Chapter 1 - The Offer
Ricardo did not flinch at my sharp words.
He simply opened the heavy car door and stepped out into the freezing rain.
The massive bodyguard named Dante immediately moved to hold an umbrella over his boss.
Ricardo waved him away and stood directly in front of me.
"I am not looking to own you, Clara," he said.
"I am looking to hire you."
I crossed my arms tightly to stop myself from shivering in the cold.
"To do what exactly?" I asked.
"To do exactly what you did in that restaurant," he replied.
"Leo has not slept through the night in six months."
"He screams whenever my staff tries to touch him or feed him."
"But tonight, he fell asleep in your arms in less than five minutes."
I thought about the pathetic two hundred dollars sitting in my pocket.
It was nowhere near enough to pay the crushing medical bills from my past.
My landlord was already threatening to evict me by the end of the week.
"What is the salary?" I asked softly.
Ricardo named a figure that literally made my lungs stop working.
It was enough money to clear my entire debt in a single month.
"Fine," I said, stepping into the warm leather interior of his armored vehicle.
The drive to the Moretti estate was completely silent and deeply suffocating.
When we finally arrived, the mansion looked more like a fortress than a family home.
High stone walls, security cameras, and armed men surrounded the sprawling property.
Dante escorted me up the grand marble staircase to the nursery.
Leo was already asleep in a massive velvet bed, clutching a small blanket.
I sat in the chair beside him, feeling completely out of place in this world of wealth and violence.
Then, I noticed a heavy iron door sitting at the very end of the hallway.
It was locked with three separate, heavy-duty deadbolts.
I stood up and took a curious step toward it.
Leo suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed my hand with surprising strength.
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"Don't go near that room," the three-year-old whispered in the dark.
"That is where the monster sleeps."
