Chapter 2 - A Delivery in the Dark
By midnight, the bakery was dark, save for the sickly green glow of the exit sign and the soft amber light over Lena’s prep table. She was knee-deep in dough, beating butter and sugar together with a mechanical rhythm meant to quiet her racing thoughts, when the heavy back door rattled.
Not a knock. A deliberate, rhythmic test of the lock.
Lena froze, her spatula hovering over the stainless steel bowl. Heart and Honey was tucked away in a quiet alley, and delivery drivers never arrived past ten. She crept toward the back door, her fingers closing around a heavy rolling pin resting beside the sink.
"Who's there?" she called out, her voice steady despite the adrenaline spiking in her veins.
"Open up, Lena," a voice murmured through the steel.
It wasn't Adrien. It was Marcus, his massive bodyguard.
Lena unlocked the deadbolt, pulling the door open just enough to see the man's imposing silhouette against the brick alleyway. He wasn't smiling, but his posture lacked the tactical hostility from earlier that morning.
"Mr. Moretti wants to see you," Marcus said, keeping his voice low. "Now."
"Tell Mr. Moretti that my bakery is closed, and I don't do midnight consultations," Lena replied, trying to slam the door shut.
May you like
Marcus caught the edge of the heavy wood with a leather-gloved hand, stopping it effortlessly. "He didn't ask me to invite you. He asked me to secure you. There’s a car waiting down the block. Someone else is looking for that recipe book, Lena. And they aren't coming with blank checks."
Before she could argue, Marcus stepped aside, revealing the dark asphalt of the alley—and the shattered glass of her front window three doors down. A single, heavy brick lay on the pavement inside the shop, wrapped in a threatening note.
