Chapter 3 - Awakening the Ghost
The penthouse overlooking the city was a sanctuary of glass, steel, and silence. Sadi sat on the edge of the sprawling leather sofa, an ice pack pressed against her shin. The bruise was already blossoming—a nasty, purplish-black mass against her pale skin.
The private elevator pinged.
Sadi didn’t turn around. She felt the shift in the air before she heard his footsteps. The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees, yet a strange, comforting warmth wrapped around her shoulders.
Roman stepped into the living room.
He was a man who commanded the shadows. Tall, broad-shouldered, with eyes the color of a stormy sea and a jawline carved from granite. He was notoriously reclusive, a billionaire who controlled the city's real estate and underground politics with an iron, invisible grip. They called him the Ghost because if you crossed him, you simply vanished from the social and financial map.
He loosened his silk tie, his eyes immediately zeroing in on the ice pack. The air in the room stopped moving.
“What happened?” Roman’s voice was a low, gravelly rumble. It wasn't a question. It was a demand for facts.
“I’m fine, Roman,” Sadi said, offering a small, reassuring smile. “Just a clumsy accident at the galleria.”
Roman didn't speak. He walked over, knelt on the hardwood floor in his three-thousand-dollar suit, and gently moved Sadi’s hand away. He lifted the ice pack. His eyes darkened as he stared at the shape of the bruise. It wasn't the round, diffused mark of a fall. It was the sharp, distinct shape of a shoe’s toe.
“A clumsy accident,” Roman repeated softly. The gentleness in his touch was in terrifying contrast to the absolute murder brewing in his eyes.
“Roman, please. It’s handled. I walked away.”
“Who?”
“It doesn't matter—”
“Sadi.” He looked up at her, his expression heartbreakingly tender, yet entirely unyielding. “Who touched my wife?”
Sadi sighed, knowing it was useless to lie to him. His security detail would have already briefed him anyway. “Trevor. He was at the mall. He didn't recognize me at first. He kicked me because I was in his way.”
Roman remained perfectly still for a long, agonizing moment. He gently placed the ice pack back against her skin. He kissed her forehead, his lips lingering against her skin.
“Rest,” he whispered.
He stood up, his posture rigid, and walked toward his private study. Sadi watched him go, a shiver running down her spine. Roman hadn't yelled. He hadn't broken anything. He had just gone completely silent. And that was when Roman was at his most dangerous.
Inside his study, Roman picked up a black encrypted phone. He pressed a single button.
May you like
“Yes, sir,” a voice answered on the other end.
“Find a lawyer named Trevor,” Roman said, his voice as cold as absolute zero. “I want to know where he works, where he sleeps, and who he loves. And by tomorrow morning, I want him to have absolutely nothing.”
