Part 2 The Man Who Never Forgot a Debt

Lorenzo Rossi held Mia in his arms and looked her over carefully.

His hands, the same hands newspapers claimed had built an empire through fear and power, trembled slightly as they brushed a strand of hair from his daughter's face.

"Mia," he said softly. "Look at me."

The little girl nodded.

"Did anyone hurt you?"

She shook her head.

Then she pointed.

At Karen.

The entire boutique watched.

"She helped me."

Silence settled over the room.

Lorenzo turned toward Karen.

His gaze was calm, but something dangerous flickered beneath it.

Karen suddenly became very aware that she had just lost her job.

And that one of the most powerful men in New York was staring directly at her.

"What happened?" he asked.

Before Karen could answer, Brenda stepped forward with a bright professional smile.

"Mr. Rossi, everything is under control. Your daughter had a small incident, and unfortunately this employee interfered with store protocol."

Mia immediately buried her face in her father's shoulder.

"Bad lady," she whispered.

Brenda's smile faltered.

Lorenzo's eyes narrowed.

"Store protocol?" he repeated.

"Yes. We were attempting to remove the child from the sales floor before she disturbed our customers."

The room suddenly felt colder.

Karen saw the muscles tighten along Lorenzo's jaw.

"Remove her?" he asked quietly.

Brenda swallowed.

"Well... yes."

Mia lifted her head.

"They were yelling."

Lorenzo looked down.

"Who was yelling, sweetheart?"

She pointed again.

At Brenda.

The manager's face turned pale.

Lorenzo slowly stood.

At six foot four, he seemed to tower over the entire boutique.

"My daughter is autistic," he said.

Nobody spoke.

"When she becomes overwhelmed, she does not need to be removed. She does not need to be punished. She needs patience."

His eyes shifted toward Karen.

"And apparently, this young woman was the only person here who understood that."

Karen felt her cheeks warm.

"I just wanted to help."

"And because of that," Lorenzo said, looking back at Brenda, "she was fired?"

Brenda attempted a laugh.

"It was a business decision."

"No."

His voice remained calm.

"It was stupidity."

The wealthy customers exchanged nervous glances.

One woman quietly stepped away from Brenda.

Another pretended to study a handbag.

No one wanted to be standing too close to the manager anymore.

Lorenzo looked around the store.

"Who owns this boutique?"

Brenda blinked.

"The Delacour Group."

"Call them."

"What?"

"Now."

Five minutes later, Brenda stood trembling beside the register while speaking with the company's regional director.

The call lasted less than three minutes.

Her face drained of color.

Then she slowly lowered the phone.

The director wanted to speak to Lorenzo.

After another brief conversation, Lorenzo handed the phone back.

The regional director's voice could be heard screaming through the receiver.

By the time the call ended, Brenda Wallace was no longer the manager of Maison Delacour.

She wasn't employed there at all.

Security escorted her out of the building while every customer watched.

As she passed Karen, her eyes burned with humiliation.

But Karen felt no triumph.

Only shock.

The nightmare she'd been living for the last twenty minutes felt unreal.

Then Lorenzo turned to her.

"What is your name?"

"Karen Seymour."

"Miss Seymour, would you have dinner with my daughter and me tonight?"

Karen stared.

"What?"

Mia smiled for the first time.

"Please."

And for reasons she couldn't explain, Karen said yes.