Chapter 5 Questions Without Names

Alina couldn't sleep.

Not after that dinner.

The thought of seeing the man she's pregnant for and how it made her feel.

Her body curled instinctively around the smallest swell of her belly, a protective hand resting gently there as she lay in bed, eyes wide open.

But it wasn't the baby keeping her up.

It was the man with no last name.

...

The next morning came in a twinkling of an eye, she stared at her reflection longer than usual.

She wasn't imagining it, there was a glow on her skin, the kind that didn't come from foundation or blush. It came from feeling something again after so long.

And that terrified her.

A call came in from Dani, her new co-worker and closest friend shifting her gaze to her phone.

Baby girl... "How are you doing? Hope you were able to fall asleep, what about the baby?"

Alina told her she wasn't able to fall asleep. She hadn't told anyone about the dinner. Not even Dani. It wasn't like she could explain it anyway.

"Yes I'm doing well, The baby is doing well too" gently touching her belly, letting out the best smile.

Dani has been a good friend, even though they just recently started working together. Alina had to change her job for a better paying job for her and her unborn child.

"How do you tell anyone you had a one-night stand with a stranger... who then found you, cooked up dinner like a dream, and left you wondering what planet he dropped in from?"

No. She kept it to herself.

But she couldn't stop the thoughts from coming.

It started with her search history.

"Zane. Club. Rich man. Black suit."

Nothing.

"Zane. Pregnant. Rooftop dinner. Manhattan."

Absolutely nothing.

She sighed, dragging a hand over her face. Of course. He wouldn't be easy to find. Men like him–men with shadows behind their smiles.

Still... her curiosity didn't fade. If anything, it grew.

She opened her work laptop, intending to forget him and focus on her design drafts.

But her fingers froze over the keyboard.

Zane's words echoed in her mind.

"Maybe I'll tell you next time."

She rolled her eyes.

The audacity of this man.

He had secrets, fine but why does it feel like they were about her?

...

By mid-afternoon, the office buzzed with chatter about a man in the lobby.

"Alina, girllllll," Dani called from her desk wide-eyed, grinning from ear to ear. "Some guy is downstairs asking for you. In a damn tailored suit. You didn't tell me you had somebody."

Alina blinked. "What? Who?"

"I don't know! Tall. Expensive. Hot. Like... make-you-forget-your-problems hot."

Her heart dropped into her stomach.

It couldn't be.

Could it?

She bolted up and made her way to the elevator.

When the doors opened, he was there.

Leaning against the far wall like he owned the damn place.

Zane.

Her breath caught. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled. "You didn't call."

She gaped at him. "You just... show up? At my work?"

"You can't just show up whenever you deem fit" she snapped.

Zane shrugged, unbothered. "You're hard to forget."

Alina's jaw tightened, but before she could snap again, he held up a brown paper bag.

"I brought lunch."

She blinked.

"You what?"

"Thai. You like Thai, right? Extra basil?"

She stared.

Who was this man?

...

He led her to the rooftop lounge of her work building like he'd already mapped it. Set the food down. Even brought sparkling water.

"You really are something," she muttered, sitting across from him.

"I hope that's good," Zane replied easily.

Alina narrowed her eyes. "You're hiding something ain't you?"

Zane didn't flinch. "Everyone is."

"Not like you."

That made him pause. Just a beat too long.

She caught it.

"Who are you?" she asked softly.

Zane met her gaze.

And for the first time, his voice dropped low, vulnerable. "I'm someone who didn't expect to want a second chance."

Alina's breath hitched.

"You don't even know me."

"I do now."

His hand moved-tentative, slow-toward hers.

"Can l?"

She let him touch her.

And it felt warm, safe, soothing.

Her whole body reacted to the touch. It felt like she had longed for it.

...

Later, she watched him walk away from the building, slipping into a sleek black car that screamed "power."

Her instincts prickled again.

She didn't know his last name.

She didn't know where he lived. What he did.

And yet...

He knew her. Her workplace. Her food preferences. Her past.

What if he wasn't a dream at all?

What if he was the next mistake?

"I can't afford to do that to us" she murmured as she touched her baby bump.

...

At home, she sat on the edge of her bed, scrolling through something she hadn't touched in years:

David's old company news.

Out of habit or fear or maybe just because she needed to be reminded of what not to fall for.

But then something caught her eye.

A headline from two years ago.

"David Cross faces hostile takeover threat from elusive business rival-Z. Blackwell"

Her heart thumped.

Z.

Blackwell?

She clicked the article.

No photos. No first names. Just a mention of a reclusive billionaire investor who had a reputation for demolishing his competition quietly.

And ruthlessly.

She clicked deeper, followed the trail.

Each article ended the same way.

No photos. No concrete facts.

Just whispers.

The same kind of whispers Zane always left in his wake.

She stared at the screen, pulse pounding.

Could it be...?