Chapter 1 - THE WEDDING THAT STOPPED
Alexander Moretti had faced men who pointed guns at his chest.
He had watched enemies threaten his businesses, his territory, and his life.
He had survived betrayals that would have destroyed lesser men.
But nothing had prepared him for the sight of two small children standing beside his former wife.
The boy had his dark hair.
His gray eyes.
Even the stubborn little crease between his eyebrows.
The girl had the same eyes, framed by long lashes, and a face that somehow reminded him of Claire when she smiled.
Alexander stared.
His hand tightened around the microphone.
“Claire?”
I stood beneath the chandelier, holding my children's hands.
“Hello, Alexander.”
The ballroom was silent.
Vanessa Blake stood beside him in a white wedding gown.
Her smile had vanished.
Alexander stepped down from the altar.
His eyes never left the children.
“Who are they?”
I looked at him.
“My children.”
His face changed.
“How old?”
I swallowed.
“Two years and four months.”
Alexander went still.
He began calculating.
I saw the exact moment he understood.
The anniversary.
The night he told me he loved Vanessa.
The morning I left.
His expression collapsed.
“Claire.”
I said nothing.
He looked at the boy.
Then the girl.
“Are they mine?”
I took a breath.
“Yes.”
Someone gasped.
His mother, Teresa Moretti, pressed a hand to her chest.
Vanessa stepped backward.
Alexander stared at me.
“You were pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“With twins?”
“Yes.”
His eyes filled.
“And you never told me?”
I looked at him.
“You told me you loved another woman.”
His face tightened.
“That doesn't answer my question.”
“No,” I said quietly. “It doesn't.”
The boy tugged my hand.
“Mommy?”
I looked down.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Why is everybody staring?”
I knelt beside him.
“Because we came at a surprising time.”
My daughter wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Can we go now?”
I kissed her forehead.
“In a minute.”
Alexander watched us.
May you like
His eyes were wet.
For the first time since I'd known him, the most feared man in Chicago looked completely powerless.
