Chapter 1 - The Bloodline Trail
The tinted glass of Damian Caruso’s armored SUV swallowed the neon lights of the city as we pulled away from the restaurant. Leah refused to let go of my hand. Her tiny fingers, damp with tears, remained locked around my wrists with terrifying strength. Damian sat across from us, his leather coat draped around his broad shoulders, his dark eyes studying me with an intensity that made the air feel thin. He called his head of security, Julian, his voice cold and precise. "Bring Dr. Vance to the estate. Bring the genetic quick-sequencing kit. Tell him if he breathes a word of this to my uncle or the syndicate, he won't live to regret it."
When we arrived at the Caruso estate—a sprawling fortress set against the dark treeline on the outskirts of the city—I was led into a private medical wing hidden behind a mahogany library wall. Within an hour, Dr. Vance arrived, pale and trembling as he drew cheek swabs from Leah and me. The silence in the sterile room was deafening while the rapid machine processed the markers. When the screen flashed green and displayed a 99.9% genetic match, Damian didn't flinch. He simply looked at me, his jaw tightening so hard a muscle twitched beneath his scar. "Your baby didn't die in Zurich," he murmured, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "Someone stole my deceased wife’s identity to place a newborn in my arms, while making you believe your daughter was dead."
