CHAPTER 4: THE MAN AT THE DOOR
Blake Mercer did not knock.
He never knocked.
Clara heard the building door slam from the hallway camera Dominic had pulled up.
Then footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Angry in a controlled way that always came before violence.
Clara stepped back instinctively.
“No,” she whispered.
Matteo stood between her and the screen.
“Stay behind me,” he said.
Clara blinked. “This isn’t—he doesn’t—he gets angry, but he doesn’t—”
Matteo looked at her.
“Clara.”
Just her name.
Not loud.
Not sharp.
Enough to stop her mid-sentence.
“Men like that always escalate,” he said quietly.
On the screen, Blake was at the door.
Knocking now.
Harder.
“Clara!” his voice echoed through the hallway feed. “Open the door!”
She flinched.
Her body reacted before her mind did.
Matteo noticed.
That alone changed something in his expression.
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Matteo said into the speaker.
Silence outside.
Then Blake laughed.
Not amused.
Threatened.
“You don’t know what you’re interfering with.”
Matteo leaned closer to the mic.
“I know bruises when I see them.”
Silence again.
Then Blake’s voice dropped.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
Matteo looked at Clara.
May you like
And said calmly:
“She doesn’t belong to anyone.”
