Chapter 1 - THE GUN, THE BABY, AND THE SECRET
The first thing I saw was not the gun.
It was the color of the baby’s lips.
Blue.
Not pale.
Not sickly.
Blue.
And in that moment, I knew four-month-old Leo Romano had only seconds left.
“Move away from my son.”
The voice behind me was cold enough to freeze the entire room.
I didn’t need to turn around.
I already knew who it was.
Alessio Romano.
Chicago’s most feared man.
The billionaire businessman everyone respected in public and feared in private.
The man whose name made people lower their voices.
The man who could destroy someone’s life with one phone call.
And right now, he was standing behind me with a loaded pistol pressed against my head.
Rain crashed against the massive windows of the Romano estate. Thunder shook the walls of the nursery as lightning flashed across the dark sky.
But none of it mattered.
Because Leo was dying.
I kept one hand beneath his tiny jaw and held a pair of emergency forceps in the other.
“Don’t come closer,” I whispered.
Alessio’s breathing changed.
“You’re giving me orders in my own house?”
“I’m keeping your son alive.”
His gun pressed harder against my temple.
“Put him down.”
My heart raced, but my hands stayed steady.
“I can’t.”
“You have three seconds.”
I looked down at Leo.
His little chest barely moved.
His fingers were limp.
His body was getting weaker.
“Then shoot me,” I said.
Silence.
The kind of silence that only happens when someone realizes they might lose everything.
Alessio’s voice dropped.
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Yes, I do.”
I looked directly into his eyes.
“You’re not a mafia boss right now.”
His expression tightened.
“You’re a father.”
For the first time, the man holding the gun looked afraid.
Not angry.
Not powerful.
Afraid.
“Five seconds,” I whispered.
The gun stayed there.
“Five.”
I adjusted the forceps.
“Four.”
Leo’s lips became darker.
“Three.”
The small object inside his throat moved.
“Two.”
My fingers tightened.
“One.”
I pulled.
For one horrible second, nothing happened.
Then—
A tiny blue bead dropped onto the white carpet.
I immediately turned Leo onto his side.
“Come on, baby.”
Nothing.
“Come on, Leo. Breathe.”
Alessio didn’t move.
The gun was still in his hand.
But he wasn’t looking at me anymore.
He was looking at his son.
Then Leo gasped.
A weak breath.
Then another.
And suddenly—
He screamed.
The sound filled the entire nursery.
A beautiful, painful sound.
The sound of life returning.
I grabbed him and held him against my chest.
“You’re okay,” I whispered.
“You’re okay.”
Only then did my own hands start shaking.
Alessio slowly lowered the gun.
He stared at Leo.
Then at me.
Then at the tiny blue bead on the floor.
“What was that?”
I swallowed.
“That wasn’t supposed to be there.”
His eyes narrowed.
“What?”
I pointed toward the pacifier clip on the dresser.
“That clip is intact.”
Alessio walked over.
He picked it up.
Every bead was perfectly attached.
His face changed.
“Then where did that come from?”
I looked around the nursery.
The crib.
The blanket.
The bottle warmer.
The camera above the door.
Someone had been here.
Someone had touched something.
Someone wanted this baby hurt.
“I checked this room before he went to sleep,” I said.
Alessio turned.
“When?”
“Less than ten minutes before the alarm.”
His jaw tightened.
“You’re saying someone did this?”
I carefully placed the bead inside a sterile bag.
“I’m saying your nursery is no longer a nursery.”
I looked him straight in the eye.
“It’s a crime scene.”
The room became silent.
Then Alessio walked toward the door.
He locked it.
The sound echoed.
Click.
Nobody entered.
Nobody left.
Nobody touched anything.
At least…
that was what we thought.
Because above us, the hidden camera was still recording.
And someone inside the Romano mansion had just watched their entire plan fail.
But they weren’t scared.
They were angry.
May you like
And before sunrise…
they would try again.
