Chapter 4

The room spun.

“What?” I gasped, clutching Maisie tighter. “But Vanessa just confessed to being with Leo!”

“She was with Leo,” Dominic said, staring at the paper. “But she was lying about the baby to get his money.”

He handed the document to me. It was a formal laboratory report. It showed Vanessa was a 99.9% match as the mother. But the father’s section had a different name entirely.

Victor Thorne.

The name hit me like a physical blow. I had heard the guards whisper that name. He was the head of the rival syndicate. The most ruthless, violent man in Chicago.

“Maisie is Victor Thorne’s daughter?” I whispered, feeling sick to my stomach.

“Vanessa was playing both sides,” Dominic deduced, his voice hard. “She was sleeping with my brother and Thorne. When she got pregnant, she panicked. Thorne would have killed her if he thought she was carrying a Moretti’s child, and Leo would have cut her off if he knew it was Thorne’s.”

“So she abandoned the baby,” I realized, the horrifying puzzle pieces falling into place. “She hid the evidence of her betrayal.”

“And now,” Dominic said, looking toward the window where the rain was coming down harder, “she’s running straight back to Thorne. And she’s going to tell him that his biological daughter is sitting in my dining room.”

Panic seized my chest. “We have to go. Dominic, if he finds out—”

“I told you, it’s too late to run,” Dominic interrupted, grabbing my shoulders to steady me. “Thorne has half the police force on his payroll. If you leave this house, he will intercept you.”

“Then what do we do?” tears finally spilled over my eyelashes. “He’s a monster. I won’t let him take my baby.”

“He won’t take her,” Dominic said, his grip on my shoulders firm and grounding. “I promised I would protect you, and I meant it.”

He looked at Marcus. “Lock down the estate. Nobody in, nobody out. Arm everyone.”

Marcus nodded and sprinted away.

Dominic looked down at Maisie, who was watching us with wide, frightened eyes. He forced a gentle smile.

“Hey, kiddo,” Dominic said softly. “How would you like to have a sleepover in the big room upstairs?”

Maisie sniffled. “With Mommy?”

“With Mommy,” he promised.

He led us up the grand staircase to the master wing. He bypassed the guest rooms and opened the doors to his own massive suite. It was the safest room in the house, equipped with reinforced steel doors.

“Stay away from the windows,” he instructed, pulling the heavy blackout curtains closed.

I sat on the edge of the king-sized bed, pulling Maisie onto my lap. She buried her face in my neck, exhausted by the crying and the shouting, and within minutes, she fell asleep.

Dominic stood by the door, watching us. He took off his suit jacket and unholstered his weapon, setting it on the nightstand.

“You don’t have to do this,” I whispered in the dark room. “She’s not your brother’s child. You owe us nothing.”

Dominic walked over and sat on the edge of the bed next to me.

“Four years ago, you took in a baby that nobody wanted,” Dominic said quietly, looking at Maisie’s sleeping face. “You worked double shifts, you scrubbed floors, you sacrificed everything to give her a good life. You are the bravest woman I have ever met, Claire.”

He looked up, meeting my eyes. “I protect my own. And tonight, I decided you are my own.”

My breath caught. The intensity in his dark eyes made my heart skip a beat.

Suddenly, a loud, piercing alarm shattered the quiet of the house.

Red emergency lights began flashing outside the bedroom window.

Dominic grabbed his gun off the nightstand, his jaw locking.

“They’re here,” he said.

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