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Liana didn't flinch as the guard’s hand moved toward his jacket, where the heavy outline of a pistol pressed against the fabric. Her eyes never left the baby. / Chapter 2 / 6

Chapter 2 - The Contract Written in Blood

(Suggested Facebook Hook: "You will live in my house, feed my son, and obey my rules. If you run, my men will hunt you down." But Liana has a dark secret of her own...)

The interior of the Varric estate was breathtakingly cold. Even with the towering fireplaces burning, the marble floors and towering portraits of stern-faced ancestors felt like a mausoleum.

Matteo led her to a private study. He poured himself three fingers of amber liquid, swallowed it in one gulp, and then turned to look at her. Liana was sitting on a velvet sofa, Nico fast asleep in her arms, burped and peaceful.

"What is your name?" Matteo asked.

"Liana. Liana Graves."

"Graves," Matteo muttered, a dark humor in his eyes. "Fitting. You smell of rain and grief, Liana."

"And you smell of fear, Mr. Varric," she shot back.

A heavy silence filled the room. No one spoke to Matteo Varric that way. But instead of anger, a strange, twisted respect flashed in his eyes.

"My wife, Clara, died three months ago. Internal bleeding. The doctors couldn't save her," Matteo said, staring into his empty glass. "Since then, three wet nurses have tried to feed Nico. He rejected all of them. He was starving to death. The doctors said his body was shutting down." He looked at Liana, his eyes piercing. "But he took to you instantly."

"Babies know grief," Liana whispered, gently stroking Nico’s soft cheek. "He knew I was empty, and he was empty too."

Matteo walked over, leaning down until his face was inches from hers. "Here is the deal, Liana. You will live here. You will feed my son. You will have everything you need—clothes, money, security. But you do not leave this estate. You do not talk to anyone outside these walls. To the world, you do not exist. If you try to steal him, or if you poison him, I will make your death a legend in this city."

Liana looked up into the eyes of the monster. "I don't want your money, Mr. Varric. I just want to hold him. Let me stay, and I will protect him with my life."

"Good," Matteo said, straightening up. "Because starting tonight, someone is trying to kill him."

Just as he spoke, the glass window behind Matteo’s desk shattered.

A high-caliber bullet ripped through the air, embedding itself in the wooden bookshelf behind them.

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The ink on the emergency audit report was barely dry when the secure terminal on my desk flashed a violent crimson. I hadn't slept in thirty-six hours, my eyes burning from staring at columns of ghost figures, duplicate invoices, and shell corporations linked to Dominic Rossi. But the red alert wasn’t from Rossi’s faction. It was an internal security flag originating from the estate’s main vault deep beneath the west wing.

The ink on the emergency audit report was barely dry when the secure ter...

The glass shattered into a thousand tiny diamonds on the marble, scattering the light from the chandeliers. The muffled laughter died instantly, replaced by a suffocating, heavy silence that crept outward from the grand staircase.

The glass shattered into a thousand tiny diamonds on the marble, scatter...

The heavy oak doors of my private study clicked shut behind us, locking out the clinical, terrifying silence of the kitchen. Evelyn Crane stood stiffly in front of my mahogany desk, her hands folded over her apron with the rigid precision of someone who had spent decades micromanaging every square inch of my estate. Behind her, Norah hovered near the doorway, clutching her clipboard like a shield.

The heavy oak doors of my private study clicked shut behind us, locking...

"Get down!" Matteo roared.

Before Liana could scream, Matteo threw his heavy body over hers, pinning her and Nico to the floor as a hail of gunfire erupted outside.

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