intend to.”
“I want to hear.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re shaken.”
“I’m not a child.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“Then don’t protect me from information about my own life.”
That stopped him.
Mila held his gaze.
For two years, she had been quiet around Luca.
Polite.
Professional.
Tonight, perhaps because fear had stripped away caution, she refused to look down.
Finally, Luca nodded once.
“Fine.”
Daniel was brought inside.
The senior manager who normally wore expensive suits and smug confidence now looked terrified.
Not of Mila.
Of Luca.
Luca stood between them.
“Tell her.”
Daniel swallowed.
“I don’t know everything.”
Luca’s voice remained quiet.
“Tell her what you do know.”
Daniel looked at Mila.
“A man approached me about a month ago.”
“What man?”
“I never got his real name.”
“What did he want?”
“Information.”
“About Luca?”
Daniel hesitated.
“About you.”
Mila went still.
“Why?”
“He wanted your schedule. Where you lived. Where you went after work.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Luca stepped forward.
Daniel rushed to continue.
“I swear. He said nobody was going to hurt her.”
“You believed that?” Mila asked.
Daniel looked ashamed.
“He offered money.”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
Mila laughed once, bitterly.
“So that was my price?”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
Luca’s face became terrifyingly blank.
“What changed tonight?” he asked.
Daniel swallowed.
“The man called me.”
“What did he say?”
“He said Mila had been drinking.”
“And?”
“He told me to go to her apartment.”
Mila’s hands curled into fists.
“For what?”
Daniel looked at Luca.
Wrong choice.
Luca took one step closer.
Daniel spoke quickly.
“He wanted me to get her phone.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I swear!”
Luca stared at him.
Then Daniel added:
“He said there was something on it.”
Mila frowned.
“There’s nothing on my phone.”
Daniel shook his head.
“He said you had something you didn’t know you had.”
Silence filled the apartment.
Mila looked toward Luca.
“What does that mean?”
Luca was already thinking.
“Give me your phone.”
She handed it over.
He passed it to his security man.
“Check it.”
The man connected the phone to a small device.
Minutes passed.
Mila stood beside Luca.
Neither spoke.
Finally, the security man frowned.
“There’s an encrypted file buried in local storage.”
Mila stared.
“What?”
“When was it created?”
“Six days ago.”
Luca’s eyes sharpened.
Six days ago.
Mila mentally replayed the week.
Monday.
Office.
Tuesday.
Client dinner.
Wednesday.
Late meeting.
Thursday.
She had worked until almost midnight.
Friday.
Nothing unusual.
“I didn’t download anything.”
The security man continued scanning.
“File name is meaningless. Random numbers.”
“Open it.”
“Encrypted.”
“Can you break it?”
“Eventually.”
Mila wrapped her arms around herself.
Someone had placed something on her phone.
Someone had been watching her.
And somebody had paid Daniel fifty thousand dollars to retrieve it.
Luca looked toward the guard.
“Take the phone. Clone everything.”
Mila immediately protested.
“I need that.”
“You’ll get another one tonight.”
“You can’t just take—”
“Mila.”
She gave him an annoyed look.
He lowered his voice.
“Please.”
Her annoyance faded.
He really hated saying it.
“Fine.”
Daniel was escorted away.
Mila watched from the doorway.
“What happens to him?”
“He won’t work for me again.”
“That’s all?”
Luca glanced at her.
“For tonight.”
Mila decided not to ask.
Ten minutes later, she climbed into Luca’s car.
Rain hammered the roof.
The city passed in blurred streaks.
She sat beside him in the back seat, wrapped in a dry coat one of his men had brought from the car.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
Finally, Mila asked:
“Where are we going?”
“My house.”
She looked at him.
“You have a house?”
“I’ve been told.”
“I assumed you slept in your office.”
“Sometimes.”
She smiled faintly.
The silence returned.
Then Luca said:
“You were right.”
“About what?”
“I knew your address.”
Mila turned.
“So why did you ask me to send it?”
His gaze remained on the rain-covered window.
