the only luxury hotel for miles seemed t

e wide living room to the o

te darkness, but inside the suite, designer lamps cast an

irt's sleeves rolled to his elbows, revealing tense fo

lept. He ha

hallway with her daughter in her arms, what l

ck, and Yuri, his head of security an

like a tank and rarely showing emotion,

in the heavy silence of the room. He walked to the glass t

s. It wasn't hard to track some

ice, locked onto the document. He approached slowly,

were a brutal as

cery store. Photographs of the girl-his little

mediocre jobs: cashier, waitress, and n

s, his mind processing the numbers. Sienna

lai murmured, his voice ho

he classic gold digger his secretary had described, why did

bout human psychology; it was to deliver facts. An

te birth certificate. His eyes scanned the lines with l

Mila M

birth:

Sienna

her

ting, em

ber liquid splashing onto the expensive carpet made Yuri step forward, but Nikolai raised a bloodied hand to st

rom the life of his

loodstained document onto the table. He forced the p

hat if she brought him a newborn, he would have doubts.

til she became his spitting image, so that no judge in this

the price for his daught

wrapped his bleeding hand, and looked at Y

eady. We're pay

, armored Mercedes-Benz SUVs shattered the silence of

r vehicles and the cracked sidewalks, unkem

42. The white paint on the house was peeling

fore the driver could

e burning within him. He wore a black cashmere coat over his white

path, ignoring a pink plastic tri

y sent a sharp, physical

years of first steps and first word

t and brought three sharp, commanding knocks against the t

Then came the clumsy sound o

inches, held back by a

host, with dark circles under her brown eyes, her hair

rway, flanked by two armed men on the s

ter. His Italian leather boot wedged into the t

n octave, soft but lethally dangerous. "Or I'll have my m

r hands were trembling violentl

rode inside, forcing her back into

e. Children's drawings were taped to the peeling w

disdain before fixing his gaze o

na whispered, wrapping h

en him and the closed door. "You

eached into his coat with his left hand and pulled out

Why is 'Fathe

idn't pick it up. She lifted her chin, trying

la's father doesn't

een them. He didn't touch her, but he loomed over her, his massive fr

Nikolai roared, his con

e small house s

ntil you were desperate? Wait until she was old enough that I couldn't deny s

sically. Her eyes flew wide, confusion a

dening with a white-hot maternal fury. "What the hell a

her. "You disappeared the same day you emptied your bank account! You took

pid money!" Sienna yelled back, tea

ied to tell you! When I found out I was pregnant, I calle

her with disgust a

call meant for me if it's important. I

sobbed, pounding both fist

gainst a brick wall;

t at pregnancy' and that if I came near you, your lawyers would destroy me. They threatened to ruin my

etary, the woman he had trusted to run his life for

econd, doubt clouded

raw, so viscerally real, it challenged

ting a woman's tears. He trusted facts. And the

tempt to shift the blame. Elena carries out my orders; she doesn't invent them. I never r

ble house "All this poverty is the pr

ice tearing. "You're a ruthless monst

o a glacial whisper that froze the blood in her veins. "Cry all you want, Sie

coat with methodical precision. His gaze swept pa

take what be

. She stumbled into his pa

take her! Over

t her, his blue eyes

have one hour before my legal team and I sho