The Billionaire's Blood Debt

I stopped breathing. The room seemed to tilt.

"No," I whispered. "Jonathan worked at a warehouse. He worked long shifts. He was a good man."

"He loved you," Roman corrected gently. "And he loved Leo. But he gambled, Megan. He owed over two hundred thousand dollars to a man named Silas Vance. The same man who owns the block where Laura is located. The same man who sent three thugs to gut me in that alley."

I backed away, shaking my head. "You're lying. Jonathan wouldn't do that."

"Silas Vance runs a syndicate under the guise of commercial real estate," Roman continued, his voice tight with pain but steady. "Jonathan came to me for a loan to pay Vance off. I gave him the money. That coin was the collateral. A token of trust. But Vance didn't just want the money. He wanted Jonathan to drive a car for a robbery. They staged the hit-and-run to cover up the fact that the job went wrong."

Tears blurred my vision. The man I had mourned, the man whose memory I had kept perfect for Leo, had been living a double life.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I demanded.

"Because I didn't know you existed until three years ago, when you were left with a stack of debts. I bought Vanguard Holdings. I bought the restaurant. I made sure you were hired there so you would have an income, health insurance, a way to survive. I couldn't just give you cash; Vance was watching Jonathan's accounts. I had to protect you from a distance."

He had been watching over us. My job, the promotions, the sudden bonuses that always seemed to arrive exactly when Leo needed new shoes or medical care—it had all been Roman.

"And last night?" I asked.

"Vance found out I was the one who funded Jonathan. He ambushed me. I fought my way out, but they caught me under the ribs." Roman leaned forward, grimacing. "You were never supposed to be in that alley, Megan."

Before I could answer, a small voice echoed from the doorway.

"Mommy?"

I spun around. Leo was standing there, clutching his triceratops. His fever had broken, his eyes bright and curious. He walked right past me and stopped in front of Roman.

"You're bleeding," Leo said simply, pointing at Roman's side.

Roman looked down. A fresh red stain was blooming through his white shirt. The stitches the doctor had put in were tearing.

Roman looked at my son, his hard expression softening in a way that shattered my heart. "It's just a scratch, little man."

"My mom is good at fixing things," Leo said.

"I know," Roman murmured, his eyes lifting to meet mine.

Then Marcus burst into the library. "Sir. We have a problem. The security feed at the front gates."

Roman forced himself to stand. He grabbed a remote and flicked on the large screen on the wall.

Sitting outside the heavy iron gates of the estate was a silver sedan.

"It's David," I gasped. My former boss.

"He’s not alone," Marcus said grimly.