“Because I wanted you to choose whether I came.”
Her heartbeat changed.
“Why?”
Luca finally looked at her.
“Because I don’t enter your life unless you invite me.”
The words settled between them.
Mila looked away first.
Twenty minutes later, the sedan passed through iron gates.
A large estate emerged through the rain.
Not ostentatious.
But guarded.
Stone walls.
Security cameras.
Private road.
Luca’s world.
Inside, the house was quieter than she expected.
Warm wood.
Books.
Soft lighting.
No gold statues.
No armed men standing dramatically in corners.
Just understated wealth and absolute privacy.
A woman in her sixties greeted Luca.
“Mr. Romano.”
“Elena, this is Mila.”
The woman’s expression changed immediately.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
“Of course.”
Mila frowned.
“Of course?”
Elena smiled.
“I’ve heard your name.”
Mila slowly turned toward Luca.
He looked annoyed.
“Elena.”
“What?” the woman said innocently. “You say it often.”
Mila’s eyebrows rose.
Luca looked away.
That was interesting.
Very interesting.
Elena showed Mila to a guest room.
Dry clothes were waiting.
Tea arrived.
The rain continued outside.
For the first time in hours, Mila felt safe.
Then she remembered the encrypted file.
She found Luca downstairs in his study.
He was standing near the fireplace with his phone pressed to his ear.
“Yes,” he said. “Call me when you have it.”
He ended the call.
“Anything?”
“Not yet.”
Mila entered.
He looked at her.
She had changed into an oversized sweater Elena had found.
For one brief moment, Luca forgot to hide his expression.
His eyes softened.
Then control returned.
“You should sleep.”
“I won’t.”
“I assumed.”
She sat across from him.
“Tell me something.”
“What?”
“Why did Elena know my name?”
Luca leaned back.
“She manages the house.”
“That did not answer my question.”
“No.”
“Do you talk about me?”
“Occasionally.”
“How occasionally?”
“More than never.”
Mila stared.
“That is the most evasive answer I’ve ever heard.”
“You work for me.”
“So do eighty other people.”
He didn’t answer.
Mila’s heart beat harder.
Before she could push, Luca’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed immediately.
“You broke the file?”
A pause.
“What’s inside?”
The room went still.
Luca listened.
Then his eyes moved to Mila.
Something flashed across his face.
Shock.
Actual shock.
Mila stood.
“What?”
He ended the call.
“What is it?”
Luca didn’t answer immediately.
“Luca.”
He looked at her as though seeing her differently.
“The file contains financial records.”
“So?”
“Not ordinary records.”
He walked toward his desk.
“Someone has been moving money through companies connected to Romano Holdings.”
“How much?”
“Nearly forty million dollars.”
Mila’s mouth opened.
“And the records were placed on your phone six days ago.”
“By who?”
“We don’t know.”
“Why me?”
Luca was silent.
Then his security chief entered without knocking.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We found how the file got onto her phone.”
Mila turned.
“How?”
The man placed a photograph on Luca’s desk.
Security footage.
Office hallway.
Late Thursday night.
A person stood beside Mila’s desk.
Uploading something to her phone.
Mila leaned closer.
The image was blurred.
But not blurred enough.
She recognized the person immediately.
Her stomach dropped.
“That’s impossible.”
Luca stared at the photograph.
The man in the image was someone Mila saw every day.
Someone Luca trusted.
Someone who had unrestricted access to the executive floor.
Luca’s voice went cold.
“Call him.”
His security chief hesitated.
“We already tried.”
“And?”
“He’s gone.”
“Gone where?”
“Nobody knows.”
Mila looked again at the photograph.
Then noticed something on the man’s wrist.
A silver watch.
She knew that watch.
She had ordered it herself as a company anniversary gift.
The man planting the file on her phone was Luca Romano’s oldest friend.
His second-in-command.
Adrian Vale.
And written across the bottom of the stolen financial documents was a single sentence:
May you like
If Mila Bennett has this file, Luca Romano has already been betrayed.
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