Chapter 4 - The Traitor Inside
I froze on the floor, clutching the little boy tightly to my chest as Damian's brother entered the room.
Damian stepped squarely between me and the doorway, completely blocking Silvio's view of the children.
"You have no right to barge into my home, Silvio," Damian growled, his hand resting firmly on his weapon.
Silvio just laughed, a dry and humorless sound that sent terrible shivers down my spine.
"The commission is furious that you brought a random diner waitress into our most secure compound," Silvio stated arrogantly.
I realized then just how much danger I was in simply by standing in this room.
Damian's jaw clenched as he stared down his older brother with absolute authority.
"This woman is the biological mother of my children, and someone in our network sold them to me illegally."
Silvio's cruel smile faltered for a fraction of a second, but it was enough for me to notice.
"You are losing your mind, Damian," Silvio countered, taking a step backward toward his guards.
"I suggest you get rid of her before her messy past destroys everything we have built."
Without waiting for a response, Silvio turned on his heel and stormed out of the nursery.
Damian immediately locked the heavy door and turned to me, his eyes dark with sudden realization.
"Silvio was the one who recommended the private adoption broker to me eight months ago," Damian whispered.
The pieces of the horrifying puzzle were finally starting to fall into place.
If his brother was involved, it meant the threat was coming from inside the most powerful family in the city.
Damian pulled out his phone again and ordered his most trusted men to lock down the entire estate.
"We need to find out who Silvio bought them from," I said, my maternal instincts overriding my fear.
Damian nodded slowly, walking over to the window to check the perimeter of the property.
"The broker goes by the alias 'The Shepherd', and nobody has ever seen his real face."
Suddenly, the encrypted phone in Damian's hand began to ring with a restricted number.
May you like
He put the call on speaker, and a voice I hadn't heard in fourteen months filled the quiet nursery.
"If you ever want to see tomorrow, Marchetti, you will hand my ex-fiancee and the kids over to me tonight."
