Chapter 4 - THE CLEARING OF THE HALL
Dominic slowly turned his razor-sharp gaze back to three-year-old Lily Carter, who was still huddled against her mother’s green uniform on the floor.
For three agonizing seconds, the feared crime boss of Chicago said nothing. His dark, impenetrable eyes absorbed the tiny girl in her pale blue party dress, her white sneakers dusted with blue cake frosting.
Then, Dominic dropped back down onto one knee in front of her.
He reached out with a large, calloused hand—the same hand that commanded a multi-billion-dollar empire and executed syndicate traitors—and gently, delicately brushed a stray lock of light-brown hair away from the little girl's forehead.
"You saved my son, Lily," Dominic said, his baritone voice thick with raw, unshielded emotion.
Lily looked at her mother, then looked back at Dominic, her small thumb slipping into her mouth as she offered a quiet, hesitant nod.
Dominic stood up smoothly, turning to face the vast ballroom filled with a hundred stunned guests. His expression transformed instantly into a mask of pure, absolute, lethal authority.
"Party's over," Dominic declared, his voice echoing off the vaulted marble ceiling like a thunderclap.
Instantly, six broad-shouldered security team members moved into action. They fanned out across the room, extending their arms to guide the shocked guests toward the grand double doors of the foyer.
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"Everyone out," Marco, the head of security, commanded firmly. "No one leaves the estate grounds until vehicle searches are complete. Move!"
Within three minutes, the grand ballroom was cleared of civilian guests, leaving only Dominic, Ethan, Dr. Harris, Sophia, Lily, and a perimeter detail of ten armed guards standing in the quiet, flower-scented space.
