Chapter 6

Alexander didn’t even flinch as Meredith lunged for him. He simply stepped back, allowing her desperate hands to grasp empty air. The two bodyguards stationed near Marcus moved with terrifying, silent efficiency. They closed the distance to the head of the table in seconds.

“Please! You can’t do this!” Meredith screamed, her voice shrill and hysterical as the two large men grabbed her firmly by the upper arms. They hauled her roughly out of her chair, ignoring the expensive fabric of her fitted satin gown. “I love you! I was doing it for us!”

“You have exactly two minutes to collect whatever you can carry from the master suite,” Alexander stated, his voice a cold, immovable wall. He didn’t look at her. He turned his attention back to his daughter. “After that, my men will physically throw you onto the street. Your accounts tied to my name are already frozen. Do not attempt to contact me again.”

“You’re making a mistake! I know too much!” Meredith shrieked, kicking her heels wildly against the floor as the guards began dragging her backward toward the grand hallway. The heavy diamond earrings swung violently against her neck. “I know about the shipments! I’ll go to the feds!”

The threat hung in the air, desperate and foolish.

Alexander slowly turned his head, his penetrating eyes locking onto her frantic, tear-streaked face one last time. A dark, utterly merciless smile curled the corner of his mouth.

“If you ever speak my name to a federal agent, Meredith,” Alexander whispered, his low voice carrying effortlessly across the silent room, “they will never find enough of your body to fill a shoebox. Now get out of my house.”

The guards didn’t wait for another word. They forcefully dragged the screaming, sobbing woman through the heavy mahogany doors, slamming them shut behind her. The muffled sounds of her hysterical protests faded rapidly as she was hauled up the grand staircase.

The dining room descended into absolute silence once more. The massive engagement ring she had worn lay abandoned on the polished mahogany table, where it had slipped from her finger during the struggle.

Alexander stared at the glittering diamond for a moment before picking it up. He dropped it carelessly into a nearby crystal water glass. It sank to the bottom with a quiet clink.

He turned his attention back to the woman and the child sitting beside him.

Anna was trembling visibly, her heart-shaped face pale and wide-eyed. She had just witnessed the complete, brutal dismantling of the woman who had terrorized the household for the past six months. She expected Alexander to turn his wrath upon her next, for violating protocol, for speaking out of turn, for touching his daughter.

Instead, Alexander reached out and gently laid his large, heavily tattooed hand over Anna’s trembling fingers, which were still tightly clutching Emily’s small hand.

The contrast was stark—his powerful, ink-stained knuckles resting gently against her pale, soft skin. The warmth of his hand sent a sudden, unexpected jolt through Anna’s chest.

“You bled for my daughter,” Alexander said softly, his voice devoid of the terrifying edge he had used with Meredith. He looked down into Anna’s expressive, fearful eyes. “You put your own body between her and the glass. You risked your job, and your life, to protect a child that wasn’t yours.”

Anna swallowed hard, unable to find her voice. She simply nodded, tears continuing to trace silent paths down her cheeks.

“I am in your debt, Anna,” Alexander murmured, the absolute sincerity in his deep voice stunning the watching capos. A Mafia boss acknowledging a debt to a housemaid was unheard of.

He let go of her hand and gently lifted Emily from her large chair. He cradled the three-year-old securely against his broad chest. Emily immediately buried her face into his neck, letting out a long, exhausted sigh.

“Marcus,” Alexander called out.

“Yes, Boss,” the security chief replied, stepping back into the room.

“Clear the table. The dinner is over,” Alexander announced to the room at large. “And have the private physician sent to the east wing sitting room immediately.”

He looked down at Anna. “Come with me. We need to look at your foot.”

>>Chapter 7