Chapter 3 - The Price of Blood
The mansion was completely silent except for the soft cooing of my baby girl.
I had named her Mia, a small piece of independence in a world I no longer controlled.
I paced the plush carpet of the nursery, holding her tightly against my chest.
Ten million dollars was enough money to make anyone a murderer.
The bedroom door clicked open, and Luca stepped inside without knocking.
He had removed his suit jacket, and his white dress shirt was rolled up to his elbows.
"The perimeter is secure, and I have doubled the interior guard rotation," he said softly.
"I cannot live like this, wondering if someone is going to kill my baby for a corporate buyout," I cried.
Luca closed the distance between us, his large hands gently wrapping around my trembling shoulders.
"No one will ever touch her, Emma."
His thumb brushed a stray tear from my cheek, his touch surprisingly gentle for a man of violence.
"Derek knows she is here," I whispered, terrified by the reality of my ex-boyfriend.
"Derek is currently dealing with his own domestic nightmare," Luca replied with a dark, satisfied smirk.
"What did you do?" I asked, unsure if I actually wanted to know the answer.
"I had my medical team run a discreet background check on his new girlfriend, Brittany."
"She is not pregnant."
I blinked in shock, processing the manipulation I had witnessed at the hospital.
"She purchased a fake ultrasound online to trap Derek into leaving you," Luca explained.
"I simply ensured that Derek's extremely traditional father found out about the fraud this morning."
A small sense of vindictive relief washed over me.
Derek had ruined my life for a lie, and now his own world was collapsing.
Suddenly, the heavy oak doors of the mansion echoed with loud, frantic banging from the ground floor.
Luca instantly pulled a sleek black pistol from his waistband and pushed me behind him.
We heard the muffled shouts of the security guards in the grand foyer below.
Then Derek's voice echoed up the grand staircase, frantic and laced with absolute panic.
"Emma, you have to hide the baby right now!" Derek screamed over the sound of struggling guards.
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"My father did not send hitmen to kill the baby."
"He sent them to kidnap her, because a DNA test just proved that I am not her biological father."
