THE MAFIA BOSS’S SON

Evelyn’s triumphant smirk vanished, replaced by a mask of sheer, unadulterated shock. The iron poker in her hand trembled.

“You little thief,” she spat, taking a sudden step toward the boy.

Daniel moved faster than Natalie could track. In a blur of motion, he crossed the room and forcefully shoved Evelyn backward. She stumbled, dropping the iron poker with a heavy clang against the hardwood floor. Daniel didn't raise a hand to strike her, but his towering presence pinned her in place against the bookshelf.

“Do not ever speak to my son like that again,” Daniel snarled, his face inches from hers.

Lucas stood perfectly still beside Natalie, who instinctively placed a protective hand on his small shoulder. The boy didn't flinch at his father’s anger. For the first time, the violence wasn't directed at him; it was protecting him.

Evelyn, backed into a corner, finally lost her pristine composure. Her chest heaved. “You think you’re saving him, Daniel? You think this girl will stay? They all leave!”

“Because you force them out!” Daniel yelled, his voice finally breaking its terrifying calm. “You drove Maria away. You terrified my son to maintain your control over this house!”

Evelyn laughed, a harsh, grating sound that lacked any warmth. “You think this is just about Maria? You think I started this with a nanny?”

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Natalie felt a sudden chill crawl up her spine. She looked down at Lucas, who was clutching the wooden bird so tightly his knuckles were white.

“What did you do, Evelyn?” Daniel demanded, his voice dropping to a gravelly whisper.

Evelyn straightened her dress, refusing to break eye contact with the man she had practically raised. “Your wife didn't die in a car accident, Daniel.”

The words struck the room like a physical blow. Daniel physically recoiled, stepping back from her as if she were made of fire. Natalie gasped, her hand tightening on Lucas’s shoulder.

“What did you say?” Daniel breathed.

“Elena was weak,” Evelyn said, her voice dripping with absolute disgust. “She cried when you came home with blood on your hands. She begged you to leave the life. She was going to take Lucas away from you. Take him to the suburbs. Raise him as a nobody.”

“She died on the interstate,” Daniel said, his voice fracturing, the ruthless mob boss completely stripped away to reveal a broken husband. “The police found her car.”

“I paid the police to find her car,” Evelyn corrected coldly. “I paid them to tell you she was in it when it burned.”

Daniel’s legs seemed to give out. He grabbed the edge of his mahogany desk to keep from collapsing, his chest heaving as the lie he had lived for three years shattered into a million pieces.

“Where is she?” Daniel demanded, his voice shaking with a terrifying mix of hope and murderous rage.

Evelyn smiled, a cruel, twisted curve of her lips. “She’s gone, Daniel. I made sure she understood that if she ever contacted you or the boy again, the syndicate would find her. She left to save her own life. She abandoned him.”