Chapter 20 - The Unseen Strings
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The ride back to the fortified estate was a chaotic blur of screeching tires, flashing emergency lights, and the desperate shouting of the syndicate medics working frantically to stop Dante's bleeding in the back of the armored SUV.
I didn't let go of his hand once.
When we finally breached the gates, the compound was fully mobilized. The war with the Russians had officially begun, but Dante had survived the night. The bullet had missed his vital organs, passing cleanly through his side.
I sat by his bedside in the medical wing for three days, refusing to leave, sleeping in the uncomfortable chair with my head resting on his chest, listening to the steady, reassuring rhythm of his heartbeat.
Leo was brought in to see us, and the toddler instantly demanded to be put on the bed. He curled up next to his father, reaching his small hand out to grab my necklace, completely content in the storm.
When Dante finally woke up, his gray eyes were clear and fiercely protective. He looked at me, then at his son, and a soft, genuine smile broke across his exhausted face.
"You stayed," Dante murmured, his voice raspy.
"I told you, I'm never leaving," I replied, pressing a kiss to his knuckles.
The syndicate stabilized under Dante's ruthless counter-attacks. The Russians were pushed back into the shadows, realizing the King of Boston was not a man to be tested. My position in the family became absolute. I was no longer a secret; I was the Queen, feared and respected by the men who guarded our walls.
But the peace was a fragile illusion.
A week later, I was sitting in the nursery, watching Leo play with a pile of wooden blocks. The heavy oak door was locked, the perimeter secure.
A small, unmarked package sat on the changing table. It had bypassed the security scans, delivered directly to the east wing by an unknown hand.
I carefully peeled back the brown paper. Inside was a cheap, plastic burner phone and a handwritten note on lavender-scented paper.
The Russians weren't the real threat, Lena. They were just a distraction. He is coming for the boy.
May you like
Before I could process the terrifying warning, the plastic burner phone began to ring loudly in the quiet nursery.
I stared at the glowing screen, my blood running completely cold. The war wasn't over. The true monster was just waking up.
