Chapter 2 - The Black SUV on 4th StreetMy blood ran instantly to liquid ice.
I crept toward the living room window, pulling the edge of the sheer curtain back half an inch, looking down at the rainy Boston street four floors below.
Idling along the curb directly outside my apartment building was a heavy, midnight-black Chevrolet Suburban with dark tinted windows and Illinois license plates.
Two broad-shouldered men in dark raincoats stood near the hood, their hands tucked inside their jackets, their ears fitted with discreet radio earpieces.
Alessandro’s advance intelligence team.
They hadn't found me through public records or credit card tracking—I had been obsessively careful, using cash and working under my maiden name as an independent graphic restorer. Someone inside Alessandro's inner circle had leaked my location.
My phone rang in my hand.
I answered it, pressing the receiver to my ear, my voice dropping into a low, razor-sharp whisper. "Who is this?"
"Do not panic, Elena," a smooth, silver-haired gentleman's voice answered through the speaker. "My name is Silvio. I served Alessandro’s father for thirty years before his passing."
I swallowed hard, recognizing the name instantly. Silvio was the elder statesman of the Moretti Council—the only man in Chicago who had openly opposed Alessandro’s public affair with Valentina Russo, viewing it as a reckless breach of traditional syndicate honor.
"Why are you texting me, Silvio?" I demanded, my hazel eyes never leaving the black SUV below.
"Because Alessandro’s private security detail tracked your secondary medical records in Boston three hours ago," Silvio revealed softly. "He knows about the twins, Elena. He knows you gave birth to his heirs in secret."
A cold, suffocating wave of pure terror crashed over my chest.
"He's coming here...?" I choked out, tears of wild, maternal panic stinging my eyes.
"He boarded his private jet at Teterboro Airport twenty minutes ago," Silvio reported flatly. "He will land at Logan International at 5:30 PM. He intends to take the children back to the Chicago estate and place you under permanent, high-security house arrest."
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"He will have to kill me first," I swore into the phone, my voice trembling with an absolute, unshakeable rage.
"He doesn't want to kill you, Elena," Silvio corrected quietly. "He wants his family back. But Valentina Russo's family has placed four armed operatives on that same street to ensure your children never reach Chicago alive."
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