“I NEED A BOYFRIEND BY TOMORROW!” — THE MAFIA BOSS OVERHEARD HIS MAID, AND HIS NEXT WORDS CHANGED EVERYTHING

The first thing I noticed when we entered the restaurant was my mother's face. Not the white roses climbing the walls or the pianist playing something expensive and forgettable. My mother's face. She had been smiling at a photographer, one hand resting on my sister Claire's shoulder. Then she saw me on Roman Rossi's arm, and her smile slipped like a glass from a wet hand.

“Remember,” Roman murmured, “you can leave whenever you want.”

“You sound like you're planning for a hostage situation.”

“I plan for exits.”

His palm settled lightly against the small of my back. It was a simple gesture, one I'd seen couples make a thousand times. Somehow, with him, it felt like the whole room had changed its center of gravity.

My sister hurried toward us in a cream dress and pearl earrings. “Sadi! You came.” Her eyes moved to Roman. “And you brought—”

“Roman,” he supplied, offering his hand. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Claire. Congratulations.”

She shook it automatically. Claire had always been beautiful in the easy, polished way that made strangers want to do favors for her. Tonight she looked startled rather than delighted. I couldn't blame her. My date was a man who appeared in newspaper photographs beside governors and in whispered rumors beside bodies no newspaper ever named.

My mother approached so quickly that the photographer lowered his camera. “Sadi, sweetheart. You didn't tell me you were bringing a guest.”

“I didn't know until yesterday.”

“Then we'll have to find another chair. The seating is very carefully arranged.”

“Table four,” Roman said.

My mother's gaze snapped to his. “I'm sorry?”

“Sadi said her place was there.”

That wasn't exactly what I'd said. I had told him who was sitting there. Apparently he'd decided that mattered more than the chart.

“Table four is full,” my mother replied.

“Then I suppose someone will have to move,” Roman said pleasantly.

I pressed my nails into my palm. “Roman.”

He glanced down. “Yes?”

“No threats,” I whispered.

“That was a seating observation.”

Against my will, I almost laughed.

My mother studied his watch, his suit, the discreet man standing by the restaurant entrance. Recognition finally struck. “Rossi? As in Rossi Holdings?”

“Yes.”

Her posture straightened. “Well. We can certainly make arrangements.”

Of course we could. My family had never lacked room. Only room for me.

A server guided us toward table four. My ex-boyfriend, Daniel Mercer, sat with a drink in his hand and a woman I'd never met tucked against his shoulder. He was handsome in the ordinary way that used to convince me kindness must be hiding underneath. His hair was perfectly parted. His smile was perfectly rehearsed. I knew how quickly that smile could turn into a weapon.

He stood when he saw us. “Sadi. Wow.” His eyes flicked to Roman. “I didn't realize the staffing agency let employees bring clients to family functions.”

There it was. Not even ten seconds.

The woman beside him gave a small laugh, uncertain whether she was supposed to.

I felt the old heat crawl up my neck. Roman didn't squeeze my hand or glare. He simply pulled out my chair and waited until I sat.

“I'm Roman,” he said. “And you're Daniel.”

Daniel's smile faltered. “Have we met?”

“No.”

“Then how do you know me?”

“Sadi told me enough.”

The words were soft. That made them worse.

I wanted to disappear, which was ridiculous because disappearing was precisely what I'd promised myself I wouldn't do. Roman took the seat beside mine. Daniel's girlfriend introduced herself as Paige, then asked me where we'd met.

“At work,” I said.

Roman lifted his water glass. “She was the only person in my house who told me the truth.”

I stared at him. “I told you the upstairs guest bathroom had a leaking pipe.”

“And everyone else had told me the ceiling stain was decorative.”

Paige laughed for real this time. Even I smiled.

Daniel leaned back. “So you're her employer.”

“Yes,” Roman said.

“And now you're dating your maid?”

The question landed hard. I could feel other people listening. My sister's future mother-in-law turned in her chair. The pianist's melody seemed to recede.

