Chapter 2 - The Stolen Breath
Grant Mercer aimed the weapon directly at Adrian's chest.
The world seemed to slow down in the suffocating July heat.
Adrian instinctively twisted his body to shield his unconscious son.
A deafening crack echoed across the immaculate green lawn.
It was not Grant's gun that fired.
One of Adrian's bodyguards had drawn his weapon and shot Grant in the shoulder.
The junior attorney collapsed backward onto the blistering gravel.
His pistol skittered beneath the burning chassis of the SUV.
Adrian ignored the bleeding man and looked down at his child.
Owen let out a weak, rattling gasp.
Hannah pressed her ear directly to the baby's small chest.
"His heart rate is plummeting," she warned, her voice surprisingly steady.
The distant wail of sirens began to cut through the heavy summer air.
Adrian looked at his loyal guard.
"Lock the gates and do not let anyone leave this property," he ordered.
He glared at Victor Shaw and Natalie, who were both frozen in shock.
"If my son dies, none of you will see tomorrow."
An ambulance screeched onto the driveway, kicking up a massive cloud of white dust.
Two paramedics leaped from the cab before the vehicle even fully stopped.
They rushed toward Adrian with a stretcher and a heavy medical kit.
Adrian stepped forward to hand his precious child to the professionals.
The lead paramedic reached out to take the baby.
As the man's sleeve rode up, the bright sunlight hit his forearm.
Adrian froze.
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There, inked deeply into the man's skin, was the unmistakable tattoo of a black serpent.
It was the mark of the Moretti crime family.
