Chapter 0006
+25 BONUS
How could I not have known… but of course I hadn’t. I’d shut her out so completely, I’d erased her existence from my life. How would I have known she’d returned?
I could barely concentrate on family matters.
Did my men notice my distraction?
Carlo was released from the hospital four days after the attack, and already, he was back at my side. Cataloging reports of Moretti unrest–drug deals that had gone less than smoothly, a weapons exchange that’d gone bust, a few street tussles here and there. Break–ins. Car thefts. Muggings…
Together we leaned over the map of the city sprawled across my massive mahogany desk. The breathtaking Fifth Avenue view through the floor–to–ceiling windows lay behind us, forgotten, as we studied the marks on the map.
Red flags, everywhere. Attacks, everywhere.
Unrest hung heavy over the family, and yet—
“Want to tell me why we had three men watching a house in the suburbs?” Carlo looked up from the corner of the map to meet my gaze, his dark brows pulled low over soft brown eyes. “For four days?”
Car had been my second since long before I’d ever taken over as head of the family–since long before I’d ever planned to. We’d been best friends longer than I could remember, and there was no one I trusted more than him. And yet, I’d never told him about Layla. Couldn’t tell him why I’d had three of my best soldiers stationed in her neighborhood, watching her house to ensure there wasn’t any fallout from what had happened at the hospital. So when I answered, my response was cold, collected. “It’s the home of the doctor who saved my second in command.‘
Car’s brows lifted from their deep scowl as he understood my meaning–my men were guarding the doctor who’d saved his life. And for a moment, I thought he might leave it at that.
But his next words made me realize my mistake. “Do you treat every doctor who saves your men this way?” My body stretched taut as a bowstring as the words struck like barbs.
“Or does the fact that she’s a beautiful woman have something to do with your sudden obsession?”
“Shit.” I dragged a hand down my face, allowing Car to see my distress–because he wasn’t just my second. He was my best friend, my lifelong companion. The only person, aside from my mother, that I trusted.
But he wasn’t the only person who’d know I’d pulled the guard from Layla’s house just this morning. Left her unprotected, now that the fight was over.
“Vas?” Car alone was allowed to call me that–since I’d changed my name. Even my mother adhered to the new
title.
“I’ve got to go.” I couldn’t bring myself to explain as I hurried from the office.
Car’s feet patted the wood floor behind me. “I’ll drive.”
My fingers clenched and unclenched at my sides as we rode down to the garage. Carlo knew me better than most- might even know what I was thinking now.
Had my protection of Layla done the opposite of what I’d intended? Had the constant presence of three Marcello men put her neighborhood in the spotlight of my enemies?
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Chapter 0006
I had to find out. Now.
+25 BONUS
The Bentley roared to life with Carlo behind the wheel, and we surged out of the garage and into the crush of downtown Manhattan traffic. My fingers drummed my thighs, anxiety churning my stomach into a froth, as we sat in the gridlock of cars.
Nothing to render us all equals like the unmoving crush of downtown rush hour. No matter how much your car cost, how much you paid your driver… we were all slower than the subway riders beneath us.
Everything would be fine. Nothing had happened in the few short hours since I’d pulled my guard. I repeated the words over and over and over. Everything is fine.
Slowly, we inched through the traffic. The crush of cars. Out of the city and into the tree–lined suburbs. The calm was like a breath of fresh air.
As was the quaint brownstone rowhouse at the end of the street. She had flowers in her garden. Lilies–her favorite. The same I’d picked for her wedding bouquet.
She’d worn them in her hair that day, too.
My chest pulled tight in pain.
Carlo cut the ignition on the curb beside her driveway. I climb from the car, strode up the gravel to the front door. Did I breathe as I rang that bell? I couldn’t be sure. “Layla?”
The door cracked open, and I waited for pale white hair and blue eyes, a soft smile.
I got only emptiness.、
“Are you here to see Mommy?” The slight voice dragged my gaze down from the emptiness in front of my face to the tiny figure position in the opened doorway. White hair. Blue eyes. A pointed chin and angled cheekbones.
Layla, but small. Male.
A child.
A child with Layla’s face and Layla’s eyes.
He repeated the question. “Are you here to see Mommy?”
+25 BONUS
Chapter 0007
