Chapter 2 - Sanctuary and Shadows
Blackwood Manor sat like a silent sentinel on the cliffs of the North Shore, overlooking the black, churning waters of the Atlantic. It was a fortress of stone, steel, and bulletproof glass—the only place in Massachusetts where I could guarantee absolute safety.
I carried Adriana inside myself, refusing to let Victor or any of my guards touch her. She was incredibly light, far too light for a woman who was eight months pregnant. Her ribs pressed against her thin uniform, and her breathing was shallow.
I laid her gently on the massive velvet sofa in the private library, where a warm fire crackled in the hearth. Within minutes, Dr. Aris—my personal physician, a man bound to me by both a massive retainer and absolute loyalty—arrived.
I paced the length of the room, my hands shoved deep into my pockets, as Aris examined her. Every second felt like an eternity. The image of her terrified face in the restaurant burned in my mind. Eli’s face flickered behind my eyelids.
Eli Voss. The brother who had taken a sniper's bullet meant for me on a rainy night in South Boston. The man who had bled out in my hands, gasping his final words: "Take care of..." But the rain and his failing lungs had swallowed the name. For six months, I had searched for any trace of his family, only to find empty apartments and dead ends. I thought they had been wiped out.
"She’s severely malnourished and suffering from extreme exhaustion, Damon," Dr. Aris said, stepping away from the sofa and pulling off his stethoscope. "But the baby... it's a miracle. The heartbeat is strong. She needs rest, high-calorie meals, and absolute quiet. No stress."
"She will have everything she needs," I replied. "Thank you, Aris. Victor will see you out."
Once the door clicked shut, I walked over to the sofa. Adriana was sitting up, wrapping a thick cashmere blanket around her shoulders. She looked so small amidst the dark mahogany and leather of my sanctuary.
"Damon," she whispered, her voice cracking. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to bring this trouble to your door."
"Trouble?" I let out a dark, humorless chuckle, sitting in the armchair opposite her. "Adriana, I am the trouble in this city. You don't bring it to me; I dictate where it goes. Tell me what happened. Why did you disappear? Why were you working under a fake name at St. Cordova?"
She looked down at the steel watch in her hands, her thumb gently tracing the scratched engraving on the back: Brothers in Blood.
"Eli knew there was a mole," she said, a tear escaping her eye and tracing a path through the dust on her cheek. "A week before he died, he came home terrified. He told me that if anything happened to him, I had to run. He said the traitor was someone very close to you, someone who would want to wipe out his family to ensure no loose ends remained. He told me not to trust anyone—not even you."
A cold fist squeezed my heart. Not even me. Eli had loved me, but he had loved his wife and unborn child more. He knew that if I was surrounded by vipers, any contact with me would put a target on her back.
"So I ran," she continued, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. "I changed my name. I took cash-only jobs. But they found me anyway. Those men tonight... they weren't after you, Damon. They were after me."
"Who?" I demanded, the temperature in the room dropping to sub-zero. "Who is hunting you, Adriana?"
May you like
"I don't know," she cried, clutching her belly. "But they found my apartment three days ago. I had to leave everything behind. I thought I could hide in the crowds at St. Cordova. I didn't know you would be there tonight."
I leaned forward, gently taking her small, cold hands in mine. "Eli died saving my life. That makes his child my blood, and you my family. I don't care who is coming for you. I will tear this city apart stone by stone until they are buried."
