Chapter 10 - THE MOTHER WHO FOLLOWED
Mia woke inside a moving vehicle.
Her wrists were bound.
A dark hood covered her head.
Harper lay against her side.
The child’s breathing was quick but steady.
“Mommy?”
“I’m here.”
Mia pressed her shoulder against Harper.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Did anyone touch you?”
“Miss Claire carried me.”
Mia heard Claire breathing from the seat across from them.
“You should not have involved my daughter,” Mia said.
Claire answered quietly.
“I kept Nathan from separating you.”
“That does not make you kind.”
“No.”
“It makes me practical.”
The vehicle stopped.
Doors opened.
Nathan’s men dragged Mia into cold air.
Someone removed the hood.
They stood behind Saint Agnes Cathedral.
Snow fell around the Gothic towers.
Harper clung to Mia’s coat.
Nathan waited beside an open service entrance.
He looked calm.
His right hand was bandaged where Mia had bitten him in the cellar.
“You have been inconvenient,” he told her.
“You murdered my husband.”
Nathan tilted his head.
“Your husband made a moral decision in an immoral place.”
“Did you kill him?”
“He was given a choice.”
“He chose badly.”
Mia lunged.
The guards restrained her.
Harper screamed.
Nathan crouched in front of the child.
“Your mother has a terrible habit of making dangerous men angry.”
Harper stared at him.
“My mommy is not scared of you.”
Nathan smiled.
“She should be.”
Harper lifted her chin.
“Mr. Dominic is coming.”
Nathan’s smile faded.
Claire watched from the doorway.
For one second, Mia saw fear in her eyes.
Nathan led them beneath the cathedral.
The crypt had been transformed into a command center.
Monitors displayed the estate, the docks, and several city streets.
Explosive diagrams covered one wall.
Photographs of Dominic’s captains were arranged beside seating charts for the wedding.
Mia studied the plans.
The wedding guest list included leaders from every major family.
Nathan intended to kill them together.
The explosion would begin a war.
He would blame the Moretti organization.
While the surviving families destroyed one another, Nathan would seize the ports, the judges, and the businesses left behind.
“You were going to kill Claire too,” Mia said.
Claire looked at Nathan.
He did not deny it.
“She was useful.”
Claire’s face went white.
“You promised me the Vale estate.”
Nathan laughed.
“You still think this was about a house.”
Claire stepped toward him.
A guard blocked her.
“You said we were family.”
“We share a father.”
“That is biology.”
“Family requires value.”
Claire stared at the man she had betrayed everyone to serve.
Nathan turned toward Mia.
“Where is the pendant?”
“Dominic has it.”
“He will bring it.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Harper is here.”
The child pressed closer to Mia.
Nathan pointed toward an iron door at the far end of the crypt.
“Detective Reyes is behind that wall.”
“Sofia is alive?”
“For now.”
Nathan smiled.
“When Dominic arrives, Elena’s final witness will watch him surrender.”
May you like
Mia looked at Claire.
The fiancée who had helped build the trap finally understood that she was also standing inside it.
