I Noticed My Maid’s Son Had the Same Birthmark as Me—Then His Hospital Papers Listed Me as His Father.

Four armored vehicles tore through the interstate at ninety miles per hour, flashing no sirens, cutting through the midnight fog like predators.

Inside the lead vehicle, Claire sat in the back seat, wrapped in Victor's heavy black wool overcoat. Victor sat beside her, checking the magazine of his weapon with practiced, rhythmic precision.

"Why would your brother take Eli?" Claire asked, her voice cracking from exhaustion and fear. "Marco never even knew me."

"Marco knew everything that happened in the family," Victor said, staring straight ahead into the headlights. "Before the dock explosion, Marco was trying to dismantle the Moretti alliance. He discovered that the Morettis were smuggling illegal arms through our cargo ships without our father's consent. Marco wanted them dead. But before he could act, his boat blew up."

"And your uncle Arthur?"

"Arthur was in business with the Morettis behind our backs," Victor explained, his jaw tight. "Arthur wanted the alliance because it made him millions in kickbacks. When Marco survived the blast, the Morettis must have hidden him—not to protect him, but to use him as leverage if I ever stepped out of line."

"And tonight?"

"Tonight, Arthur brought you back to stop my wedding to Celeste, because Arthur realized the Morettis were preparing to push him out," Victor said. "It was all a chess game. And you and Eli were the pawns."

Claire looked down at her hands, trembling with rage. "He's not a pawn. He's my baby."

"He's a Bellandi," Victor said softly, turning his dark eyes to hers. "And tonight, I bring him home."

The convoy suddenly slowed, turning off the paved highway onto a secluded, snow-dusted dirt road winding through heavy pine woods.

Ahead, sitting right on the edge of the rocky Rhode Island coastline, stood a dark two-story stone cottage. A single light burned in the second-floor window.

Parked near the front porch was the black SUV with Rhode Island plates.