THE MAFIA BOSS CAME HOME EARLY—AND HEARD HIS BABY’S ARM SNAP
THE MAFIA BOSS CAME HOME EARLY—AND HEARD HIS BABY’S ARM SNAP
The first sound Victor Blackwood heard was not his baby crying.
It was the sharp crack of something breaking.
Then the nanny screamed.
“Stop!”
“You’re breaking his arm!”
Victor froze outside the marble foyer.
He had returned to Blackwood Mansion three hours earlier than expected.
No guards had announced him.
No staff knew he was home.
And the woman he planned to marry had no idea he was standing only a few steps behind her.
Fourteen-month-old Ethan lay helpless on the freezing marble floor.
His tiny face had turned a terrifying shade of purple.
His body shook between desperate cries.
One small arm was twisted at an unnatural angle.
Serena Montigue stood above him.
Her perfectly manicured fingers were locked around his wrist.
She dragged him across the floor as though he were nothing more than a broken toy.
“Please stop!”
Lily’s scream tore through the mansion.
She had cared for Ethan every day for six months.
She had fed him.
Bathed him.
Held him through fevers.
Stayed beside his crib whenever nightmares woke him.
She loved him like he was her own child.
And now she was watching the life disappear from his frightened eyes.
Ethan tried to cry again.
Only a weak, broken sound escaped his lips.
Lily’s heart stopped.
He was slipping into shock.
She threw herself forward.
Her bare feet slid across the polished marble.
Her hands reached desperately for the baby.
Only one thought remained in her mind.
Save him.
But Serena moved first.
Her designer heel drove violently into Lily’s stomach.
The impact lifted Lily from the floor.
She crashed backward against the stone.
The air vanished from her lungs.
Pain exploded through her ribs and abdomen.
For one unbearable second, she could not breathe.
But Lily barely noticed the pain.
Her eyes stayed fixed on Ethan.
His injured arm hung limply beside him.
His little face was twisted in agony.
His sobs had weakened into tiny gasps no child should ever make.
Lily forced herself onto her hands and knees.
“Ethan…”
Her voice broke.
Serena slowly turned toward her.
Her expression remained cold.
Perfect.
Controlled.
This was the same woman who smiled beside Victor at charity galas.
The same woman photographed holding sick children for newspaper cameras.
The same woman Chicago society praised as elegant, generous, and kind.
The same woman who would soon marry Victor Blackwood.
The most feared mafia boss in Chicago.
Serena stepped closer.
Then she pressed the pointed heel of her shoe into Lily’s abdomen.
Lily cried out.
“Touch him again,” Serena whispered, “and I’ll make you disappear.”
She leaned down until her face was inches from Lily’s.
“Nobody cares about a cheap nanny.”
Her heel pushed harder.
“You really think Victor will believe you instead of me?”
Lily could barely breathe.
Her vision blurred.
Her hands trembled against the marble.
But Ethan made another weak sound.
That sound gave her strength.
She crawled forward.
One inch.
Then another.
Her knees scraped against the floor.
Her stomach burned beneath Serena’s heel.
Blood appeared beneath her palms.
Still, Lily kept moving toward the baby.
Serena’s calm expression finally cracked.
“I warned you.”
She raised her foot again.
But before she could strike Lily—
A deep voice came from the shadows behind her.
“Put your foot down.”
Serena’s entire body went still.
The color drained from her face.
Lily slowly lifted her head.
Victor Blackwood stood beneath the foyer archway.
His black coat was still wet from the rain.
His hands rested calmly at his sides.
But his eyes were fixed on Ethan’s twisted arm.
Then on Lily’s bleeding hands.
Then on Serena.
The silence that followed was more terrifying than a gunshot.
Serena opened her mouth.
“Victor, I can explain.”
Victor stepped into the light.
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
Deadly quiet.
“You’re going to stand exactly where you are.”
Two armed guards appeared behind him.
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Victor never looked away from Serena.
“Because this time,” he said, “the nanny is going to explain everything.”
