Page 114 of Coerced Queen

Only, the crib is empty.

Shock slams into me.

It can’t be.

I blink to clear my eyes.

The white blanket she likes to hold in one tiny fist while sleeping is discarded at the foot-end of the crib.The pink one I pulled over her is gone.

No, it can’t be gone.

It’s impossible.

The moonlight that shifts through the window pierces the rail on the side, the bars throwing lines over the empty mattress.Dolphin shadows from the night lamp swim along the walls.The yellow looks gray in the blueish light.

It can’t be.

I shake my head as denial hooks into my brain.It’s the nightmare all over, the one I had on the morning Saverio left me sleeping to deliver a message to Claire’s biological father only to return with news that Giorgio killed Evan Kearney.

My knees cave in at the same time as my heart stops beating.A sickening heat travels through my body.My skin breaks out in cold sweat while nausea folds me double.Bile pushes up in my throat.

I grip the rail of the crib, my chest heaving.Every breath I take is a battle, the oxygen not reaching my lungs.It’s just another dream, just a cruel illusion.But when I pinch my eyes shut and open them again, the horrible truth still confronts me.

Claire is gone.

Someone took my baby.

ChapterThirty-Five

Saverio

The pain in my leg is relentless.It’s the only reason I take the glass of choice brandy that Nicole offers me.I’m about to lift it to my lips when one of the caterers I saw in the kitchen sprints into the tent with a wild look on her face.She skids to a halt in the entrance and scans the crowd with a frantic expression.

I only have to take one look at her owl-sized eyes to know something happened.I’m on my feet in a flash, the glass in my hand forgotten.It slips through my fingers, brandy sloshing over the rim.I catch it in reflex before it hits the floor, my gaze connecting with Dante’s where he’s chatting on the other side of the gazebo to one of the guests.

Like me, he’s already assessed the situation.Face drawn and muscles tense, he makes his way over to the woman.I’m slower in getting there.My limp delays me, but I miss nothing, not the panic in the woman’s body language as she gestures with her hands or the alarm in Dante’s eyes when I reach them.

We stare at each other for no longer than a millisecond, frozen in the way people are just before one of them delivers bad news, but it’s enough to tell me whatever is wrong is major.

The woman runs away without repeating her message.

Dante doesn’t make me wait.He gives it to me straight.“Claire is gone.”

Every one of those three little words slams into my chest like a ten-pound hammer.

No.

Impossible.

Someone misunderstood.Rosemary is walking her through the house because she woke up crying and wouldn’t go back to sleep.Yet even as my brain tells me there’s been a mistake, I act on instinct.Years of practice battle-hardened me enough to function like a soldier despite the shock blasting through me.

“Lock down the house,” I say under my breath as Dante and I hurry to the nearest door, which gives access to the kitchen.“Seal off the property.No one is allowed to leave.”

He hurries ahead to execute the order while I make my way inside as fast as my cursed limp allows.It’s only when I grip the door frame with both hands to lift myself up the step that I realize I didn’t take the cane.I don’t feel the pain.Adrenaline fuels my steps, killing the physical discomfort while fanning the flames of the fear that burns through me.

The staff stand at their makeshift workstations, looking scared and confused.I don’t make it to the hallway before a chilling scream pierces the space.The sound of that voice drives me harder.It’s a voice I know well, the voice of the woman I love, and it eats into my gut like acid.

Guards file through the front door as I take the stairs.I don’t stop to address them.Dante knows how this works.He would’ve told them to search every nook and cranny.Another team of armed men would’ve been dispatched to keep the guests from leaving the tent.Bathroom doors will be kicked open and every bed turned over.No one will be allowed to hide.

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