The scream tore through the marble foyer so sharply that Liana Graves dropped the stack of folded linens in her hands.

The telephone rang sharply at 11:15 the next morning.

Matteo answered it on the first ring, holding the receiver tightly to his ear. Liana stood across the desk, her fingers intertwined so tightly they were numb.

"Matteo," Dr. Miller’s voice came through the line, sounding breathless and terrified. "I... I ran the sequences."

"Tell me," Matteo ordered.

"The boy... Nico... shares zero percent DNA with you or your late wife Clara," Dr. Miller revealed, his voice shaking. "He is a ninety-nine point nine percent match to Liana Graves. He is her biological son."

Liana let out a strangled, weeping gasp, her hands flying to her mouth as she fell to her knees. Her baby was alive. Her little boy was right here.

"What about my biological child?" Matteo demanded, his face turning pale and rigid as iron. "Where is Clara’s son?"

"Matteo, listen to me carefully," Dr. Miller said urgently. "I pulled the archived neonatal records from Saint Jude’s from nine months ago. Clara’s baby didn't die during the blackout. He was transferred to a private care facility in Switzerland under Julian’s personal signature three days after birth! He’s alive, Matteo! Julian kept him hidden!"

Before Matteo could process the revelation, a loud explosion echoed over the phone line.

"Dr. Miller?!" Matteo shouted. "Miller!"

"They're... they're here..." Dr. Miller coughed, glass shattering in the background. "Julian’s men... they set the lab—"

The line went dead with a high-pitched burst of static.

Matteo didn't hesitate. He slammed the receiver down, pulled a heavy black automatic pistol from his desk drawer, and racked the slide with a terrifying efficiency.

"Frank!" Matteo roared, stepping into the hallway. "Lock down the estate! Get four men on the perimeter! Nobody enters or leaves!"

Liana scrambled up from the floor, running after him. "Matteo! What about my baby?!"

Matteo stopped at the top of the stairs, turning back to face her. The cold, ruthless boss of the Varric syndicate was fully awake, but when he looked at Liana, his eyes softened with a fierce, protective resolve.

"Your baby stays right here with you," Matteo said firmly. "My guards will protect this house with their lives. I am going to find Dr. Miller, and then I am going to tear Julian’s world apart until I get my son back from Switzerland."

"Take me with you," Liana begged. "I know the layout of Vance's clinic at Saint Jude's! I know where the private records are kept!"