The Mafia Boss Was Taking His Fiancée Home Until He Saw His Ex in the Rain With Twins Who Had His Eyes

By midnight, the lakefront estate was in a state of high alert.

Additional guards had been posted at the perimeter, their dark suits replaced by tactical gear and assault rifles. The estate's security cameras were being monitored by Marcus in the basement command center.

In the master bedroom, the twins were sleeping soundly in a large, mahogany bed, surrounded by soft pillows. Norah sat in a chair beside them, her eyes wide, refusing to sleep.

Declan stood by the glass doors leading to the balcony, staring out at the pitch-black lake. He had a glass of scotch in his hand, but he hadn't touched it.

"You should sleep," he said quietly.

"How can I sleep?" Norah whispered, her voice dry. "My children are sleeping in a fortress, surrounded by men with guns, because their grandfather wants to steal them. This is the nightmare I ran from, Declan. And now I’m right back in the middle of it."

Declan walked over to her, kneeling beside her chair. He set his glass down and took her hands in his. They were cold, trembling.

"I am going to end this, Norah," he said, looking up at her with an intensity that made her breath hitch. "I spent three years letting you go because I thought you were safer without me. But you aren't safe. Not anymore. The only way you and the children will ever be free is if the Voss syndicate is no longer a threat."

"How can you do that?" she asked. "Your father has hundreds of men. He controls the docks, the police, the city council."

"My father is old," Declan said. "He relies on fear and tradition. But the younger captains—the men who actually run the streets—they are tired of his old ways. They want progress. They want stability. They don't want a war over a marriage alliance."

"And Khloe?"

"Khloe is a spoiled child," Declan said, a cold sneer touching his lips. "Her father, Richard Hartwell, is a businessman. He only cares about profit. If I can show him that a partnership with me is more profitable than a partnership with my father, he will drop the alliance with Viktor in a heartbeat."

"But how do you prove that?"

"By taking control," Declan said. "Tomorrow morning, I am going to the docks. My father’s main shipment of electronics and pharmaceuticals is coming in from Montreal. It is worth fifty million dollars. If I seize that shipment, my father will be bankrupt. He won't have the cash to pay his mercenaries."