Chapter 1 - THE WOMAN IN THE RAIN
The first thing Ellie Hughes tasted was blood.
The second was rain.
The third was the realization that the man she had married had finally stopped pretending he cared whether she lived.
Minutes earlier, she had been sitting beside Philip Hughes in his silver BMW while an October storm swallowed Chicago.
At the charity gala, everything had looked perfect.
Crystal chandeliers.
Champagne.
Photographers.
Philip shaking hands with men worth more money than most families would see in ten lifetimes.
And Ellie standing beside him in a black evening gown she had chosen because, for the first time in months, she wanted to wear something that made her feel beautiful.
Philip hated it immediately.
He had leaned toward her before they left home.
“That dress is ambitious.”
Ellie had stared at him through the mirror.
“What does that mean?”
“It means people notice things.”
“Like what?”
Philip had smiled.
It was the kind of smile other people mistook for charm.
“You know exactly what I mean.”
Ellie was thirty.
Five feet six.
Soft around the stomach.
Full hips.
Round cheeks.
A body Philip had once said made every room warmer.
That was before his company began appearing in business magazines.
Before he started spending weekends with investors who treated their wives like carefully selected accessories.
Before Ellie noticed that every compliment from her husband had slowly transformed into an instruction.
Don’t order dessert.
Wear the darker coat.
Maybe stand differently in pictures.
People judge successful men by the women standing beside them.
At the gala, a photographer had asked Ellie to step closer.
She had.
Philip’s hand went around her waist.
His fingers pinched.
Hard.
“Stand straight,” he whispered.
Ellie moved away.
The photographer laughed nervously.
Philip did not.
Inside the BMW afterward, he finally exploded.
“You embarrassed me.”
Ellie stared through the rain-streaked window.
“How?”
“You pulled away in front of everyone.”
“Because you were hurting me.”
“I was trying to help you look presentable.”
Ellie turned.
Something that had been quietly breaking inside her for years finally snapped into place.
“You don’t know my body better than I do.”
Philip’s hand left the steering wheel.
His signet ring struck her cheek.
Her head hit the passenger window.
For several seconds she heard nothing except ringing.
Then she tasted blood.
Philip stared straight ahead.
“Look what you made me do.”
Ellie touched her mouth.
Her fingertips came away red.
“You hit me.”
“You provoked me.”
“You hit me.”
“You’re being hysterical.”
Ellie looked at the perfectly tailored man beside her.
The husband who had donated fifty thousand dollars to a women’s shelter less than an hour earlier.
The man applauded by a ballroom full of strangers.
“You’re disgusting.”
Philip went silent.
Then he accelerated.
The restaurants disappeared.
The city lights thinned.
Warehouses rose around them.
“Where are we going?”
Philip said nothing.
“Philip.”
He stopped beside an abandoned loading yard.
Then unlocked her door.
“Get out.”
Ellie looked outside.
Rain hammered the asphalt.
“No.”
Philip leaned over.
“Get out of my car.”
“No.”
His hand closed around her arm.
Ellie jerked away.
“Stop!”
He grabbed her hair.
She screamed.
Philip pulled harder.
Ellie kicked against the console.
Her heel caught the edge of the door.
For half a second she was suspended between the car and the storm.
Then Philip shoved.
Shoulder.
Hip.
Ribs.
Asphalt.
Pain exploded through her body.
Cold rainwater rushed beneath her torn gown.
Philip stood over her.
“You should be grateful I tolerated you this long.”
Then he got back into his BMW.
Ellie stared through the rain.
“You’re leaving me?”
The engine started.
“Philip!”
Red taillights disappeared into the storm.
Ellie tried to stand.
Her left arm refused.
Pain stabbed beneath her ribs.
She sank back to the ground.
Her purse was still inside the car.
So was her phone.
She had no coat.
No money.
No way to call anyone.
Minutes passed.
Maybe ten.
Maybe twenty.
Her thoughts began drifting.
She closed her eyes.
Just for a moment.
Headlights suddenly appeared through the rain.
Three black vehicles.
They slowed.
Stopped.
Several doors opened.
A man’s voice cut through the storm.
“Boss. Someone’s down.”
Footsteps approached.
Ellie forced her eyes open.
A man crouched several feet away.
Tall.
Dark hair.
Long charcoal coat.
Gray eyes that looked strangely calm.
Four other men stood behind him.
None looked at Ellie.
They watched him.
Whoever this stranger was, he was the person they feared.
His gaze traveled across Ellie’s torn gown.
Her cheek.
Her bruised arm.
The blood at the corner of her mouth.
Then he looked toward the road.
“No skid marks.”
One of the men frowned.
“Boss?”
“She wasn’t hit by a car.”
His eyes settled on the bruises forming around her upper arm.
Finger marks.
“She was thrown.”
Ellie whispered, “Don’t touch me.”
The stranger immediately stopped moving.
Not annoyance.
Not irritation.
He simply stopped.
Then slowly removed his coat.
“I’m going to cover you.”
Ellie looked at the expensive charcoal fabric.
“My dress is filthy.”
Something changed in his expression.
Not pity.
Something colder.
“Your dress is not the problem.”
He placed the coat over her without touching her skin.
Warmth surrounded Ellie.
“Can you tell me your name?”
“Ellie.”
“Ellie what?”
She hesitated.
“Hughes.”
For the first time, one of the men behind him reacted.
“Boss.”
The stranger looked back.
“What?”
“Philip Hughes’s wife.”
Silence.
Rain struck metal roofs around them.
The stranger’s face became unreadable.
Ellie whispered, “You know him?”
His eyes returned to her.
“Yes.”
“How?”
The man stood.
His men straightened instantly.
“My name is Adrian Moretti.”
Ellie’s blood turned cold.
Even she knew that name.
Everyone in Chicago did.
Businessman.
Nightclub owner.
Shipping magnate.
And, depending on who was whispering, the most feared man in the city.
Adrian looked at the road where Philip had disappeared.
Then he said quietly:
“Unfortunately for your husband, I know him very well.”
May you like
And that was the moment Ellie Hughes realized the storm had not ended.
It had only changed direction.
