The Mafia Boss’s Baby Wouldn’t Stop Crying—Until a Single Mother Did the Unthinkable
This was her fault. All of it. If she’d just walked away on that plane…
The door to the safe room shook with impact. Once, twice. Someone was trying to break through.
«Teresa?» Sarah’s voice cracked.
«They can’t get through that door,» Teresa assured her. But Sarah heard the uncertainty beneath the confidence. «It’s reinforced steel. It would take…»
An explosion rocked the room, smaller than the warehouse blast but devastating in the confined space. Sarah’s ears rang as smoke poured through a crack that had appeared in the supposedly impenetrable door.
«Run!» Teresa shoved Sarah toward the back of the safe room. «There’s an emergency exit behind the bookshelf. Take Marco and run.»
«What about you?»
«I’ll slow them down.» Teresa raised her gun, her expression resolute. «Go, Miss Mitchell. The Don is counting on you to keep his son safe.»
Sarah ran, Marco screaming in her arms, fumbling for the hidden latch Teresa had shown her during the safety briefing. The bookshelf swung open, revealing a narrow tunnel barely lit by battery-powered emergency lights.
Behind her, she heard the safe room door finally give way. She heard Teresa’s gunfire—once, twice, three times. She heard a man’s voice shout in Italian.
Then she was in the tunnel, running blindly through the darkness with Marco clutched to her chest, not knowing if she was running toward safety or into the arms of the enemy. Not knowing if Dominic was alive or dead. Not knowing if she’d ever get the chance to tell him that, yes, God help her, she did love him.
The tunnel seemed endless. But finally, Sarah saw light ahead. She burst out into the night air, finding herself in the woods behind the estate. In the distance, she could see flames rising from the mansion, could hear the sounds of combat.
And then she heard something else. A car engine getting closer.
Sarah turned to run deeper into the woods, but it was too late. An SUV screeched to a stop and men poured out. Not Dominic’s men. She knew that instantly from the way they moved, from the predatory smiles on their faces.
One of them stepped forward—older, with cold eyes and a smile that made Sarah’s blood freeze.
«The famous wet nurse,» he said in heavily accented English. «Finally. Take her.»
Sarah fought, screaming Marco’s name as hands grabbed her, but it was useless. They were professionals, and she was just a terrified nurse trying to protect a baby. The last thing she saw before they forced a cloth over her mouth was the mansion burning in the distance, smoke rising like a funeral pyre into the dawn sky.
Then darkness claimed her, and Sarah Mitchell disappeared into the night with the Santoro heir in her arms, wondering if the man she’d fallen for would even survive long enough to search for her.
Sarah woke in a room that reeked of old money and older sins. Her head pounded from whatever they’d used to knock her out, but her first thought was Marco. She bolted upright to find the baby sleeping peacefully in an antique bassinet beside the ornate bed where she’d been placed.
Relief flooded through her. They hadn’t hurt him.
«Awake, finally.» The voice came from the shadows.
The older man from the woods stepped into the light. «I am Vittorio Moretti. And you, my dear, are worth your weight in gold.»
«Where are we?» Sarah’s voice was hoarse.
«My estate. About fifty miles from the Santoro mansion—or what’s left of it.» His smile was cruel. «Don’t worry, your beloved Don is alive, for now. I made sure word reached him about where to find you.»
«You want him to come.» Understanding dawned with horror.
«Of course. Dominic Santoro destroyed my family ten years ago. Killed my sons, took my territory, left me with nothing but scraps. And now…» He gestured to Marco. «Now he cares about something. Finally. After a decade of being untouchable, he has a weakness. Two weaknesses, actually.»
He moved closer, and Sarah pressed herself back against the headboard.
«You and his precious heir. The sacred wet nurse and the son who bears the Santoro name. Tell me. Does he love you?»
«I don’t know what you’re talking about.»
«Don’t play stupid.» Vittorio’s hand shot out, gripping her chin painfully. «I’ve seen the reports. The way he looks at you. The way he’s protected you. Dominic Santoro hasn’t cared about anything since his wife died, but he cares about you. And that? That is going to destroy him.»
He released her, smoothing his suit.
«He’ll come for you tonight. I’ve made sure of it. And when he does? When he walks through those doors willing to trade everything for your safety? I’ll take it all. His empire, his power, his life. Everything.»
«He’ll kill you,» Sarah said, trying to sound brave.
«Perhaps. But first, he’ll have to watch me hurt what he loves. And that will be worth dying for.»
The hours that followed were torture. Sarah stayed close to Marco, feeding him when he cried, changing him with supplies Vittorio’s people had thoughtfully provided. They wanted the baby healthy. They wanted him as leverage when Dominic arrived.
As dusk fell, Vittorio returned.
