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