The convoy of black vehicles glides through the massive wrought-iron gates of the Merritt estate in Long Island.
The car stops in front of the sprawling stone mansion. Cayden steps out first, turning to carefully help Leo down.
Leo steps onto the pristine gravel. He looks up at the towering facade of the house. So this is the prison she lived in, he thinks, his small hands curling into fists inside his hoodie pockets.
A line of nervous servants stands at attention by the massive front doors.
Suddenly, a woman in a flowing silk dress comes running down the marble staircase inside the foyer. Her heels click frantically.
Carmella Valdez.
Her eyes are red, her face twisted into a mask of exaggerated agony. "Julian! Oh my god, my sweet baby!"
She throws herself forward, arms wide open, aiming to wrap Leo in a dramatic embrace.
Leo has seen her face in his mother's files. He knows exactly who she is.
Just as Carmella is about to touch him, Leo casually takes a step to the left.
Carmella's hands grasp empty air. Her momentum carries her forward, and she trips over her own heels, stumbling awkwardly before catching herself on a marble pillar. A flash of pure, venomous hatred crosses her face before she quickly hides it.
Cayden steps up, thinking Julian is just avoiding touch due to trauma. "Give him space, Carmella."
Carmella turns, tears welling in her eyes. "I was just so worried, Cayden. I thought I lost him."
Leo stares at her. He pulls the lollipop out of his mouth. "Your perfume smells like garbage."
The entire foyer goes dead silent. The servants stop breathing. Julian Merritt has never spoken more than two words at a time, and he has certainly never insulted anyone.
Carmella's face turns a blotchy, ugly red. Her mouth opens and closes like a fish. "Julian... sweetheart, this is your father's favorite scent."
"Then his nose is broken," Leo says, his voice crisp and loud. "It makes me want to throw up. Stay away from me."
Cayden stared, a deep frown forming. This wasn't Julian. This sharp-tongued defiance... was it a trauma response? A new, desperate way of protecting himself? For a moment, he didn't know how to react, the unfamiliar aggression both jarring and, in a dark corner of his mind, strangely intriguing.
"Go change, Carmella," Cayden says dismissively.
Carmella bites her lip so hard it almost bleeds. She turns and marches up the stairs, her fists clenched at her sides.
Cayden kneels in front of Leo. "Are you hungry? What do you want?"
Leo looks directly into Cayden's amber eyes. "I want a computer. The highest specs available. Custom built. And I don't want any parental control software on it."
Cayden blinks. "A computer? You hate screens."
"I got kidnapped today," Leo says, his tone dark and serious. "I need to learn how to hack. Next time someone tries to take me, I'm going to destroy their entire network."
Cayden lets out a sudden, booming laugh. It's the first time he's laughed all day. He reaches out and ruffles Leo's hair. "That's my boy. You'll have it in thirty minutes."
The head butler leads Leo up the grand staircase to a massive, toy-filled bedroom.
The moment the heavy bedroom door clicks shut, the childish innocence drops from Leo's face entirely.
He walks over to the window, looking down at the armed guards patrolling the perimeter. He reaches into the sole of his sneaker and pulls out a micro-USB drive loaded with his custom decryption software.
He smiles. It's time to go to work.
