Chapter 1 - The Gun and the Miracle
Clara did not hesitate as she crossed the threshold into the sprawling nursery.
The scent of expensive, stale champagne wafted from the glass next to the sleeping night nurse.
Disgust flared in Clara's chest, hot and violent, overriding every survival instinct she possessed.
She walked past the negligent woman and looked down into the massive mahogany bassinet.
Little Dante lay there, a fragile ghost of a child hooked to a symphony of blinking monitors.
His tiny chest barely moved.
His wail was now just a pathetic, dry rasp.
Clara’s heart shattered all over again, the phantom weight of her own lost Maya heavy in her empty arms.
With trembling hands, she reached into the crib and lifted the starving heir to the Costa empire.
He weighed almost nothing, a bundle of delicate bones and translucent skin.
She sat in a high-backed rocker in the darkest corner of the room, unbuttoning her starched maid's uniform.
She peeled back the restrictive athletic tape she had used to bind her aching chest.
As soon as she guided the baby's tiny, frantic mouth to her bare breast, the nursery door swung open.
Vincenzo Costa stood in the doorway, a silhouetted demon carved from pure menace.
His eyes were bloodshot, hollowed out by grief and the sheer terror of losing his only remaining family.
In a fraction of a second, he registered a stranger holding his dying son.
The heavy black steel of a Glock 19 was in his hand and leveled at Clara’s head before he even took a breath.
"Put him down," Vincenzo commanded, his voice a lethal, vibrating whisper that promised instant death.
Clara froze, staring down the barrel of the weapon, tears finally spilling hot over her cheeks.
She was fully prepared to die in that chair, fully prepared to join her daughter in the dark.
But then, the impossible happened.
Dante swallowed.
It was a weak, hesitant sound in the suffocating silence of the room.
Vincenzo’s finger twitched on the trigger, his icy gaze flickering down to the infant.
Dante swallowed again, his tiny hands gripping the fabric of Clara’s open uniform.
May you like
The erratic, agonizing beep of the heart monitor suddenly stabilized, dropping into a steady, rhythmic hum.
The gun in Vincenzo’s hand slowly began to lower.
