Chapter 3 - The Price of Saving Leo Caruso
Clara did not sleep that night.
Neither did Leo.
Evan sat on the couch wrapped in a blanket while police officers examined the broken door.
Leo’s men had disappeared before patrol cars arrived.
Clara noticed.
Of course she noticed.
“What did you tell them?” Leo asked after the officers left.
“The truth.”
“All of it?”
“I told them someone broke in and left a threatening note.”
“Did you mention me?”
“Yes.”
Leo raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“Most people wouldn’t.”
“I’m not most people.”
“I noticed.”
Evan looked between them.
“Who exactly are you?”
Leo answered before Clara could.
“Someone your sister helped.”
Evan looked at Clara.
“This is John Doe?”
Clara sighed.
“Yes.”
“The blood guy?”
“Yes.”
Evan stared at Leo.
“You’re taller than I expected.”
Leo looked confused.
Clara almost laughed.
Then Evan noticed the men outside.
“Why are there SUVs downstairs?”
“Friends,” Leo said.
Evan looked at Clara.
“Those are not diner friends.”
“No.”
Leo crouched slightly so he was closer to Evan’s eye level.
“I need to ask you something.”
“Okay.”
“Did you see the man who entered?”
“Not really.”
“Anything matters.”
Evan thought.
“He had a tattoo.”
“Where?”
“Hand.”
“What?”
“A bird maybe.”
Leo and Frank exchanged a look.
Clara saw it.
“You know him.”
Leo stood.
“Possibly.”
“Who?”
“Rourke uses men with raven tattoos.”
“Rourke?”
“The man who tried to kill me.”
Clara closed her eyes.
“This is insane.”
“Yes.”
“My brother has a heart condition.”
“I know.”
“You investigated that too?”
“Yes.”
She stared at him.
“You really need boundaries.”
“I’m being told that often lately.”
Despite everything, Evan smiled.
Clara didn’t.
“What happens now?”
“You leave.”
“This is my apartment.”
“Temporarily.”
“No.”
“Clara—”
“No.”
Leo’s patience thinned.
“Someone broke into your home.”
“And?”
“And you need somewhere secure.”
“Where?”
“My house.”
She actually laughed.
“No.”
“I have security.”
“You also have people shooting at you.”
“Fair criticism.”
“I’m not moving Evan into a mafia compound.”
Evan quietly said, “Technically that sounds kind of cool.”
“Not helping.”
Leo considered options.
“Hotel.”
“Who pays?”
“I do.”
“No.”
“Clara.”
“No.”
Leo stared at her.
Then suddenly understood.
“You think accepting protection creates debt.”
“Everything creates debt with men like you.”
Something in his face hardened.
“Not everything.”
“How would I know?”
He had no answer.
So Leo did something few people in the city had ever seen him do.
He backed down.
“Choose the hotel.”
Clara blinked.
“You pay for it.”
“What?”
“You choose. You book. You pay.”
“I can’t afford—”
“I’ll reimburse you only if you ask.”
She stared.
“That makes no sense.”
“It gives you control.”
That silenced her.
She looked at Evan.
Then at the broken door.
“Two nights.”
“Fine.”
“And nobody enters our room.”
“Fine.”
“No guns around Evan.”
Leo hesitated.
“Visible guns.”
“Leo.”
“Fine.”
That was how Clara Hayes ended up spending two nights at a Holiday Inn beside an interstate while four of Leo Caruso’s men pretended to be ordinary hotel guests.
It would have been funny if she weren’t terrified.
The next afternoon, Graham called.
“I recalculated.”
“How generous.”
“You owe nine hundred and forty dollars.”
Clara nearly dropped the phone.
“What?”
“Principal balance.”
“And the illegal interest?”
“Removed.”
“Why?”
Silence.
“Graham?”
“I reviewed the agreement.”
“Did Leo threaten you?”
“No.”
Too fast.
Clara closed her eyes.
“I told him not to.”
“He didn’t.”
“Then why?”
Graham lowered his voice.
“Because I’m not stupid.”
The call ended.
Clara stared at Leo’s business card.
She hated that his existence could change a number from $2,800 to $940 without him lifting a finger.
Power like that frightened her.
Because someday, perhaps, she might enjoy having it pointed in her direction.
