Chapter 3 - The Secret of the Fortress
Days turned into a week, and the change in the mansion was palpable.
The heavy, oppressive gloom that had hung over the estate began to lift.
Leo was gaining weight, his tiny limbs filling out, his cries becoming robust and demanding.
The "ghost" in the nursery was doing what a million-dollar lab could not.
Hannah was still terrified of me, flinching whenever I entered the room.
I tried to be gentler, but how does a wolf learn to act like a lamb?
I brought her books, high-quality clothes, and the best food my chefs could prepare.
"You don't have to do this," she said one night as I brought her a tray of fruit.
"I'm just doing what's right. You don't owe me a lifestyle."
"You are giving my son a life," I replied, standing by the window.
"In my world, that makes you more valuable than gold."
"I want to know about your daughter," I said, the question hanging in the air.
Hannah froze, her eyes welling with tears as she looked at the empty space beside her.
"She was beautiful," Hannah whispered. "She had a little tuft of blonde hair."
"I only got to hold her for a minute before they took her away."
"I feel like... like Leo is her way of telling me it wasn't my fault."
I walked over to her, and for the first time, I placed a hand on her shoulder.
She didn't pull away. She leaned into the touch, a silent sob shaking her frame.
"It wasn't your fault," I said firmly. "The man who did it... he will pay."
"You know about Marcus?" she gasped, looking up at me in horror.
"I know everything that happens in this city, Hannah. You’re safe here."
"The walls of this house are three feet thick, and there are fifty men outside who would die for me."
"He can never hurt you again."
But even as I said the words, I knew that safety was an illusion in my business.
The Moretti family had grown bolder, convinced that my silence meant Leo had died.
They launched an attack on one of my shipping convoys that night.
The sound of gunfire and explosions echoed from the harbor, miles away.
I spent the night in the war room, moving pieces on a map, coordinating a counter-strike.
I was the devil again, ordering hits and orchestrating the ruin of my enemies.
But every hour, I would check the security feed of the nursery.
I would see Hannah rocking Leo, oblivious to the blood being spilled in her name.
She was my conscience. She was the light I was trying to keep the darkness from swallowing.
"Boss, we have a problem," Silas said, entering the room with a grim expression.
"Marcus Thorne has been spotted talking to a Moretti lieutenant."
"They’re putting it together. They know we have a new woman in the house."
"They don't know why, but they think she’s your new weakness."
My heart hammered against my ribs—not with fear, but with a cold, calculated rage.
"They think they can use her against me?" I laughed, a sound like dry bones grinding.
"They think they can touch the woman who saved my son?"
"Double the guards. I want snipers on every roof within a mile."
"And tell the boys to get the basement ready."
"I'm going to bring Marcus Thorne home, and I'm going to let Hannah decide his fate."
I went back to the nursery to check on them one last time before the storm hit.
Hannah was asleep in the chair, Leo tucked into the crook of her arm.
They looked so peaceful, a small island of innocence in a sea of violence.
I reached down and tucked the blanket around them both.
"I won't let them take this from me," I whispered into the dark.
"I lost Sophia. I won't lose you."
I realized then that I wasn't just talking about Leo.
I was talking about the woman who had filled the hole in my soul.
May you like
And I would burn the entire city to ash before I let anyone lay a finger on her.
***
