Sold to the Don as a Sacrifice, Claimed by His Baby as MamaChapter 3

Every man in the room drops to his knees.

The baby sees Kael and reaches both arms toward me.

【Pick me up! Pick me up!】

【This moron's been gone half a day and the whole place almost burned down!】

So this is Kael Ashford. The Don of the Ashford family. The baby's father. At least on paper.

Voss gets his story out first.

"Mr. Ashford, this woman came out of nowhere. Grabbed the child, attacked my men. She's here to make a move on the family."

Kovac jumps right in.

"We never hired her! She broke in on her own!"

My stomach drops.

The contract is already in shreds on the floor. Every person in this room works for them.

I have no way to prove I was brought here.

The guards close in around me, guns drawn.

Kael looks at me.

"Drop it."

I'm still gripping the silver pin. It's nothing against a room full of guns, but it's all I've got.

Let go of this, and what's stopping Voss from finishing what he started?

The baby's voice cuts through my head, fast and urgent.

【Just do it! He's dumb but he's not gonna shoot you!】

I grit my teeth and let the pin fall.

Kael walks up to me and holds out his hands.

"Give me the boy."

I hand Ezri over.

The second he lands in Kael's arms, the kid twists around and grabs my shirt with both fists. Won't let go.

Kael looks down at him. Then at the blood still running down my shoulder.

Voss opens his mouth again.

"Sir, this woman is dangerous and she can't be—"

"When I walked in," Kael cuts him off, voice flat and cold, "you had a dagger at her back."

"If she wanted to hurt the boy, she wouldn't have turned around and used her own body to cover him."

Voss's face twitches.

Kael turns to me.

"What happened."

"They lured me in with a job. A hundred grand to look after the baby. The second I signed, Kovac tied me up, dragged me down here, and told me I was the sacrifice."

I look straight at Kovac.

"She's the one who ripped up my contract."

Kovac's voice goes shrill. "She's lying!"

"Then pull the security footage," I say. "Check who came through the gates today. Who signed what. Easy enough to verify."

I turn to Voss.

"If I came here to hurt the kid, why would I ring the bell and bring Ashford running?"

"When the blade came down, I could've used the baby as a shield. I didn't. I covered him with my own body."

Voss has nothing.

Kael's eyes drop to the blood soaking through my sleeve.

His face goes very, very still.