Page 110 of Till Death Do Us Part

Hayden busted out his office, his messenger bag swinging. “I’d like you both to come with me.” He wiped sweat from his brow. “We need to move. Don’t want to be late. He might leave.”

“The potential donor?” Elsa stood, straightening her dress.

“That’s the one.”

Elsa looked at me and I shrugged. We grabbed our things and followed behind Hayden. I stopped when I noticed a new plaque going up. The museum honored our most generous donors by having a dedicated tablet placed on the wall if they chose not to be anonymous. This one was fancy, with the profile of a woman’s face etched into it.

“Roma Viviana Maggio,” I read aloud. “The little Herbivore.” I turned to Elsa and Hayden.

Elsa shrugged. “John.”

I narrowed my eyes at Hayden.

He looked sheepish but said, “We’re going to be late!”

Felice must have donated a nice chunk of money to get the plaque and whatever else he’d arranged. Gears turned inside my head, and all the pieces clicked into place. No wonder Hayden didn’t fire me. My husband had greased his palm.

We all couldn’t fit into Hayden’s Mini Cooper, so Fredo was going to drive us. Besides, Hayden thought of the world as his own racetrack. If someone got in front of him, he thought they were doing it to challenge him.

Hayden sat up front with Fredo as he drove us to the restaurant. It was only a few minutes from the museum, on the 95thfloor of a fancy hotel. It had a stunning view. Hayden flipped the mirror and fixed his hair. He was nervous. Elsa and I followed his lead and made sure we checked out before we arrived.

The valet would have parked the SUV, but Fredo insisted we all go in together. Paranoia, or maybe thinking ahead to stop issues before they happened, was something Felice’s men all had in common. Fredo didn’t trust anyone in the car alone.

“Who knows what they might do,” he said when Elsa made a comment about it.

By the time we made it to the elevator, Hayden was almost pacing inside of it. When we stepped out, he searched the restaurant.

“Oh no,” I said, turning when I realized who sat at the table waving. Jack Maggio.

Hayden stepped in front of me. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not havinganythingwith him.”

“Mr. Maggio?” He stuck a thumb in his direction. “Wait. Do you know him? I just realized…same last name.”

“She knows him all right,” Elsa said.

“Is he related to John?”

“Jack is John’s uncle,” Elsa explained.

Hayden glanced at him again. “He looks much younger.”

“I’m out,” I said, about to ask Fredo to take me back to the museum.

Fredo was staring at Jack with hard eyes.

“Roma,” Hayden whispered. “Please.” He held tight to the strap of his messenger bag and almost squeezed the word out. “You have no idea how much money he’s thinking of donating. It could change the fate of the museum.”

“Why do I have to be here?”

“It would look odd if you left now.”

“Wait,” I said. “Did he mention me by name?”

He sighed. “You were Miss Illinois…”

“Oh boy. Duped.” Elsa turned to me. “Don’t run from him, Roma. Show him he’s nothing to you, while you make a show of that rock on your left finger. Don’t let him intimidate you.”

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