Chapter 2 - The Rearranged Chessboard

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Blackthorn House was suffocating. By the time I arrived, the estate was already swarming with caterers, florists, and heavily armed men in tailored suits. Tonight was the annual charity gala, a glittering mask for the most dangerous men in the city to divide territories.

I walked through the grand foyer, my hand resting protectively over my swollen belly.

"Thomas?" I called out, looking for the head of my personal security detail.

Instead, a man I barely recognized stepped out from the shadows of the grand staircase. He had dead, flat eyes and a scar cutting through his left eyebrow.

"Thomas has been reassigned to perimeter defense, Mrs. Thorne," the man said. "I'm Pike. I'll be handling your detail tonight."

"Reassigned?" I narrowed my eyes. "By whose order?"

"By mine, Mara."

I turned to see Victor Hale, Adrien’s underboss, descending the marble steps. Victor was a man carved from ice, fiercely loyal to the syndicate, and entirely devoid of a conscience.

"With the guest list tonight, we needed our best men on the outer walls," Victor explained, his voice smooth and devoid of apology. "Pike is more than capable of sitting outside your door."

"I wasn't consulted," I shot back, a cold spike of unease settling at the base of my spine.

"Adrien approved it," Victor lied effortlessly. "Rest up, Mara. You look exhausted."

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He walked past me, the dismissal clear. I stood in the grand hallway, the silence of the massive house suddenly pressing in on me. My security had been quietly gutted. The men who answered directly to me were gone.

I retreated upstairs to my suite, locking the heavy mahogany door behind me. I told myself it was just paranoia, the hormones of the third trimester playing tricks on my mind. But as I passed the nursery, I noticed the red light on the security camera was blinking irregularly. Someone had been in there.