The silence in Adrian Kane’s private study was heavy enough to choke on. Every muscle in my body locked. My fingers dug into the fabric of my maid’s uniform, my nails biting into my palms as I waited for the axe to fall. / Chapter 4 / 20

Chapter 4 - THE MASTER WING AND THE MIDNIGHT KNOCKMoving into the master wing of Adrian Kane’s Manhattan mansion felt like stepping onto another planet.

Gone were the drafty, cramped corners of our Brooklyn apartment. The suite assigned to us was larger than my entire previous life combined—floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Central Park, a king-sized bed draped in silk sheets, a private marble bathroom with a clawfoot tub, and a closet already filled with designer clothes tailored to my exact measurements.

"Mommy, look!" Mia squealed, bouncing up and down on the plush velvet sofa. "There's a TV bigger than our kitchen table!"

"Mia, we shouldn't be touching this," I whispered nervously, standing in the middle of the opulent room like a trespasser ready to be arrested. "This is temporary. Just until Mr. Kane figures out his business with that bad man."

"It's not temporary," a deep voice rumbled from the doorway.

We both spun around. Adrian stood leaning against the doorframe, having dismissed his guards for the night. He had removed his suit jacket, and his crisp white dress shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, revealing the sharp, tanned column of his throat. He looked less like an untouchable mafia boss and more like a tired man carrying the weight of the world.

"Mr. Kane," I stammered, smoothing down my maid’s uniform—which I refused to take off, as some twisted anchor to reality. "You didn't have to give us this. We would have been fine in the servants' quarters."

"The servants' quarters have a single deadbolt and a window facing the alley," Adrian replied flatly, walking into the room. "My wing has bulletproof glass, a private panic room, and twenty-four-hour biometric surveillance. If Julian wants to play dirty, he has to get through me first."

Mia looked up from her spot on the sofa, tilting her head. "Are you going to stay with us, Mr. Kane?"

Adrian stopped in his tracks. A strange, unreadable expression flickered across his rugged face. He looked at Mia, then his gaze drifted slowly to me.

"I'll be right next door, princess," Adrian said softly, his voice dropping into a warm, gentle register that still shocked me when I heard it. "Lock your doors. If you need anything—anything at all—the intercom on the nightstand connects directly to my private line."

With a subtle nod, Adrian turned and walked out, closing the door quietly behind him.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I’d been holding. My legs felt weak, and I sank down onto the edge of the velvet sofa. Everything was moving too fast. One day I was a desperate mother scrubbing floors to afford a gallon of milk; the next, I was living in a billionaire syndicate boss's fortress, protected by armed guards and wrapped in silk.

It was a fairytale built on a razor's edge. And I knew, deep in my bones, that monsters like Adrian Kane didn't do acts of pure charity. There was a storm coming, and we were caught right in the eye of it.

It was well past 2:00 AM when the sound woke me.

It wasn't a loud crash or a gunshot. It was a subtle, rhythmic metallic scraping sound coming from the private hallway outside our suite.

My eyes snapped open. Adrenaline flooded my veins in an instant. I slipped out of the king-sized bed without making a sound, checking on Mia, who was fast asleep, clutching her stuffed elephant.

I crept toward the heavy oak door of our suite, pressing my ear against the wood.

Scrape. Click.

Someone was picking the electronic deadbolt.

Panic clawed at my throat. I remembered Adrian’s words: The intercom on the nightstand connects directly to my private line.

I turned and sprinted back across the room, my bare feet silent against the plush carpet. I slammed my hand down on the intercom button, my voice trembling as I hissed into the speaker:

"Mr. Kane! Someone's at the door! Someone's breaking in!"

There was no hesitation. No sleepy confusion.