Chapter 6 - BLOOD FAMILY
Damien had spent his entire life smiling in Victor’s shadow.
He ran three Blackwood nightclubs and complained that Victor never trusted him with the real business. Victor had assumed it was jealousy.
He had not imagined his brother would help hurt Ethan.
Damien’s SUV was found abandoned near the river. Rosa’s scarf lay on the back seat. There was no sign of either of them.
Victor called Damien’s private number.
His brother answered on the fifth ring.
“You were always slow to see betrayal,” Damien said.
“Where is Rosa?”
“Safe, for now.”
“You took a witness.”
“I rescued someone who was about to ruin us.”
Victor’s voice stayed flat. “There is no us after this.”
Damien laughed. “You think you can walk away from the family business, marry a pretty socialite, and become respectable? Serena understood reality. She understood that Ethan’s trust is worth more than every club we own.”
Lily, listening beside Detective Quinn, whispered, “Keep him talking.”
Victor did.
Damien bragged about the plan. Serena would marry Victor, build a record of his violent behavior, and provoke him into an arrest. The sedative in Ethan’s medicine would make the child weak and confused. Serena would claim Victor’s dangerous home had caused the injuries.
Then she would take custody, control the trust, and split the fortune with Damien and Warren.
“What about Rosa?” Victor asked.
“She found the lab report. She ran.”
“And Lily?”
A pause.
“She was supposed to be fired. Serena got impatient.”
Detective Quinn traced the call to an old Blackwood printing warehouse on the South Side.
A tactical team moved in before sunset.
They found Rosa alive, tied to a chair in an upstairs office. They also found proof that Damien had left minutes earlier.
On the floor beside Rosa was a children’s book stained with dirt.
Inside the cover, Damien had written an address.
Lily recognized it immediately.
May you like
It was the address of Ethan’s pediatric clinic.
And Ethan had an appointment there the next morning.
