Chapter 1 - The Blank Page
Callum did not wait for her to argue.
He simply turned and walked toward the exit of the steakhouse.
Sadie hesitated for a fraction of a second before limping after him into the freezing Chicago rain.
His black armored SUV was waiting at the curb with the engine already running.
Callum opened the heavy door and gestured for her to get inside.
Sadie climbed into the leather seat, biting her lip to suppress a groan of pain as her injured leg bent.
Callum slid in beside her and tapped the glass partition dividing them from the driver.
He gave the driver a single address, ignoring Sadie’s protests that she just wanted to go home.
The vehicle merged seamlessly into the nighttime traffic.
Callum pulled a first-aid kit from a hidden compartment under the seat.
He ordered her to extend her leg.
Sadie stubbornly clutched her leather portfolio to her chest and shook her head.
She insisted she was perfectly fine and that the paperwork was all that mattered.
Callum’s storm-gray eyes darkened with a terrifying intensity.
He reached out and gently but firmly moved her hands away from the folder.
He rolled down her torn black tights, exposing an ankle that was swollen to twice its normal size.
A deep, purple bruise shaped perfectly like a man’s heavy ring was stamped into her pale skin.
Callum recognized the shape of that crest instantly.
It was the insignia of the Marcano family, his most violent and unpredictable rivals in the city.
The Marcanos did not mug random civilians in the street.
They targeted specific assets for leverage.
Callum looked up at Sadie’s pale face and asked her exactly what they had taken from her.
Sadie’s voice shook as she swore they had only tried to grab her purse.
She unzipped the leather portfolio to prove that the multi-million dollar asset was safe.
She pulled out the protective plastic sleeve meant to hold the 16th-century Caravaggio sketch.
May you like
Callum stared at the document in her trembling hands.
The protective sleeve was completely empty.
