Chapter 1 - THE FOOTSTEPS BEHIND HER
Lily crawled across the marble floor.
Her stomach burned where Serena’s heel had struck her.
Her palms slipped against the polished stone.
She kept moving.
Baby Ethan lay only a few feet away.
His small body trembled.
His injured arm rested at an unnatural angle.
His cries had weakened into broken breaths.
“Please,” Lily whispered.
“He needs a doctor.”
Serena Montigue looked down at her with disgust.
“He needs discipline.”
“He is fourteen months old.”
“He is Victor Blackwood’s son.”
Serena’s eyes became colder.
“That means he must learn early that crying gets him nothing.”
Lily reached for Ethan.
Serena raised her foot again.
Then footsteps echoed from the dark hallway behind her.
Slow.
Heavy.
Controlled.
Serena froze.
The color left her face before she even turned around.
Victor Blackwood stepped from the shadows.
He wore a black overcoat damp from the Chicago rain.
Two men stood several feet behind him.
Neither spoke.
Victor’s eyes moved first to Lily.
Then to Ethan.
Then to Serena’s heel raised above the nanny’s body.
The silence inside the foyer became terrifying.
Serena lowered her foot.
“Victor.”
He did not answer.
Ethan made one small sound.
Victor crossed the marble floor in three strides.
He knelt beside his son.
The feared man who controlled half the city’s underground trade touched the baby as though Ethan were made of glass.
“Papa’s here.”
Ethan’s eyes fluttered.
Victor looked at the damaged arm.
Something changed in his face.
It was not rage.
Rage would have been easier to survive.
This was complete emotional stillness.
“Call Dr. Navarro,” Victor said.
One of his men immediately reached for a phone.
Victor removed his coat and wrapped it around Ethan.
Then he looked at Lily.
“Can you stand?”
She tried.
Pain forced her back down.
Victor turned toward his security chief.
“Get both of them to the medical wing.”
Serena moved closer.
“It was an accident.”
Victor finally looked at her.
“You were standing on Lily.”
“She attacked me.”
Victor’s gaze dropped to the red mark across Lily’s abdomen.
Then he looked toward Serena’s perfectly arranged dress.
There was not a single mark on her.
Serena spoke quickly.
“The child became violent.”
“He threw a toy.”
“He scratched me.”
“I was only stopping him from hurting himself.”
Victor rose with Ethan in his arms.
“My son cannot walk without holding furniture.”
“He did not attack you.”
Serena’s mouth opened.
No sound came.
Victor carried Ethan toward the hallway.
Lily tried to follow.
One of Victor’s men lifted her carefully.
As they passed Serena, she reached for Victor’s sleeve.
“You cannot believe a servant over me.”
Victor stopped.
He did not turn around.
“I believe what I saw.”
Serena’s hand fell.
Victor continued down the corridor.
Behind him, the mansion’s security director entered the foyer holding a tablet.
“Boss,” he said.
“You need to see the nursery footage.”
Serena’s head snapped toward him.
May you like
The security director’s expression hardened.
“Someone tried to delete it six minutes ago.”
