Chapter 2 Five Years Later

"Mommy, are we going to see the ocean today?" a small, sweet voice chimed.

Aria glanced down at the little boy walking beside her. Leo, with his dark, messy hair and striking blue eyes, looked up eagerly. His eyes-a mirror image of the man she'd spent five years trying to forget.

"Yes, sweetheart. After I meet my client, we'll go see the ocean."

Leo grinned, unaware of the storm about to crash into their lives.

Aria had built a quiet life for them in a small coastal city, far from New York's treacherous Mafia circles. Working as an event planner for luxury weddings, she kept her head down, protecting her secret. No one knew Leo's father. No one could.

But fate had a cruel sense of humor.

Meanwhile, in New York...

"Boss, we found her."

Lorenzo's glass of whiskey froze mid-air. "Say that again."

The underboss repeated, "Aria Blake. She's alive. She's been living under a false identity with a child."

Lorenzo's heart skipped a beat, though his face remained stoic. He never forgot her. The woman who vanished after that night, leaving behind nothing but memories and a lingering suspicion that she took more than just her body from him.

A child.

"My jet. Ready in an hour," he ordered.