Chapter 5

Alex POV

The Sosa estate was less a home and more a fortress.

High walls, armed guards patrolling the perimeter, and surveillance cameras angling from every cornice. It possessed everything the Dunlap manor did, but the atmosphere was darker, heavier. The stone was slate-grey, the iron gates pitch black. It felt less like a palace designed to impress and more like a stronghold designed to withstand a siege.

Daniel had assigned me a suite in the east wing. It was undeniably luxurious, draped in silks and velvet, yet for the first three nights, I slept with a heavy chair wedged firmly under the doorknob.

Aaron-whose identity was now confirmed as Aaron Sosa-was receiving the best medical care money could buy. His memory was returning in jagged fragments. He clung to me less now, finding a new, instinctive comfort in his uncle's presence, though his eyes still sought me out first thing every morning.

I was an anomaly here.

The ex-wife of the enemy, living under the roof of the Don.

To his credit, Daniel didn't treat me like a prisoner. He treated me like a puzzle he was meticulously trying to solve. We ate dinner together in the cavernous mahogany dining room, the silence punctuated by his questions. He asked about my accounting background, about the mechanics of my survival on the beach. He listened.

Gavyn never listened.

But peace in the underworld is a fragile thing, made of glass and waiting to shatter.

On the fifth day, the iron gates groaned open to admit a sleek black sedan.

I was watching from the balcony, my hands gripping the railing. I recognized the crest emblazoned on the door instantly. Dunlap.

Panic seized my throat like a physical hand. Gavyn found me.

I ran downstairs, my heart pounding a frantic, erratic rhythm against my ribs. I reached the main hall just as the heavy oak doors swung open.

Daniel stood in the center of the foyer, his posture relaxed but radiating a lethal sort of menace.

A man I recognized as Gavyn's consigliere stepped across the threshold. He looked nervous, sweat beading on his brow.

"Don Sosa," the man said, bowing slightly, his voice tight. "We have received disturbing reports."

"Speak," Daniel commanded, the single word echoing off the stone walls.

"We have heard that you are harboring a fugitive," the man said, trying to find his footing. "Alexandra Dunlap. She is the property of Gavyn Dunlap. He demands her return immediately."

I stepped out from the shadows of the staircase, my breath hitching.

The consigliere saw me. His eyes widened in genuine shock. "So the rumors are true. You're alive."

Daniel didn't turn to look at me. He kept his predatory gaze locked on the messenger.

"She is not a fugitive," Daniel said, his voice low and dangerous, vibrating with restrained violence.

"She is Gavyn's wife," the man insisted, though he took a half-step back. "The law..."

"The law doesn't apply here," Daniel cut him off, his tone brooking no argument. "And neither does Gavyn's claim."

He turned then, walking over to where I stood frozen. I braced myself, muscles tensing, expecting him to hand me over. To use me as a bargaining chip. That's what men like him did. That's what Gavyn would have done.

Instead, Daniel wrapped a heavy, possessive arm around my waist. He pulled me into his side, his body a solid wall of heat and muscle against my trembling frame.

He looked the messenger dead in the eye.

"Tell Gavyn he's too late."

The messenger stammered, blinking rapidly. "Too... too late?"

"Alex is mine now," Daniel declared. The vibration of his voice traveled through his chest and into my shoulder, grounding me.

I looked up at him, shocked. His face was hard as granite, unyielding.

"And," Daniel added, his voice dropping an octave, delivering the final, crushing blow, "she is carrying my child."

The silence in the hall was absolute. Suffocating.

My mouth fell open slightly. It was a lie. A massive, dangerous, reckless lie. But it was also the ultimate shield. In our world, a woman carrying the heir of a Don was untouchable. To harm her was to declare total, scorched-earth war.

The messenger turned pale. He looked at my stomach, then up at Daniel's lethal expression.

He stumbled back, his confidence shattered. "This... this changes everything. Gavyn will not accept this."

"Let him try to take what is mine," Daniel snarled, the beast beneath the suit finally showing its teeth. "Touch her, and I will burn the Dunlap name from the history books."

The messenger fled, retreating to the safety of the sedan.

As the heavy door slammed shut, Daniel didn't let go. He held me tighter.

I looked up at him, trembling, the adrenaline leaving me weak. "Why?" I whispered. "Why would you say that? You just started a war."

Daniel looked down at me. His dark eyes softened, just a fraction, the granite cracking to reveal something human.

"He broke you, Alex. He threw you away."

He reached up, his rough fingers tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. His touch was surprisingly gentle, contrasting sharply with the violence he had promised moments ago.

"You saved my blood," he said, referring to Aaron. "Now I save yours."

He took my hand and placed it flat on his chest, right over the steady, powerful beat of his heart.

"Welcome to my world, Alex. No one hurts you here."

I stood there, surrounded by the enemy, protected by a lie, and for the first time in six years, I didn't feel like a pawn.

I felt like a queen on a new chessboard.

And Gavyn Dunlap had no idea what was coming for him.