HE PAID ME $10,000 A WEEK TO KEEP HIM ALIVE IN THE DARK, BUT OPENING HIS CURTAINS UNCOVERED A DEADLY SECRET THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

Our brief sanctuary was obliterated at noon.

The satellite phone on the kitchen counter chimed with an incoming priority alert. Liam answered, putting it on speakerphone.

"Liam?" It was Dr. Melissa Hayes, Tommy's lead pediatric oncologist from Chicago Children's Hospital. Her voice was trembling with barely suppressed hysteria. "There are men here... armed men claiming to be federal marshals. They just forced the charge nurse to discharge Tommy into private transport!"

My heart stopped. The room spun wildly around me. "Tommy!" I screamed toward the phone. "Dr. Hayes, where are they taking him?!"

A harsh, grating voice took over the line.

"Hello, Nurse Vance," Victor Russo purred through the speaker. "Or should I say... Liam's little guardian angel?"

Liam snatched the phone, his knuckles cracking under the pressure of his grip. "Russo. If you lay a single finger on that boy, I will skin you alive in front of your entire syndicate."

"Ah, Liam! It's so wonderful to hear you sounding so energetic," Russo laughed, a cold, sickening sound. "Here is the deal, my old friend. The South Chicago dry docks. Warehouse 14. Bring me my ledger and every copy of your encrypted files by sunset. If you bring the police, the boy goes into the Chicago River in a concrete drum. If you don't show up... he dies slowly."

The line went dead with a sharp click.

I dropped to my knees on the hardwood floor, sobbing uncontrollably, clawing at my chest as if my own heart were tearing in two. "He has Tommy... oh God, Liam, he has my baby brother..."

Liam didn't panic. His entire aura shifted into something ancient, calculating, and terrifyingly lethal. He knelt beside me, lifting me back to my feet with absolute strength.

"Look at me, Clara," he commanded, his voice like forged steel. "Tommy is not going to die. Russo wants me, and he wants that book. We are going to give him both."