We left the mansion at 3:08 in the morning.
No motorcade.
No guards.
No warning.
Victor drove.
Finn slept in the back seat with his dinosaur pressed against his chest.
I sat beside him because he had refused to get into the car unless I did.
“Where are we going?” I whispered.
Victor kept his eyes on the road.
“A house in Wisconsin.”
“You have a secret house?”
“Elena did.”
That surprised me.
“She bought it under her maiden name. Dominic never knew.”
“You’re sure?”
“No.”
Comforting.
Chicago disappeared behind us.
For the first hour, Victor barely spoke.
Then Finn woke.
“Where are we?”
“Road trip,” I said.
“At nighttime?”
“The best kind.”
He looked toward Victor.
“Is Dad coming?”
Victor glanced into the mirror.
“I’m right here.”
Finn thought about that.
“Are bad guys coming too?”
“No,” Victor said.
I wished I believed him.
We reached the house shortly before sunrise.
It was nothing like the Rossi mansion.
Small.
Wooden.
Two bedrooms.
A fireplace.
A dock stretching toward a frozen lake.
Finn loved it immediately.
“Mom’s house,” he whispered.
Victor stopped.
“You remember?”
Finn nodded.
“I came when I was little.”
Victor looked stunned.
Elena had apparently brought Finn here once without telling him.
Inside, we found old photographs, blankets, books, even a box of Finn’s baby clothes.
Victor stood in the living room surrounded by pieces of the life his wife had wanted.
He looked lost.
Finn tugged his sleeve.
“Dad?”
Victor looked down.
“Yeah?”
“Can you make pancakes?”
I bit my lip.
Victor stared at him.
“Can Harper?”
“No. You.”
I turned toward the kitchen before Victor saw me smile.
The pancakes were terrible.
Finn ate three.
“This one looks like Illinois,” I said.
Victor frowned at the pan.
“It’s supposed to be round.”
“Sure.”
Finn giggled.
Victor gave me a look.
For fifteen minutes, we almost resembled something normal.
That frightened me more than I expected.
Because normal was dangerous.
Normal made me forget that I had packed my suitcase less than twenty-four hours earlier.
After breakfast, Finn went to explore his old toys.
Victor stood at the sink.
“You’re staring.”
“You cook like a felon.”
He looked over his shoulder.
“I am offended.”
“That wasn’t a denial.”
A small smile appeared.
Then vanished.
“Harper.”
I knew the tone.
Serious.
“What?”
“What I said to you…”
“You apologized.”
“Not enough.”
I folded my arms.
“No. Probably not.”
He faced me.
“I asked who was waiting for you because I already knew the answer.”
“That makes it worse.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
Victor took a long time.
“Because Finn isn’t the only person who got used to you being there.”
My heart stumbled.
He continued before I could respond.
“You came into that house and changed everything.”
“I reorganized a few cabinets.”
“You made breakfast feel like breakfast instead of a meeting.”
I said nothing.
“You made Finn laugh.”
“He’s a funny kid.”
“You made me hear him laugh.”
Victor stepped closer.
“And I started noticing when you weren’t in a room.”
My pulse quickened.
“So naturally you decided to emotionally destroy me.”
His mouth tightened.
“I never claimed to be good at this.”
“At what?”
He looked directly at me.
“Wanting somebody.”
There it was.
No poetry.
No dramatic declaration.
Just Victor.
Dangerously honest for once.
I looked away.
“You don’t get to say that now.”
“I know.”
“You can’t hurt me because you’re scared and then expect me to be grateful when you admit why.”
“I know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because you’re right.”
That annoyed me even more.
I turned away.
Victor caught my wrist.
Not hard.
The moment I looked at his hand, he released me.
“Sorry.”
I stared at him.
“Do you want to know what hurt most?”
“Yes.”
“I believed you.”
His expression changed.
“When you said I was hired help, I believed you because that’s what I’ve been telling myself for fourteen months.”
“Harper—”
“I love Finn.”
Victor went silent.
“I love him,” I repeated. “And I knew eventually that would become a problem because he isn’t mine.”
“He loves you too.”
“That doesn’t give me rights.”
“No.”
“If you fire me tomorrow, I lose him.”
Victor looked almost sick.
“If you decide some other woman is better for him, I lose him. If you decide to move, I lose him. If something happens to you and your family takes over, I lose him.”
“I wouldn’t let that happen.”
“You can’t promise that.”
He looked toward Finn.
“No,” he admitted.
That honesty hurt.
But I preferred it.
Victor leaned against the counter.
“Elena once told me I treated love like property.”
I waited.
“She said every time I loved someone, I tried to protect them by controlling everything around them.”
“She sounds smart.”
“She liked you.”
I blinked.
“She died before I came here.”
“She would have liked you.”
My chest tightened.
“How do you know?”
“Because she would have seen what Finn sees.”
“And what’s that?”
Victor’s eyes held mine.
“Home.”
Before I could respond, glass shattered in the living room.
Victor moved instantly.
He pulled a gun from beneath his jacket.
“Finn!”
I ran.
Finn stood beside the window.
A bullet hole marked the glass above him.
Victor grabbed him and threw both of them behind the couch.
“Down!”
Another shot cracked through the room.
I hit the floor.
Victor crawled toward us.
“Back hallway. Now.”
We moved.
Finn began crying.
“Anchor,” I whispered.
There was no time.
Victor pushed us into the bathroom.
“Lock it.”
“What about you?”
“Lock it.”
“No.”
His eyes flashed.
“Harper.”
“I’m not letting you walk out there alone.”
“You’re not letting me?”
Even now.
I almost yelled.
Then Finn screamed.
We both looked at him.
Victor crouched.
“Hey.”
Finn sobbed.
“Are you gonna die?”
Victor’s expression broke.
“No.”
“Promise?”
Victor froze.
He knew what promises meant to Finn too.
He looked at me.
Then back at his son.
“I’m going to do everything I can to come back through that door.”
It was not the promise Finn wanted.
It was the truth.
Victor kissed his forehead.
I had never seen him do that.
Then he stood.
“Lock it behind me.”
This time I obeyed.
For seven minutes, we heard nothing.
Then footsteps.
Finn gripped me.
A knock came.
Three knocks.
Pause.
Two knocks.
Victor had told me the signal.
I opened the door.
He stood there.
Alive.
Blood stained his shoulder.
“Victor!”
“It grazed me.”
Finn launched himself at his father.
Victor caught him.
And this time, there was no hesitation.
He held his son like he had spent years wanting to.
Finn cried against his chest.
“I thought you died.”
“I’m here.”
Victor’s eyes met mine over Finn’s head.
“I’m here.”
Later we discovered the shooter had escaped.
But he had left something behind.
A phone.
On it were photographs of the mansion.
Finn’s school.
My apartment.
And Victor’s movements going back almost a year.
There were also messages.
Most had been deleted.
One remained.
D: Once Victor loses the boy, he’ll give us everything.
Victor stared at the screen.
“Dominic.”
I felt sick.
But there was another file.
An audio recording.
Victor played it.
Dominic’s voice filled the room.
Then another voice answered him.
A voice Victor recognized.
He looked at me.
“That’s Detective Raymond Keller.”
“Police?”
Victor nodded slowly.
And suddenly the sirens that had terrified Finn for two years meant something very different.
Because the enemy wasn’t only inside Victor’s organization.
He was wearing a badge.