The Blood
n't Julian's eit
t his hand on the door sensor, preventing them from opening. The silence betwee
" Caspian
e is real. The marria
nks he's using his son to anchor me. Sienna thinks she's kidnapping her ticket to a settlement. Neither of them
ll deal with biology later. Righ
a path through the afternoon crowd. The black sedan was idling at the curb, the door held open. Elar
Caspian said, handi
ergency lockdown," Elara said. She was scrolling through a GPS tracker she h
d the private airfie
is own tablet. "She must have a pilot on standby. If she g
o the city's traffic management grid. It was a system she had helped optimize for
re you
a red light,"
nna's tracked location, the entire intersection at 5th and M
blue dot representing Mil
he's trapped in the gridlo
er. "Go over the curb. Get
a line of idling cars. Elara watched the blue dot
. "She knows she's stuck. Caspian, she's tak
his pocket. "Team two, intercept at the subway entrance on 5th
open her door. She scrambled out, her heels hitting the pavement hard. She could see the crow
flash of blonde hair and a
Elara
ream-colored trench coat. She had one hand gripped tightly around Milo's wrist. The boy
ver the noise of the city. "He's my son! You're nothin
nce. "I know about Swiss accounts. I know Julian is b
d down into the dark opening, then back at the black s
can he!" Sienna yelled. She pulled Milo
immovable. "The police are two minutes away, Sienna. Every exit is blocked.
ou don't care about this boy. You
spian said. He didn't look at Sienna. He l
ears streaming down his f
pped. Her grip on his wrist tightened,
nna screamed. "I gave birth to
ightmares and the first day of school while you were spending Julian's stole
rage and realization. She looked at the crowds, the cameras, an
toward Elara wit
e brat! He's just lik
rward, catching him by the straps of his backpack just as he began to fall. She pull
sobbed into his hair
cked the path of two men who had appeared from the subway stairs,Sienna's hired muscle. With
r police officers with their weapons drawn. They forced her
e just held Milo. She felt his sm
hand hovering over Milo's shoulder before he gently patted it. It wa
aid, her own voice trem
up and scanning the area. "The press w
. She stood up, lifting Milo into her arms. T
lara. Julian's lawyers will be fil
e police officers who were currently loa
ymore. He's a dead man walki
ho
e one she had taken from the vault earlier. "My grandfather didn't just leave me the Thorne estate. He left
d. "You're talking abo
ind a child to adopt,
t win. And now that he's lost the Thorne money, he's going
"If the Morettis find out their son is alive and in the hands of
get to Julian f
nging open. Elara started to move to
your assets. It didn't mention a war with the Morettis. If we
then back at the hus
that marriage certificate five years ago," she s
om the chaos of the intersection, Caspian's phone rang
ian," Cas
peaker," Ela
the cabin, but it wasn't the arrogant tone he
There was the sound of breaking glass in the background. "They're
ian?" Elara asked,
money! They want the boy, and they said if I don't g
the sound of a heavy b
he dashboard. They were ten
an," s
t his driver. "Drive faster. An
neck, his small face pale. "
ck, her eyes meeting Caspi
whispered. "We're just goin
ed. A new message had bypassed her security. It was a sin
ing chair, holding a single red rose.
ian. And it w
d, pointing at the screen
s jaw tightening as h
spian said. "The one wh
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