Chapter 13 - A Mother's Vow
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"Harper, you are not doing this!" Victor roared, lunging forward to grab my arm, his gray eyes wild with a terrifying, helpless panic.
I ripped my arm out of his grasp, turning to face him with a fierce, uncompromising fire that shocked even me. I wasn't the timid nanny anymore; I was a woman fighting for her child.
"If they go upstairs, Finn dies, Victor!" I screamed, my voice cracking with absolute desperation. "I am not letting them hurt him because of my father's mistakes. Let me go."
"I will kill him," Victor vowed, pointing a trembling finger at Marcus. "I will slaughter every single person involved in this."
"I know you will," I whispered, reaching out to press my hand against his cheek for one fleeting, desperate second. "Keep our boy safe."
I turned away from the devastated mafia boss and walked directly toward the traitor holding the gun.
"Smart girl," Marcus sneered, grabbing my uninjured arm roughly and shoving me toward the door.
We moved quickly through the dark, compromised corridors of the east wing. My mind raced, trying to calculate the odds of survival, but the only image in my head was Finn's terrified, tear-stained face. I had promised to be his anchor, and I was going to keep that promise, even if it cost me my life.
Marcus shoved me out the back service door into the freezing night air. Two black SUVs were idling near the treeline, filled with heavily armed Falcone soldiers.
They threw me into the back of the lead vehicle. The doors locked with a heavy, final thud.
As the convoy sped away from the estate, I looked out the tinted window. The Rossi mansion stood silent in the darkness, a fortress that had been breached from the inside.
I didn't cry. I didn't beg the men in the car for mercy.
I leaned back against the leather seat, ignoring the throbbing pain in my stitched arm. I thought about the way Victor had looked at me in the study—the raw, absolute devotion in his eyes.
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Marcus thought he had won. He thought he had successfully kidnapped a helpless civilian.
He didn't realize that by threatening Finn, he hadn't just angered a mafia boss. He had ignited the wrath of a mother. And I was going to burn Lorenzo Falcone's world to the ground from the inside out.
