Again, thought Claude, his eyes misting over, his father had said that before. What had he meant?Claude shut his eyes and tilted his head to heaven as his father growled on,“We need to find the leak. Get Paddy on it, boy.”The call ended.The second Delano son lowered his head, his shoulders slumping. A quiet desperation engulfed him. Nothing he ever did would come up to his father’s high standards, ever…Unlike Louis. Or Rudy, who was appreciated by Lucien Delano. And of course, Piers, the man who ran the mob with an iron hand, now. But he, Claude…? The big man sighed and lowered his head.If he did not know better, he thought bitterly, an unusually cynical smile touching his firm lips, he would ask himself if he was really a Delano. But his looks, mirroring his brothers and sisters, put that doubt to rest. And of course, he thought, his heart clenching, his Mumma would never… He wanted nothing more than to call his Mumma, to listen to her soothing voice. He felt he had f*cked
he hospital room was still, quiet except for the soft hum of the machines and the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. Pale morning light filtered through the half-drawn blinds, laying stripes of warmth across the woman's motionless form.Serena’s eyelids fluttered once, then again, longer this time, as if something deep inside her was stirring. The faintest crease formed on her brow. Her lips parted slightly, dry and cracked, but trying to shape a breath, a word, a question she didn’t yet remember.Inside her, awareness moved like a tide returning. First came the sound—the sterile buzz of the hospital, the faint echo of footsteps down the corridor, the steady pulse of her own heartbeat in her ears. Then the weight of her body registered, like waking from a long and heavy dream. Her fingers twitched, a subtle, nearly invisible movement.She didn’t open her eyes yet, but the world was no longer completely dark. Shapes floated behind her eyelids, shadows of memory, fragments of voices
Rudy spun around. A slight creaking sound alerted him. Dusk had fallen, and there was little light in the narrow ley. He stood, listening carefully, tuned to the sound of the night. A creak of a window, long past repair. The sigh of the wind as it shifted down the desolate alley.And…Something was off; he thought his senses heightened, aware of danger.The muscular young man began to move, stealthily, like a shadow, as he closed in on the sound. His men had dispersed, and he had been returning too, for Piers' message had come.“O’Grady and St Just heading your way. Come back. Still no sign of Hila.”Clipped. Short.Accordingly, he had indicated that the men with Rudy should turn round and go back the way they had come; but something made Rudy hesitate.O’Grady had turned the corner. He raised his hand in silence, signalling that he was waiting for Rudy to join him. The tall, lean figure of St Just appeared behind him. The brothers had each other's backs, almost thinking in tandem, to
The hospital room was dimly lit, bathed in the low hum of machines and the steady, rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. In the middle of the sterile white room lay Serena Kingston—still, pale, and heartbreakingly fragile. Tubes ran from her nose and arms, machines breathing for her, measuring the faint flickers of life still pulsing beneath her skin. Her flame coloured hair was spread across the pillow like a shadow, her face too tranquil, if such a thing was possible, as if asleep in a place far from here.Louis Delano sat at her bedside, elbows on his knees, fingers laced so tightly his knuckles had gone white. His eyes, ringed with sleepless nights, didn’t leave her face. He searched for any twitch, any sign—however small—that she might wake. Every breath the ventilator drew in her stead sounded louder in the silence between them.To his family, who stayed beside the two of them all the time, Louis looked like a man unravelling slowly at the edges—handsome, but hollowed by anguis
Proserpina was on her way to the hospital. Roxanne had wanted to go along, and when she had timidly put forward her request, Proserpina had dimpled at her winningly and nodded.Tara Delano was still at the hospital, Proserpina informed her, and Karina had come a while ago. Ria, realised Roxanne, was managing the affairs of the mob, along with her husband, in the absence of both her father and brothers.The plump Bratva woman had immediately come forward, beaming and taken charge of the children. And Roxanne counted more than half a dozen young Delanos shouting, screaming and running around in abandon, the maids pursuing them, looking hassled. Only Luc, the son of Piers Delano, seemed a world apart. Xander had joined the ruckus and was thoroughly enjoying himself. So much so that when Roxanne lifted him to kiss him goodbye, he wriggled out of her arms as soon as possible, eager to join the other children.“Serena is still unconscious,” sighed Proserpina sadly as they sat in a large bl
Lucien Delano was in a frenzy.Paddy had used his team and every resource he had at his fingertips to find where Jana Rudenko was holed up. And he had sent them the exact location. Lucien had never really fathomed how meticulously Paddy’s mind worked till now. But now he appreciated the extent of his adoptive son’s diligence. The boy was on a mission because it involved Proserpina. He worshipped the Mafia Don’s Woman, regarded her as his own mother and nothing could keep him away from her. He would often be seen, skulking in the kitchen, eating something Proserpina had prepared, just for him.Young Paddy had been scouring the Dark Web to source any leads. It meant trolling many unsightly sites, but the man had carried on, shutting his mind to the unpleasantness he encountered, using his sophisticated tools and his uncanny ability.He had stumbled across the information about Jana Rudenko’s key hideouts concerning a sale of children, which was about to happen. Even someone as detache