«He’s here. Earlier than expected, actually. Your Don must be quite motivated.» He hauled Sarah to her feet. «Come. You’ll want to see this.»
He dragged her to a large study, Marco clutched in her arms, and positioned her near the window where she could see the grounds below.
Her heart stopped. Dominic stood alone in the center of the courtyard, illuminated by floodlights. No bodyguards, no weapons visible. His hands were raised in surrender. But even from this distance, Sarah could see the coiled violence in his stance, the barely leashed fury in his posture.
«Moretti!» His voice carried clearly through the open window. «I’m here. Let them go.»
Vittorio laughed, pushing Sarah closer to the window so Dominic could see her. The moment their eyes met across the distance, Sarah saw Dominic’s mask crack. Raw emotion flooded his face. Relief, fear, love.
«Your empire for the woman and child!» Vittorio called down. «Sign over everything. Territory, businesses, operations, all of it. Make me Don of the Santoro family and I’ll let them live.»
«Done.» Dominic didn’t hesitate. «I’ll sign whatever you want. Just don’t hurt them.»
Sarah’s eyes widened with shock. He was giving up everything—his entire world, his power, his legacy—for her and Marco.
«Touching,» Vittorio sneered. «But I think we both know I can’t let you live, Santoro. You’d just rebuild, come after me. No, you have to die. But first, you’ll watch me take everything.» He pulled a gun, pressing it against Sarah. «Starting with her.»
Everything happened in slow motion. Sarah saw Dominic move impossibly fast for someone who was supposed to be unarmed. His hand went to his ankle and came up with a weapon.
At the same moment, Sarah did the only thing she could think of. She bit down hard on Vittorio’s wrist, making him jerk the gun away from her. The shot went wide, glass shattered, and then the world exploded into chaos.
Doors burst open and Dominic’s men poured in. They’d been there all along, hidden, waiting. But Dominic himself was already inside, moving like death incarnate. Sarah had never seen anything so terrifying or so beautiful.
Vittorio grabbed for her again, but Sarah was done being a victim. She swung Marco’s heavy bassinet—thankfully the baby was still in her arms—at his knee. The old man stumbled.
It was all the opening Dominic needed.
«You touched what’s mine,» Dominic snarled, and his fist connected with Vittorio’s jaw with a crack that echoed through the room.
The fight was brutal but brief. Vittorio was old, past his prime. Dominic was in his prime and fueled by fury. When it was over, Vittorio was on his knees, defeated.
«Kill me,» he spat. «End it.»
Dominic leveled his gun at the old man’s head. Sarah saw his finger tighten on the trigger, saw the cold calculation in his eyes. This was the monster, the killer, the Don who’d built his empire on violence.
«Dominic.» Sarah’s voice cut through the haze. «Don’t.»
He looked at her, and Sarah saw him warring with himself, saw the darkness battling with the man she’d come to know.
«He tried to kill you,» Dominic growled. «He put his hands on you, on my son.»
«I know.» Sarah walked closer, Marco sleeping miraculously in her arms. «But if you kill him like this, in cold blood while I watch, you’ll lose yourself. And I need you. Marco needs you. Not the Don, not the monster. We need the man.»
The silence stretched. Then Dominic lowered his gun.
«Take him,» he ordered his men. «Turn him over to the families. Let them decide his fate for breaking the old laws by targeting a sacred woman.»
As Vittorio was dragged away, screaming threats, Dominic turned to Sarah. For a moment, they just stared at each other. Then he crossed the distance in two strides, pulling her and Marco into his arms.
«I thought I’d lost you,» he whispered into her hair. «When I saw the safe room breached… when I couldn’t find you… Sarah, I thought I’d lost you both.»
«You found us.» Sarah pulled back enough to look at his face. «You gave up everything to save us.»
«I’d give up everything a thousand times over.» He cupped her face with shaking hands. «None of it matters without you. The empire, the power, the name. It all means nothing if you’re not here.»
«The families won’t accept that,» Sarah said. «You can’t just walk away from being a Don.»
«Watch me.» His eyes blazed with determination. «I’m done with this life, Sarah. I’m done with violence and death and living in darkness. You made me want something more. Made me remember there’s light in the world.»
«But the Santoro family has a successor waiting.»
Dominic’s smile was grim. «My cousin Marco—yes, I named my son after him—has been angling for the position for years. He can have it. I’m taking my son and the woman I love, and I’m walking away.»
«The woman you love?» Sarah’s heart hammered.
«Did you think I’d give up my empire for just anyone?» He kissed her softly. «I love you, Sarah Mitchell. I loved you when you offered to feed my son. Loved you when you stood in my world and refused to break. Love you now, standing here covered in glass and dust, still protecting my child.»
