Chapter 4 - The Night the Mansion Burned
The attack lasted eleven minutes.
To Chloe, it felt like hours.
She was moved to a reinforced room while Leo and his men fought downstairs.
Sirens echoed outside.
Glass shattered.
Smoke filled the hallways.
At one point, Chloe heard Leo shouting her name.
She ran toward the sound.
A guard stopped her.
“Mr. Moretti ordered you to stay inside.”
“He can order me himself.”
Then a window exploded.
The guard threw himself over her.
Chloe fell.
Pain shot through her abdomen.
For one terrifying second, she could not breathe.
Then Leo appeared.
He dropped beside her.
“Chloe.”
“I’m okay.”
“Where does it hurt?”
“My stomach.”
His face went white.
“Doctor.”
Within minutes, Dr. Aris arrived.
The baby was fine.
But Chloe had suffered a severe scare.
Leo stayed beside her the entire time.
The attack had failed.
But the mansion had burned badly.
In the morning, Leo walked through the damaged hallway.
He looked colder than ever.
Someone had betrayed the security team.
The attackers had known exactly where the blind spots were.
That meant the enemy had help from inside.
Everyone was questioned.
One guard disappeared before Leo could interrogate him.
That was enough.
There was a leak.
Two days later, another surprise arrived.
Bradley.
He appeared at the company where Chloe used to work.
He claimed he was looking for her.
Chloe learned about it through a message from her former boss.
She deleted the message.
She wanted nothing to do with him.
But Bradley would not stop.
He showed up again.
Then again.
Eventually Leo confronted him.
Bradley did not know who Leo was.
That was his first mistake.
“You’re Chloe’s friend?” Bradley asked.
“No.”
“Boyfriend?”
Leo stared at him.
“Something like that.”
Bradley laughed nervously.
“I just wanted to make sure she was okay. We dated.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“I know everything.”
Bradley’s face tightened.
“I suppose she told you how unstable things became.”
Leo leaned against the car.
“Did she?”
“She had problems.”
“What kind?”
Bradley shrugged.
“Confidence. Money. Her weight.”
Leo’s eyes became empty.
Bradley continued.
“She always had trouble taking criticism.”
“You told her she was fat.”
Bradley stopped smiling.
“That was a joke.”
Leo stepped closer.
“You insulted a pregnant woman.”
Bradley looked confused.
“How do you—”
He stopped.
Leo smiled without warmth.
“She’s carrying my child.”
Bradley’s expression changed.
He went completely still.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“She’s pregnant?”
Leo said nothing.
Bradley’s eyes widened.
“With your child?”
Leo opened the car door.
“Walk away.”
Bradley did not.
“Does Chloe know who you really are?”
Leo stopped.
“What did you say?”
Bradley’s confidence returned.
“I knew there was something strange. She disappeared after you entered her life. If she’s with you because of some deal—”
Leo grabbed him by the collar.
“You know nothing.”
Bradley’s feet nearly left the ground.
“Please.”
“You embarrassed her once.”
Leo released him.
“Do not make the mistake of doing it twice.”
Bradley fled.
But that night, Chloe asked why Leo had been gone so long.
He did not mention Bradley.
Instead, he told her something else.
“Tomorrow, you’re meeting my mother.”
Chloe stared.
“You have a mother?”
Leo almost smiled.
“Most people do.”
“I assumed she lived in a castle.”
“She lives in a house.”
“A normal house?”
“No.”
Chloe laughed.
It felt strange.
She had not laughed around him much.
Leo watched her.
For a man surrounded by violence, the sound seemed to matter.
The next day, Chloe met Isabella Moretti.
She was seventy-two, elegant, sharp-eyed, and terrifying in an entirely different way from Leo.
Isabella studied Chloe for nearly a minute.
Then she smiled.
“My son has terrible taste in women.”
Chloe nearly choked.
Leo looked offended.
“Mother.”
Isabella waved him away.
“I mean, not her. His previous choices.”
Chloe laughed.
Isabella looked at Chloe’s stomach.
“Come here.”
Chloe hesitated.
Then Isabella touched her hand.
“Thank you for protecting my grandson.”
Chloe frowned.
“You think it’s a boy?”
“I know my family.”
“You don’t know the baby’s sex.”
“I know Leo’s face.”
Isabella looked at her son.
“He hasn’t looked this alive in years.”
Leo turned away.
His mother’s smile softened.
Then she whispered to Chloe:
“He loves you.”
Chloe stared at her.
“No.”
Isabella shrugged.
“Not yet. But he is standing very close to the word.”
That evening, Leo found Chloe on the terrace.
“You spoke to my mother.”
“She likes me.”
“She likes everyone.”
“Not true.”
“She threatened a bishop once.”
Chloe laughed.
Leo watched her.
Then he said something that changed everything.
“Bradley contacted you again?”
She stiffened.
“How do you know?”
“He’s been asking questions.”
“What questions?”
“About the baby.”
Her smile disappeared.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Leo’s phone rang.
He listened.
His face became cold.
“Bring him to me.”
He hung up.
Chloe frowned.
“Who?”
May you like
Leo looked at her.
“Bradley.”
