Chapter 4 - The Price of Two Children
Zo arrived in twelve minutes.
Tessa had never seen him like that.
The polished businessman was gone.
In his place stood the man everyone at the estate feared.
Quiet.
Focused.
Dangerously calm.
Gabe entered behind him.
“Building cameras?”
“Checking.”
“Street?”
“Already pulling feeds.”
Zo turned toward Tessa.
“Give me the note.”
She handed it over.
Daniel wanted $250,000.
Cash.
The instructions were simple.
No police.
No tricks.
And one sentence revealed the truth.
Your rich boss can afford it.
Zo folded the note.
“This isn't about you anymore.”
Tessa stared at him.
“It was always about me.”
“No. Your father saw me here.”
Her eyes widened.
“He knew you came?”
“He must have been watching.”
Tessa covered her mouth.
Zo understood immediately.
Daniel had seen a black luxury SUV.
He had seen Zo.
He had assumed Tessa's relationship with her employer meant money.
“What do we do?”
“We get them back.”
“What if he hurts them?”
“He won't.”
“How can you know?”
“Because right now they're valuable to him.”
Tessa flinched.
Zo regretted the words.
He softened his tone.
“He needs them safe if he expects payment.”
She nodded, trying to breathe.
Gabe's phone buzzed.
“We found the car.”
Zo turned.
“Where?”
“Southbound forty minutes ago.”
The hunt began.
For hours, Tessa sat in Zo's car while his people tracked cameras, license plates and phone records.
Zo could have ordered her home.
He didn't.
Near midnight, Gabe found the location.
An abandoned auto shop outside the city.
Tessa reached for the door.
Zo stopped her.
“You stay here.”
“They're my family.”
“And that is exactly why you stay.”
“No.”
“Tessa.”
“No!”
Her voice broke.
“I have spent three years being their mother, father, sister, everything. You don't get to tell me to sit in a car while they're inside.”
Zo looked at her.
Then nodded.
“But you stay behind me.”
They entered through a side door.
The building smelled of rust and oil.
Zo moved ahead.
Tessa followed.
Then she heard Lily crying.
Every instinct inside her exploded.
“Lily!”
She ran.
Zo cursed and followed.
A door opened.
Daniel Cole appeared.
He looked older than Tessa remembered.
His eyes were sunken.
His clothes hung from his body.
But she knew him instantly.
“Dad.”
Daniel smiled.
“There's my girl.”
“Where are they?”
“Safe.”
“You took your own children.”
“They're my children too.”
“You abandoned them!”
Daniel's smile vanished.
“Watch your mouth.”
Zo stepped forward.
Daniel noticed him.
“So you're Rossi.”
Zo's expression revealed nothing.
“Let them go.”
“Money first.”
“You don't have leverage anymore.”
A second door opened.
Evan emerged with Lily behind him.
“Tess!”
Tessa rushed toward them.
Daniel grabbed her arm.
Zo moved instantly.
“Take your hand off her.”
Daniel froze.
There was something in Zo's voice that required no explanation.
He released Tessa.
She grabbed Lily.
Evan wrapped his arms around both of them.
Daniel looked at Zo.
“My money.”
Zo stared at him.
“You're standing here demanding payment after kidnapping your own children.”
“You have no idea what I owe.”
“I don't care.”
“They'll kill me.”
“That sounds like your problem.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“You think you're better than me?”
Zo said nothing.
“You're a criminal in a nicer suit.”
Tessa looked at Zo.
For the first time, the difference between rumor and reality stood directly in front of her.
Zo did not deny it.
Daniel continued.
“You think she knows who you are?”
“Tessa knows enough.”
“No,” Daniel said. “She doesn't.”
Zo's eyes narrowed.
Daniel smiled.
“Tell her why her application got accepted.”
Silence.
Tessa looked between them.
“What?”
Daniel laughed.
“You think you just happened to get a job at the Rossi estate?”
Zo's face changed.
Only slightly.
But Tessa saw it.
“Zo?”
It was the first time she had called him by his first name.
“What is he talking about?”
Zo didn't answer.
Daniel did.
“Ask him who your mother worked for.”
Tessa's face emptied.
“My mother was a waitress.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not always.”
“Stop,” Zo said.
Daniel grinned.
“Why? Afraid she'll learn the truth?”
Tessa stared at Zo.
“What truth?”
Behind her, Lily began crying again.
Evan held her.
Zo's gaze remained on Daniel.
Then Daniel delivered the sentence that changed everything.
“Your mother saved a Rossi's life twenty-seven years ago.”
Tessa stopped breathing.
May you like
Daniel looked directly at her.
“And that's why Zo Rossi knew your name long before you ever walked into his house.”
