Chapter 4 - THE VIPER'S NEST
The revelation hit like a freight train. I had unknowingly married the heir to my greatest rival, Antonio Rossi. She had been hiding in plain sight, scrubbing floors in the home of her family’s sworn enemy.
"You brought a rat into my house," I snarled, pinning her against the bookshelf, my forearm pressing against her collarbone. "You used my son."
"I saved your son!" she shot back, pushing against my chest with surprising strength. "My father wanted me to marry a Russian arms dealer to secure an alliance. I ran. I changed my name. I took the lowest job I could find in a place my father would never look—your house. I didn't plan for Oliver. I didn't plan for any of this!"
Suddenly, a gunshot shattered the window of the study.
Instinct took over. I tackled Emma to the ground as a hail of bullets ripped through the room, shredding books and shattering the chandelier. Screams echoed from the hallway.
"Oliver!" Emma screamed, scrambling toward the door before I could stop her.
We burst into the corridor. Two masked men were already at the top of the stairs, kicking in the door to Oliver’s playroom. I raised my weapon and fired, dropping one. The other turned, raising his gun, but Emma was faster. She grabbed a heavy bronze bust from a pedestal and hurled it, striking the man in the temple. He collapsed.
Emma ran into the room and pulled a terrified Oliver out from under a table, wrapping her arms around him. Oliver buried his face in her neck, sobbing. "Emma..." he cried.
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I stood in the doorway, my gun still raised, my heart hammering against my ribs. She wasn't a spy. She was a survivor. And she had just risked her life for my son.
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