's throat was the only thing keeping him from collapsing. He sat in the furthest corner of the VIP lounge,

eing not his reflection, but the

he eyes. It was the way the boy held his shoulders. It was the way his lips thinned when he was thinking. Eve

d the way Serafina had

Dominic hadn't been six years ago: protective, present, and proud. While Dominic had been hiding Serafina awa

growled, slamming his

gh, Dom. You're

Vance slid onto the barstool next to him, her silk dress rustling. She smelled of whit

head. "Leave, Lydia. I'm no

ilitated you at the gala. And I heard... I heard you went to her hotel." Her voice sharpened, the mask of the sweet socialite slipping.

errifying. "She isn't a ghost. She's the woman I threw away.

rs. Sinclair would evaporate instantly. She had spent six years making sure Dominic forgot about his "invisible wi

poor thing. You're so desperate for a legacy that

a," Dominic whispered

onvenient? She disappears for six years and returns exactly when your company is vulnerable, carrying a child that 'looks like you'? It's the oldest trick in the book, Dom. She pro

ing were toxic, but to his arrogant mind, they offered a strange comfort. If Leo w

think she'd use

oesn't have a heart. She has a balance sheet. She's trying to ruin you, Dominic. And if you let her

If she wants a war, give her one. Deny the child. Fight the takeover

judgment. He wanted to believe Lydia. He wanted to believe that Ser

he had tried to bury, he could still see

cold and resolute. "If she's lying, I'll de

eyes flashing with a murderous l