"Overruled. The witness may answer."
Hayes shifted uncomfortably. "Yes. I saw him there once. Early February."
"Can you describe that encounter?"
"I was in the lobby when this man—" He gestured at Luca. "—came in asking for Mr. Russo's apartment number. I told him I couldn't give out that information. He was... insistent."
"Insistent how?"
"Intimidating. Made it clear he wasn't leaving without seeing Mr. Russo. I eventually told him the apartment number just to get him to stop." Hayes looked apologetic. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have."
Chen nodded. "What was Mr. Romano's demeanor?"
"Cold. Threatening, though he never said anything explicitly threatening. Just had that air about him, you know? Like someone you don't want to cross."
Beside me, Luca sat perfectly still. The persona on full display.
"And after that visit, did you notice changes in Mr. Russo?"
"Objection," Emilio said. "The witness isn't qualified to assess Mr. Russo's mental state."
"I'll rephrase. Did you observe Mr. Russo's behavior after that date?"
"He seemed stressed. Jumpy. Would check behind him when entering the building. Looked like someone who was scared."
My face burned. It was true—I had been scared. Terrified of what Luca might do.
Chen pulled out surveillance photos from my building's security camera. Luca entering. Looking intimidating even in astill image. Time stamp: February 8th. Two days before my first favorable article about the Vitale organization published.
"People's Exhibit 3. Timeline showing Mr. Romano's visit to Mr. Russo's residence on February 8th, followed by this article—" She held up a printout. "—published February 10th. A pattern of coercion followed by compliance."
The jury studied the evidence. It looked damning because it was true. Luca had intimidated me. I had been scared. And then I'd written that article.
What they couldn't see was everything that came after. The choice. The evolution. The love.
Emilio cross-examined, getting Hayes to admit he never heard actual threats, never witnessed violence, never saw Luca return after that first visit. But the damage was done.
The initial coercion was established. And to the jury, it probably looked like that coercion never ended.
The pattern was established. The timeline clear. It looked exactly like what the prosecution said—coercion turning into control turning into conspiracy.
When court adjourned for the day, I felt sick.
Luca took my hand. "Day one down."
"How many more days of this?"
"As many as it takes." He squeezed my hand. "We're going to be okay."
I wanted to believe him. But watching that testimony, seeing those photos, hearing our relationship reduced to evidence—it felt like we were already losing.
CHAPTER 16: LUCA
DAY TWO OFthe trial, and I could already tell it was going to be worse than day one.
The prosecution had called their star witness: Alex Park.
I watched Valentino go rigid beside me as Alex took the stand. They'd been friends—close friends—before everything fell apart. Before Alex had started feeding information to Reeves, before Valentino had ended the friendship.
