He Put a Gun to the Nanny’s Head When His Baby Stopped Breathing

Two weeks passed, and the Lake Forest estate settled into a grim, strained routine.

Fiona proved herself invaluable within forty-eight hours. She anticipated Leo’s feeding difficulties, managed his breathing treatments with surgical precision, and never once flinched when Alessio walked into the room unannounced at midnight with a nine-millimeter tucked into his waistband.

Yet, Dominic remained uneasy.

Late one evening, while Alessio was reviewing shipping manifests in his study, Dominic slipped through the door, locking it behind him.

"We have a problem," Dominic said, tossing a manila folder onto the mahogany desk.

Alessio didn't look up from his papers. "Define problem."

"I dug deeper into Fiona Bennett’s background," Dominic said, his face grim. "The agency file was clean because it was fabricated."

Alessio’s pen stopped scratching across the paper. The silence in the room grew suffocating. "Fabricated by whom?"

"That’s the thing," Dominic sighed, dragging a hand across his face. "She is Fiona Bennett. She did work in Seattle. But she didn't leave because her employers moved to Europe. She left because three months ago, the father of the infant she was nursing was gunned down in a corporate hit linked to the Vanguard Syndicate."

Alessio’s head snapped up. His eyes turned black with fury. "Vanguard? The same syndicate that tried to wipe out my supply lines last spring?"

"The very same," Dominic said grimly. "And according to our contacts, Fiona was the sole witness to the assassination. She disappeared off the grid the night the father died. If Vanguard finds out she’s hiding out here in your house, they won't just come for her—they’ll use her to get to you."

Alessio stood up so fast his chair crashed backward against the oak panels. "Get her down here. Now."

"Alessio, wait—"

"Bring her to my study," Alessio roared, his voice shaking the crystal decanter on the sideboard. "I won't have a walking target inside my gates."

Before Dominic could move toward the door, a blood-curdling scream echoed down the second-floor hallway.