The black armored SUV moved smoothly through the snow-dusted streets of Westmount,
climbing toward the gated estates that overlooked the city of Montreal.
Inside, the silence was suffocating.
Anel sat between Riona and Aldrich in the spacious leather back seat, his small legs dangling, his eyes wide as he looked out the tinted glass at the passing mansions. Aldrich hadn't taken his eyes off the boy since they got into the vehicle. He watched the way Anel held his hands, the way he tilted his head to look at the trees, the subtle turn of his mouth when he was thinking.
Every small gesture was a mirror of himself. It was a torture Aldrich hadn't prepared for.
"What's your name?" Aldrich asked finally, his deep voice softened as much as he knew how.
Anel looked up at him, unbothered by the imposing figure. "Anel."
Aldrich winced slightly, the name hitting him like a blade. "Anel," he repeated. "Cosmo's middle name."
Riona looked out the opposite window, her arms crossed tight against her chest. "He deserved to carry the name of the only man in your family who had an ounce of wisdom."
Aldrich’s jaw tightened, but he didn't rise to the bait. "Why didn't you tell me, Riona? When you left... when you ran. You knew what you were carrying."
"I knew what I was carrying," Riona said, turning her head to glare at him with absolute coldness. "Which is precisely why I ran. You stood in that office eight years ago, Aldrich. Roland handed you three pieces of paper with fake bank stamps, and you looked at me like I was a rat. You didn't ask me a single question. You didn't give me thirty seconds to explain. You just called security and told them to clear my things out of the house."
"I was trying to keep you alive!" Aldrich snapped, his calm mask slipping for a split second, exposing the raw, jagged pain underneath. "Do you have any idea what the council does to traitors, Riona? The evidence Roland brought was verified by three different security teams! If I hadn't thrown you out that night—if I had hesitated for even five minutes—my uncle's men would have put you in the back of a van and taken you to the docks!"
Riona froze. Her dark eyes searched his face, searching for the lie, but found only the familiar, terrifying intensity she remembered from years ago.
"You... you threw me out to save me?" she whispered, her voice faltering for the first time.
"I made you a pariah so no one would see you as a threat!" Aldrich leaned in, his gray-green eyes burning into hers. "I gave you twelve hours to leave the province because I knew if you stayed in Quebec, someone would put a bullet in your head to prove a point to me! I spent eight years believing you were living somewhere safe, hating me, but alive. I didn't know you were carrying my child in a cold apartment in Vancouver, scrubbing floors to buy formula!"
Anel looked between his mother and the large man, sensing the sudden spike in emotion. "Mama? Are you mad?"
Riona immediately softened, taking a deep breath and wrapping her arm around her son's shoulders, pulling him close. "No, baby. Mama is just tired."
The SUV turned through two massive iron gates, driving up a long, winding driveway lined with ancient oak trees covered in frost. At the end of the drive stood the Ferrante estate—a massive stone manor built in the 1920s, looking more like a fortress than a residence.
Dozens of black sedans were already parked along the courtyard. Men in dark suits stood near the perimeter, watching every arrival with cold, calculated vigilance.
"The reading of Cosmo's personal ledger begins in twenty minutes," Aldrich said, his voice returning to a businesslike tone as the driver opened the door. "The entire family council is inside. They expect me to take the seat today, but Roland has been gathering votes to challenge my leadership."
"Why did you bring us here, Aldrich?" Riona asked, holding Anel back as Aldrich stepped out. "If this is a war for the throne, why put us in the middle of it?"
Aldrich turned back, holding out his hand to help her down. His eyes were fierce, dark, and utterly resolute.
"Because Cosmo didn't leave his estate to me, Riona," Aldrich revealed softly, looking down at Anel. "He left his true ledger to the person who possessed 'the seeing eye.' And three days before he died, he sent a coded letter to my private desk saying he had left his ultimate security vault key to his first legitimate grandson."
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Riona’s breath hitched. "He knew about Anel?"
"Cosmo knew everything," Aldrich said grimly. "And right now, that little boy is the only person standing between Roland Vain and total control of Montreal."
