"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 3 / 30

Chapter 3 - THE DARK HOUSE

The foyer vanished into blackness.

Ethan began to cry.

Victor dropped to one knee and covered the child with his body. “Nobody move.”

A crash sounded near the front doors. Then running footsteps cut through the west hall.

Marco’s flashlight snapped on. “Backup generator should have started.”

“It didn’t,” Victor said. “That means someone shut it down.”

Detective Quinn drew her weapon but kept it lowered. “Stay together.”

Lily heard a sharp whisper near the stairs.

“Give me the card.”

She recognized Julian Cole’s voice.

A hand grabbed her shoulder. Lily twisted away and drove her elbow backward. Someone cursed. The lights flickered once, revealing Julian beside her with a cut across his cheek.

Then darkness returned.

“Julian!” Serena shouted.

The name was enough.

Marco tackled him before he reached the corridor. Seconds later, the emergency lights came on, washing the foyer in dim red.

Julian lay facedown with Marco’s knee between his shoulders. A memory card had skidded across the floor.

Detective Quinn picked it up with a gloved hand.

Serena stared at her cousin. “What are you doing?”

Julian looked at Victor, not Serena. “You don’t understand what she’s planning.”

“Then explain it,” Victor said.

Julian’s mouth opened, but Serena cut him off.

“He’s obsessed with me. He probably planted the camera himself.”

Julian laughed bitterly. “You promised I’d be protected.”

Victor handed Ethan to a paramedic and stepped closer. “Protected from what?”

Julian’s eyes moved toward Serena. Fear replaced anger.

The memory card was rushed to the security office. The first recovered clip showed Serena entering the nursery after midnight. She leaned over Ethan’s crib, checked the hallway, and whispered into her phone.

“He cries when I touch the left shoulder. We need a worse injury before Victor comes home.”

A man’s voice answered through the speaker.

“Not yet. The trust papers aren’t ready.”

Victor’s face turned gray.

Detective Quinn paused the video. “Do you recognize that voice?”