"She thought she could easily silence a helpless nanny, until the terrifying footsteps of the mafia boss echoed from the shadows behind her." THE MAFIA BOSS WALKED IN EARLY AND FOUND HIS FIANCÉE HURTING HIS BABY—THEN THE NANNY’S TESTIMONY EXPOSED EVERYTHING “Stop it, please. You’re breaking his arm.” Lily’s scream tore through the marble foyer of the Blackwood mansion. Baby Ethan was on the floor, crying so hard his little body could barely breathe, while Serena Montigue dragged him by the arm like he was nothing more than a rag doll. His face had gone from red to a frightening purple. His cries were getting weaker. And Lily knew, with a terror that swallowed every thought in her head, that the 14-month-old boy she had loved like her own for six months was slipping into shock. She threw herself forward. Bare feet sliding on the cold marble. Hands reaching for Serena. Heart pounding one single prayer. Save him. But Serena was faster. Her heel drove into Lily’s stomach with brutal force, knocking the air from her lungs and sending her crashing backward onto the stone floor. Pain exploded through her body. But Lily did not care about the pain. She only cared about Ethan. The baby’s arm hung at an unnatural angle. His little face was crumpled in agony. His sobs were fading into small, broken sounds no child should ever make. Serena stood over Lily with cold, perfect eyes. The same woman who smiled at charity galas. The same woman who played the elegant fiancée. The same woman who was about to marry Victor Blackwood, the most feared mafia boss in Chicago. “Touch him again,” Serena said calmly, pressing her heel into Lily’s abdomen, “and I’ll make you disappear. Nobody cares about a nobody like you. You think anyone will believe some cheap nanny?” Lily could barely breathe. But she crawled. One inch. Then another. Her hands shook. Her stomach burned. Her knees scraped against the marble / Chapter 13 / 30

Chapter 13 - THE MEN AT THE GATE

Three black SUVs stopped beyond the lake-house gate.

Victor counted eight men.

They wore plain coats and moved with the confidence of people who expected the guards to obey. One held up a federal badge.

Detective Quinn studied it through binoculars. “Fake.”

The men cut the power and approached from both sides.

Victor carried Ethan into a reinforced safe room beneath the kitchen. Lily followed with blankets, formula, and the baby’s medication.

“You stay here,” Victor said.

Lily looked at the monitor showing armed men entering the house. “You said you were doing this legally.”

“I am.”

“You’re also thinking about going upstairs alone.”

He did not deny it.

Lily placed Ethan in the crib. “Then think again. Damien expects the old Victor—the man who answers every threat with a bigger threat. Give him something else.”

Victor contacted Quinn, who ordered the men through the house speaker to surrender. They laughed.

Then Victor triggered the fire shutters, dividing the hallways into sealed sections. The intruders found themselves trapped in separate rooms as state police arrived from the rear road.

No gunfight. No revenge. Just locked doors and handcuffs.

The team leader tried to swallow a small piece of paper. Officers recovered it.

It contained three names and payment amounts. One name belonged to a deputy police superintendent.

The second belonged to the judge who had approved Serena’s emergency release for medical transport.

The third name belonged to Marco.

Victor stared at his head of security.

Marco looked equally stunned. “That isn’t my handwriting.”

Quinn did not lower her weapon. “You’re still coming with us until we know.”

As officers searched Marco, they found a burner phone in his jacket.