The luxury van swerved violently as the driver whipped it around on the highway, speeding back toward JFK.
Angelena gripped her phone, her knuckles white. The 911 operator's voice buzzed in her ear, stating they were pulling the airport security footage and she needed to head to the nearest precinct.
Foy sat casually against the leather seat. He tapped the screen of his high-tech smartwatch. "Cancel the police," Foy said, his tone icy and authoritative. "I just sent my coordinates. My father's security team will intercept us."
Angelena stared at the five-year-old, stunned by his unnatural composure.
Suddenly, Leland let out a sharp whimper. He curled into a tight ball on the seat, his small hands clutching his stomach. All the color drained from his face, leaving him a sickly, pale white.
Angelena's panic over her missing daughters was instantly overridden by her deeply ingrained medical instincts. She dropped her phone, unbuckled her seatbelt, and pulled Leland into her lap.
Her fingers expertly found the pressure points on his abdomen. She applied firm, circular pressure, massaging the cramped muscles.
Leland gasped. As his face pressed against Angelena's collarbone, the unique, soothing medicinal scent radiating from her skin enveloped him. The agonizing knot in his stomach miraculously began to loosen. He let out a soft sigh, nuzzling his face deeper into the crook of her neck like a stray kitten finding home.
Justice's phone suddenly erupted into a loud ringtone. She answered it, her eyes widening. "Ms. Beasley," Justice said, her voice trembling. "It's the Waldorf Astoria. Someone very powerful is waiting for us there. They said it concerns our... missing luggage."
Angelena's blood ran cold. "Luggage." They had her daughters.
Her eyes hardened into sharp shards of ice. "Tell the driver to reroute. Go straight to the Waldorf."
Twenty minutes later, the van screeched to a halt outside the Waldorf Astoria. Angelena didn't wait for the door to open fully. She scooped Leland up in her arms, grabbed Foy's hand, and stormed into the grand lobby, her heels clicking aggressively against the marble floor.
The lobby had been completely cleared out. Two rows of massive bodyguards in black suits stood with their hands clasped behind their backs. The air pressure in the room was suffocatingly heavy.
At the far end of the lobby, sitting on a tufted leather sofa, was Fabian Richmond. His long legs were crossed. He was staring down, casually flipping a silver lighter open and closed. The cold, dangerous aura radiating from him was palpable.
Angelena marched straight toward him. The sharp, rapid clicking of her heels made Fabian stop flipping the lighter. He slowly raised his head. His deep, ruthless eyes locked onto hers.
For a fraction of a second, Fabian's pupils contracted. The woman standing before him was stunning, sharp, and radiating fury. A bizarre, fleeting sense of familiarity brushed against his mind, but his chronic, splitting headache pushed it away.
Angelena felt a similar jolt. The man's arrogant, sharp features felt oddly familiar, but the sheer panic of losing her children blinded her to anything else.
"Where are my daughters?" Angelena demanded, her voice echoing coldly in the empty lobby.
Fabian let out a low, mocking scoff. He stood up. At six-foot-three, his shadow completely engulfed her. "Is this your new tactic?" he sneered. "Using a cheap 'switched at birth' stunt to get my attention?"
Angelena let out a harsh laugh of pure disbelief. She pulled Foy and Leland forward. "You have severe paranoia. You can't even keep track of your own sons. You are a completely incompetent father."
The temperature in the room plummeted. Fabian's face darkened with lethal fury. His hand shot out like a viper, his large fingers wrapping like a vice around Angelena's wrist. As his arm extended, the crisp cuff of his tailored suit pulled back, revealing a dark platinum cufflink engraved with a complex crest. Angelena's breath hitched. It was the exact same crest as the single cufflink she had kept locked in her safe for five years. The monster from that night-the man who had ruined her-was standing right in front of her.
"No one in New York speaks to me like that," he warned, his voice a deadly whisper.
Angelena didn't flinch. Her initial shock instantly transmuted into a blazing, white-hot rage. With lightning speed, her free hand shot up. Her thumb dug brutally into the ulnar nerve-the "funny bone" pressure point-on Fabian's forearm.
A sharp, electric shock of numbness shot up Fabian's arm. His grip involuntarily released. A flash of genuine shock crossed his eyes.
The sound of a dozen handguns being unholstered echoed in the lobby. The bodyguards aimed their weapons directly at Angelena.
"Stand down!" Foy suddenly yelled. He threw his arms wide, stepping directly between the guns and Angelena. He glared at his father. "This woman just saved Leland's life in the car. Tell them to put the guns away."
Fabian stared at his eldest son. Foy was notoriously cold and hated strangers. Seeing him actively protect this woman made Fabian's jaw tighten. He raised a single finger. The bodyguards instantly holstered their weapons.
The ping of an elevator sounded. Atherton ran out, sweating through his suit, followed by Brigida and Domenica. The girls' hair was a mess, their overalls wrinkled.
"Mommy!" they screamed in unison.
Angelena's eyes burned. She dropped to her knees, pulling both girls into a crushing hug. She ran her hands frantically over their arms and faces, checking for injuries.
Brigida pointed a tiny, accusatory finger at Fabian. "That mean man tried to lock us in a room! He kept calling us boys!"
Angelena's fury ignited into a blazing inferno. She stood up, stepping right into Fabian's personal space. She tilted her chin up, her eyes blazing. "If you ever touch a single hair on my daughters' heads again, I will make you bleed."
Fabian looked down at her. Seeing her defend her children like a cornered lioness stirred something strange in his chest. He pushed the feeling down, his expression turning to stone. "Control your feral children. They lack basic manners."
Angelena's hand twitched with the overwhelming urge to slap his arrogant face. She forced her hands into fists. "You arrogant bastard," she spat. She grabbed her daughters' hands and turned her back on him, marching toward the exit.
Leland watched her walk away. Suddenly, he burst into tears. He tried to run after her, reaching his small hands out. "I want her!"
Fabian quickly scooped Leland up, holding him tight. He watched Angelena's white suit disappear through the revolving doors. His eyes narrowed, turning dark and dangerous.
He turned his head slightly toward his executive assistant, Alex Croft.
"I want her entire background file on my desk before the sun goes down," Fabian ordered, his voice devoid of emotion.
Alex nodded respectfully. "Yes, Mr. Richmond." Internally, Alex was shocked. It had been years since the boss had shown this level of intense interest in any woman.