That evening she visited Leo.
Not his house.
The hospital.
He had reopened part of his wound during the rush to her apartment.
The doctor was furious.
Clara stood in the doorway.
“You’re an idiot.”
Leo looked up from bed.
“I’ve been shot twice and insulted more since meeting you than in the previous decade.”
“You tore stitches.”
“Occupational hazard.”
“You ran up three flights of stairs.”
“Your elevator is slow.”
She entered.
Frank left, hiding a smile.
Clara sat.
For a while, neither spoke.
Then Leo asked:
“How is Evan?”
“Annoyed.”
“Good.”
“He likes you.”
“That concerns me.”
“It should.”
Leo looked toward the window.
“I’m sorry.”
Clara studied him.
“For what?”
“Your apartment.”
“You didn’t break in.”
“No.”
“But?”
“If you hadn’t saved me, Rourke wouldn’t know your name.”
“Maybe.”
“There’s no maybe.”
She leaned back.
“Then tell me why he cares.”
Leo hesitated.
“Because Rourke understands leverage.”
“And I’m leverage?”
“He thinks so.”
“Is he right?”
Leo looked at her.
“No.”
The answer should have relieved her.
Instead, something about it hurt.
“Then why protect me?”
“Because I owe you.”
“There’s that word again.”
Leo looked away.
Clara noticed.
“Is that really the only reason?”
Silence.
She immediately regretted asking.
Leo finally said:
“No.”
Her heartbeat changed.
He continued before she could misunderstand.
“You remind me of someone.”
“Who?”
“My sister.”
Clara blinked.
“I didn’t know you had one.”
“Most people don’t.”
“What happened?”
Leo stared at his hands.
“She died.”
“I’m sorry.”
“She was nineteen.”
“How?”
“A man used her to hurt me.”
Clara went still.
“I was twenty-four. Stupid. Ambitious. I thought fear made people loyal.”
His jaw tightened.
“My enemies couldn’t reach me, so they reached Maria.”
Clara understood.
“That’s why you’re afraid Rourke will hurt me.”
“Yes.”
“Because I saved you.”
“Yes.”
“And because you think history is repeating.”
Leo looked at her.
“I don’t allow history to repeat.”
The sentence was quiet.
Not a threat.
A promise to himself.
Clara softened.
“Leo.”
He looked surprised.
First time she had used his first name naturally.
“You can’t control everything.”
“I know.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
Maybe she was right.
He almost smiled.
Then Frank entered.
His expression erased the moment.
“We found Pike’s connection.”
Leo sat straighter.
“Rourke?”
Frank nodded.
Clara felt cold.
“What?”
Frank looked at Leo.
Leo gave permission.
“Graham’s debt operation launders collections through businesses connected to Vincent Rourke.”
Clara stared.
“My loan?”
“Probably ordinary at first,” Frank said. “But once Rourke learned who you were, Graham became useful.”
Her stomach turned.
“So Graham knew someone was coming to my apartment?”
“We don’t know.”
Leo’s voice hardened.
“We’ll know.”
Clara stood.
“No.”
Leo looked at her.
“No what?”
“You are not killing Graham.”
Frank became very interested in the wall.
Leo stared.
“I didn’t say I would.”
“You thought it loudly.”
For a second, nobody spoke.
Then Leo laughed.
Actually laughed.
Clara pointed at him.
“I’m serious.”
“I know.”
“If you want to repay me for saving your life, here’s how.”
Leo’s smile disappeared.
She had finally said the words he had been waiting for.
“What do you want?”
Clara stepped closer.
“No bodies.”
He frowned.
“That’s broad.”
“No one dies because of me.”
“Clara—”
“That’s my price.”
Leo looked at her for a long time.
The city’s most feared man.
A man who had built power through consequences.
A man whose enemies expected blood for blood.
Clara held his eyes.
“You wanted to know how to repay me?”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t make the blood I gave you responsible for spilling somebody else’s.”
The room became silent.
Frank watched Leo.
Leo slowly nodded.
“Done.”
Clara exhaled.
She had no idea that this promise would become harder for Leo to keep than paying her fifty thousand dollars ever could.
Because Vincent Rourke had already made his next move.
May you like
And this time, he was not coming for Clara.
He was coming for Evan.
