Chapter 7 - Shadows of the Past
I returned to the safehouse before dawn, the adrenaline of the night finally wearing off, replaced by a profound, soul-deep weariness.
When I opened the door to the inner living quarters, Hunter was sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, staring at the door. The moment she saw me walk in, she jumped to her feet.
She looked at my hands, my face, checking for injuries. "You're back..."
"It's over," I said softly, taking off my heavy coat. "Mateo is gone. The syndicate is secure. No one will ever threaten Leo again."
Hunter released a breath she seemed to have been holding for days, her eyes filling with tears of relief. Before she could stop herself, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing her face into my shoulder.
I froze for a fraction of a second, unused to such genuine affection, before wrapping my arms around her waist, pulling her close. She smelled of warm milk, sweet soap, and life.
"Thank God," she whispered against my neck. "Thank God."
We stood there in the quiet sanctuary, holding each other, letting the ghost of our past traumas bleed away into the quiet morning light.
However, peace in my world is rarely unbroken.
Two days later, as we prepared to move out of the underground bunker into a secure private estate in upstate New York, Marco called my private line.
"Lorenzo, we have a problem," Marco said, his tone serious. "We were sweeping Mateo's secondary properties in Brooklyn. We found files on Hunter Higgins."
I frowned, stepping away from the packing boxes. "What kind of files?"
"Her ex-boyfriend... Marcus Drake," Marco reported. "He wasn't just a low-level thug who pushed her down the stairs. He was working as an enforcer for Mateo's rival crew. Mateo was using Drake to track Hunter."
My blood ran cold. "Why would Mateo care about a maid?"
"Mateo knew Hunter was pregnant at the same time Sophia was," Marco explained. "When Drake reported that Hunter lost her baby, Mateo kept tabs on her. He deliberately placed her in your mansion through an employment agency weeks ago."
"Why?"
"Because," Marco hesitated, "Mateo wanted a backup plan. If Halloran's poison failed, he planned to frame Hunter for the infant's death, using her history with Drake as proof she was a plant sent by rivals. But he didn't count on her saving the boy instead."
I looked through the glass window into the nursery. Hunter was sitting on the rug, gently shaking a silver rattle for Leo, who was giggling—a rich, beautiful baby laugh that filled the room.
"Where is Marcus Drake now?" I demanded into the phone.
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"He's hiding out in a warehouse in Queens," Marco said. "He knows Mateo is dead, and he knows Hunter is missing. He thinks she has money, and he's planning to flee the state."
"Send me the address," I ordered, my eyes narrowing into slits of pure steel. "It's time to clean up the final loose end."
