Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Sold the Secret
Her name was Ava Bennett.
She had been my best friend for almost five years.
Ava had helped me build Carmichael Interiors from a rented desk in a shared office space. She had watched Leo when I had late client meetings. She had brought soup when he had the flu and helped decorate his room with glow-in-the-dark stars.
She knew everything.
Everything except Storm’s name.
I had told her Leo’s father was dead.
I had told her that part of my past was dangerous.
I had never explained why.
Now Storm’s men showed me security footage from the One Dalton hotel.
Ava stood in the lobby the day before my appointment.
She was speaking to a man in a dark coat.
The man had a black crown tattoo on his wrist.
My knees nearly gave out.
“That doesn’t prove she knew,” I said.
Storm watched me.
“She transferred money to an account connected to Rusk’s organization.”
“No.”
“Juliet—”
“No.” I shook my head. “Ava would never do that.”
Matteo placed a folder on the table.
Inside were bank statements.
Phone records.
Photographs.
Ava meeting the same man outside a coffee shop near my studio.
Ava entering a warehouse in Brooklyn.
Ava receiving an envelope.
The evidence was impossible to deny.
But I still could not breathe.
“She knew I was going to the hotel,” I whispered. “She was the one who told me to take the job. She said it could save the studio.”
Storm’s expression hardened.
“She put you in front of me.”
“Why?”
“Because Rusk needed proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Storm looked toward Leo’s room.
“Proof that I had a weakness.”
The truth hit me all at once.
Ava had not simply leaked information.
She had helped arrange the entire meeting.
The “requested consultation.”
The hotel job.
The timing.
The silver toy car rolling across the lobby.
None of it had been an accident.
Rusk had wanted Storm to see Leo.
He wanted Storm to know.
And now he wanted to use my son as leverage.
My hands began shaking.
Storm stepped closer but stopped before touching me.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
I looked at him.
“For what?”
“For every reason you had to run.”
The words hurt because they were true.
Before I could answer, the security system chimed.
A video call appeared on the large screen in the library.
Ava’s face filled the screen.
She was crying.
“Juliet,” she said. “Please don’t hang up.”
I stared at her.
“Ava.”
“I didn’t know they would shoot at the hotel.”
“You knew they were watching me.”
“I was desperate.”
“For money?”
Her face crumpled.
“My brother owes people. Serious people. Rusk’s people. They said if I helped them, they would erase the debt.”
“So you sold my son?”
“I didn’t know he was Storm Moretti’s child.”
“You knew he was my child.”
Ava sobbed.
“They said they only needed you at the hotel. They said they were going to pressure Storm, not hurt anyone.”
Storm stepped into view.
Ava went silent.
His voice was calm enough to be terrifying.
“Where is Antonio Rusk?”
“I don’t know.”
Storm moved closer to the screen.
“You are going to tell me everything you know.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
Ava shook her head violently.
“They’ll kill my brother.”
Storm’s eyes did not change.
“If you protect them, they may kill Juliet’s son instead.”
Ava covered her mouth.
Then the video froze.
The screen went black.
Matteo checked his phone.
“She traced the call from a prepaid location,” he said. “Queens. But it’s already gone.”
Storm turned toward his men.
“Find her.”
I stepped in front of him.
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“She betrayed you.”
“She is scared.”
“She made a choice.”
“So did I,” I said. “Six years ago. I chose my child.”
Storm looked at me for a long moment.
Then he nodded toward Matteo.
“Find her before Rusk does.”
That night, I sat beside Leo’s bed while he slept.
Storm stood in the doorway.
“He asked for you,” I said without looking at him.
Storm hesitated.
Then entered.
Leo stirred when Storm sat beside him.
“Dad?” he whispered.
Storm’s face softened.
“Yes.”
“Are you bad?”
The question hung in the dark.
Storm looked at me.
Then back at Leo.
“I have done bad things,” he said quietly. “But I’m trying to do something better now.”
Leo thought about it.
Then he reached beneath his pillow and pulled out the silver toy car.
“You can hold it,” he said.
Storm took the little car in his hand.
May you like
And for the first time, I saw tears in the eyes of the man New York called untouchable.
---
