Chapter 4 - The Sound of Breaking GlassWhen I woke up, sunlight was streaming through tall, arched windows that overlooked acres of manicured lawns, sparkling ponds, and dense autumn woods.
The digital clock on the bedside table read 1:15 PM.
I bolted upright, a sudden panic seizing my chest. Sophie!
I turned around. The bassinet was empty.
My breath caught in my throat. I threw off the heavy duvet, stumbled out of bed, and threw open the door to the suite, bursting out into the grand hallway in my bare feet and bathrobe.
"Sophie!" I cried out, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.
"Down here, Mama."
The deep, calm voice echoed up the stairwell.
I rushed to the banister and looked down into the sunlit foyer.
Ethan Callahan sat in a deep leather armchair near a massive stone fireplace. He was wearing a casual gray crewneck sweater, his sleeves pushed up to his elbows, revealing the intricate dark ink of tattoos looping around his forearms.
And cradled snugly against his chest was Sophie, wide awake, chewing happily on a blue teething ring while Ethan softly hummed a melody I didn't recognize.
Mrs. Higgins stood nearby, holding a tray of sliced fruit and coffee, smiling broadly.
"She woke up about twenty minutes ago, hungry as a wolf," Ethan said, looking up as he caught sight of me standing breathless on the landing. "We fed her six ounces of formula, changed her diaper—which, for the record, was an Olympic-level challenge—and now she’s supervising my morning paperwork."
Relief washed over me so powerfully my knees felt weak. I grabbed the wooden banister for support and hurried down the stairs, practically flying the last few steps.
"You scared me," I breathed, rushing over and gently taking Sophie back into my arms. She cooed happily, patting my cheek with her tiny palm. "I thought... I thought someone had taken her."
"Nobody gets past the perimeter gates without my thumbprint and a firing squad, Rachel," Ethan said flatly, setting a stack of leather-bound folders onto the coffee table. He stood up, towering over me by nearly a foot. "Did you sleep?"
"Like the dead," I admitted, adjusting Sophie against my hip. "Thank you. For... all of this. The room, the food, keeping her safe."
"You don't need to thank me for keeping my own house secure," he replied, his gray eyes softening as he watched Sophie grab a strand of my hair. "Though we do need to talk about your sister."
My stomach tightened. "Maya. Did your men find her?"
"They brought her and her husband here an hour ago," Ethan said smoothly. "They're waiting in the conservatory."
Before I could process that bombshell, Ethan gestured toward the double doors at the end of the long hallway.
When we walked into the sunlit, glass-domed conservatory, my sister Maya nearly knocked me over.
"Rachel!" Maya shrieked, bursting into tears as she threw her arms around me and Sophie, crushing us both against her chest. "Oh, thank God! The police said your flight landed hours ago, but when you didn't show up at O'Hare, and then these terrifying men in suits showed up at my apartment—I thought you were dead!"
Over Maya’s shoulder, I saw her husband, David, standing nervously near a wicker table, looking pale and sweating through his designer suit jacket.
And standing behind them, leaning against a marble pillar with his arms crossed over his chest, was Ethan.
"Maya, slow down," I gasped, hugging my sister back. We hadn't spoken in nearly two years—not since our father’s funeral, where bitter words had been exchanged over unpaid medical bills and old resentments. "What are you talking about? What terrifying men?"
"Mr. Callahan’s men," David stammered, stepping forward, his voice shaking. "They... they evacuated us from our townhome this morning. They said Marcus Vance’s enforcers were staking out our driveway."
I turned my gaze slowly toward Ethan.
Ethan pushed off the marble pillar, walking toward us with a slow, deliberate stride. His face was a mask of cold, controlled fury.
"Vance didn't just stake out their driveway," Ethan said, his voice dropping into that lethal register that made the air in the room feel heavy. "He sent three men to break into their garage twenty minutes after your flight landed. They left a message."
David swallowed hard, pulling a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and laying it flat on the glass table.
It was a Polaroid photo of Maya walking out of her local grocery store, taken from a distance. Across her face, someone had drawn a jagged red X in permanent marker.
May you like
My blood ran cold. The room began to spin.
"He wants the deed to David’s commercial real estate firm in downtown Chicago," Ethan continued, his eyes locked on mine. "In exchange for your safety, and your sister's."
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