“Please mister, buy this painting so we can buy bread,” three dirty triplets begged. The billionaire mafia boss stared at the canvas, his heart stopping. The woman painted on it was the wife he mourned for years. With shaking hands, he pulled out a black card and whispered, “Take me to her.”

only to snatch her hand away the second my shadow crossed the threshold. I had arrogantly assumed she was just repulsed by my latest business dealings. Now I realized she had been incubating my children while actively calculating the exact moment to erase her own existence.

Nico killed the engine across the street from the brick façade of St. Jude’s.continue reading …