Roman looked at me, not Daniel. “Sadi, would you prefer I answer that?”

I had expected him to rescue me with some clever lie. Instead he'd given me a choice in front of everyone. It was such a small thing. It nearly undid me.

“I can answer,” I said. My voice shook once, then steadied. “Yes. I'm a housemaid. I work hard, I pay my bills, and I'm not ashamed of it. Roman is here because I invited him.”

Daniel raised his brows. “You invited your boss?”

“I did.”

“That's interesting.”

“Not nearly as interesting as you seem to think.”

The words escaped before I could stop them. Paige hid a grin behind her napkin. Roman's mouth moved at one corner.

Then my mother appeared at the head of the table and tapped her glass. She welcomed everyone to Claire and Ethan's rehearsal dinner, thanked the sponsors of the evening, and praised the two families for coming together. She mentioned my brother's promotion. She mentioned my cousin's law degree. When she reached my name, she glanced at the card in her hand and moved on.

I knew she would. Knowing didn't stop it from hurting.

Dinner arrived in beautiful courses. Roman asked me questions about the food and listened to the answers. He didn't pretend to know my favorite color or invent a romantic vacation. He asked whether I wanted the last piece of bread. He remembered I disliked sparkling water. At one point he slid the butter dish toward me without looking. It was ordinary attention, and it was devastating.

Across the table, Daniel watched us like a man discovering that an old possession had been sold without his permission.

Halfway through the main course, he set down his fork. “I guess the green dress is new. Quite an upgrade from what you wore when we were together.”

My fingers went cold. He had once criticized my clothes in front of his friends, then told me I was too sensitive when I cried.

“The dress is mine,” I said.

“Didn't say it wasn't.”

“Then what did you mean?”

He smiled. “Just complimenting you.”

I could hear my mother's voice from years ago: Don't make a scene. Smile and let it go. For the first time, I wondered why the people who started scenes were never the ones accused of making them.

“Then thank you,” I said. “You can stop now.”

Roman reached for his glass. He didn't need to say a word.

A waiter approached him with a folded card on a silver tray. The card bore no restaurant logo. Roman read it once. Something in his face shut like a door.

“Excuse me,” he told the table. “Business.”

His chair moved back. I watched him cross the room toward a side corridor, where a man in a navy suit waited beside the service entrance. I remembered his reason for attending, the one he'd admitted in the car: there were matters he needed to handle tonight, and this dinner made his movements less conspicuous. I'd agreed not to ask questions. Suddenly that agreement felt heavier.

Daniel leaned toward me. “Do you really think a man like that is serious about you?”

I kept my eyes on the corridor. “I think you should worry about your own relationship.”

Paige's expression changed. She looked down at her plate.

Daniel lowered his voice. “You were never good at reading men, Sadi.”

That might once have silenced me. Tonight I looked him straight in the eye.

“I read you eventually.”

Before he could answer, Claire appeared beside my chair. “Sadi, can you come with me? Just for a second?”

She led me into the hallway near the bridal suite. The music faded behind the heavy door. My sister clasped her hands so tightly that her knuckles turned pale.

“Mom wants you to keep things low-key,” she said.

I stared at her. “I'm sitting at dinner.”

“It's not that. Roman Rossi is drawing attention.”

“I'm sorry my date is visible.”

“Please don't do that. I want tonight to be perfect.”

“And I'm ruining it by existing?”

Her eyes filled. “You know that's not what I mean.”

I wanted to believe her. I had wanted to believe her my whole life.

Then I heard Daniel's voice through the partly open door behind us. He was on the phone, speaking sharply. “No, Rossi showed up with her. I told you. She's the maid. If he finds out about the transfer, we're finished.”

My sister went absolutely still.

I looked at her. “Claire. What transfer?”

She swallowed. “Sadi, there is something I should have told you.”

The hallway door opened. Daniel stepped out and saw us both.