Chapter 1
The first thing the most feared mafia boss in Richmond ever said to me was, “I’ll give you five hundred dollars if you sit at my table and pretend you’re in love with me.”
I thought I was helping a powerful stranger protect his pride for seven minutes, but I had no idea I was about to become the one woman who could see through every lie he had built his life around.
I stopped so suddenly that the woman behind me nearly walked straight into my back.
Slowly, I turned around.
The man sitting beside the tall front windows of Bellamy’s Grill looked like someone people moved out of the way for without being asked.
Ethan Cole.
Everyone in Richmond knew his name.
He wasn’t just wealthy. He wasn’t just influential.
He was the man whispered about in private rooms, the mafia boss who controlled businesses, territory, and information with a calm expression that made even dangerous men think twice before challenging him.
He wore a perfectly tailored charcoal suit, the kind that probably cost more than everything I owned combined. One hand rested beside an untouched glass of bourbon, while the other stayed relaxed near the table.
But his eyes weren’t on me.
They were locked across the restaurant.
I followed his gaze.
A beautiful blonde woman had just entered with a tall man wearing a navy jacket. The moment she saw Ethan, her expression changed.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
Recognition.
Surprise.
Then something I understood immediately.
Satisfaction.
I looked back at Ethan.
“Oh.”
His brow tightened.
“Oh what?”
“You’re trying to make your ex jealous.”
“I’m not.”
“Sure.”
His jaw clenched.
“I’m trying to make it clear that I’ve moved on.”
I glanced at the empty chair across from him.
“By hiring a stranger?”
“For seven minutes.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Why seven?”
For the first time, the terrifying mafia boss looked almost embarrassed.
“I panicked.”
That nearly made me laugh.
Nearly.
I crossed my arms. I wasn’t even dressed for my shift yet. My black uniform was folded inside the tote hanging from my shoulder, and I had only stopped at Bellamy’s because I was early for work.
“I don’t know you.”
“I know.”
“You could be dangerous.”
His mouth lifted slightly.
“I’m beginning to think I am.”
“That’s not comforting.”
Across the room, the blonde woman whispered something to the man beside her. They both looked toward Ethan.
I saw his shoulders stiffen.
And suddenly, I didn’t see the powerful man everyone feared.
I saw someone who had been hurt.
Deeply.
The kind of hurt money couldn’t cover.
The kind of humiliation that stayed hidden behind anger.
I knew that feeling.
I had worn it myself.
“Keep your five hundred dollars,” I said.
Ethan looked surprised.
“But I’ll take pie.”
His expression changed.
“What?”
“If I’m going to be your emergency girlfriend, I want pecan pie.”
“That’s it?”
“With ice cream.”
“Deal.”
I placed my bag beside the chair and sat down.
“Seven minutes,” I warned.
Ethan released a breath like someone who had just escaped a death sentence.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.”
I leaned closer with a sweet smile.
“If your ex comes over, I’m telling her we met at a clown convention.”
For a second, Ethan simply stared at me.
Then something impossible happened.
He laughed.
Not the cold laugh his enemies heard before making deals.
Not the controlled laugh he used at business meetings.
A real laugh.
And across the restaurant, Lauren Pierce noticed.
That had been the entire reason he asked me to sit there.
But suddenly, Ethan didn’t care nearly as much about Lauren’s reaction as he thought he would.
Three months earlier, Lauren had been the woman he planned to marry.
She had been the only person Ethan trusted enough to see behind the reputation, the power, and the violence surrounding his name.
They had a venue reserved outside Charlottesville. Invitations were being designed. Every detail of their future had already been planned.
Then one afternoon, Ethan went to Lauren’s apartment because she had left her laptop charger at his house.
Grant Mercer opened the door.
Barefoot.
Wearing Ethan’s old college sweatshirt.
Grant had been one of Ethan’s closest associates.
A man who knew his secrets.
A man who sat at his table.
A man who had looked Ethan in the eyes while betraying him.
Lauren cried.
Grant apologized.
Ethan did neither.
He simply walked away.
After that night, he created rules.
No serious relationships.
No second chances.
No trusting promises.
No woman would ever again get close enough to destroy him.
Those rules had protected him.
Until tonight.
Until I sat across from him and looked past the dangerous reputation everyone else feared.
“So,” I said, opening the menu, “what’s your name, fake boyfriend?”
“Ethan.”
“Hannah.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“It would’ve been nicer under less ridiculous circumstances.”
He gave me a rare offended look.
“You agreed to help me.”
“I agreed to eat pie.”
A server approached our table, looked at me, then froze.
“Hannah?”
The moment she said my name, Ethan’s expression changed.
Because the server wasn’t looking at me like a normal customer.
She was looking at me like she knew something.
Something Ethan didn’t.
And for the first time that night, the most feared man in Richmond looked uncertain.
