The silence in the hotel suite was so heavy it felt physical, a thick shroud that choked the air out of the room. Dominic remained on his knees, his expensive wool trousers pressing into the plush carpet. He looked nothing like the "King of Sinclair Industries." His hair was damp from the London rain, his tie was crooked, and his eyes-usually so cold and calculating-were fixed on the five-year-old boy with a raw, terrifying hunger.
Leo didn't flinch. He gripped his tablet tighter, his small knuckles turning white, but his expression remained a mask of cool curiosity. He didn't see a father; he saw a stranger who had broken into his mother's sanctuary.
"Leo, go back to your room," Serafina said, her voice trembling slightly. It was the first crack in her Valkyrie armor.
"But Mommy, he's crying," Leo noted, his voice remarkably steady for a child. He looked at Dominic as if he were a complex math equation he couldn't quite solve. "Are you the man who made the Sinclair stock drop 4% this morning?"
Dominic let out a broken, choked sound that might have been a laugh if it wasn't so full of pain. He looked up at Serafina, his gaze desperate. "He's mine. Serafina, look at him. You can't tell me he isn't mine. He has my mother's eyes. He has... he has everything of me."
Serafina felt Julian's hand tighten on her waist. It was a grounding touch, a reminder of the six years of hell they had survived together. She took a long, steadying breath, pulling every ounce of her strength into her voice.
"He is mine, Dominic," she said, her words dropping like stones into a well. "He is a Thorne. He has nothing to do with you."
"Don't lie to me!" Dominic surged to his feet, his desperation turning back into the familiar Sinclair fire. He tried to step toward Leo, but Julian moved instantly, blocking his path with a broad shoulder.
"That's enough, Sinclair," Julian growled, his voice a low warning. "You've terrified the boy. You've insulted the woman I love. If you don't leave this suite right now, I won't just call the police-I'll call the press. I'm sure your shareholders would love to see photos of you having a breakdown in a hotel hallway."
Dominic's eyes snapped to Julian. The jealousy was a physical thing, a dark heat that radiated off him. "The woman you love? She was my wife. She carried my name while you were just a shadow in the background."
"And you threw that name away like it was trash," Serafina stepped forward, moving out from behind Julian's shadow. She stood toe-to-toe with the man who had ruined her, her eyes burning with a cold, blue flame. "You told me to sign the papers and disappear. I did exactly what you asked. I disappeared, and I took everything that mattered with me. You don't get to come back six years later and claim a life you discarded."
"I didn't know, Serafina! If I had known you were pregnant-"
"You would have what? Bought me off?" she spat the words back at him. "You would have treated Leo like another asset to be managed? Another piece of the Sinclair legacy to be polished and put on a shelf? No. Leo is a human being, not a business deal. And he is not your son."
Dominic's face went pale. "What did you say?"
"You heard me," Serafina lied, the words tasting like ash in her mouth. She looked him straight in the eye, her heart screaming liar, but her mind knowing this was the only way to protect her child. "Leo's father is a man I met in London. A good man. A man who didn't view me as a 'placeholder.' If you want to see a DNA test, I'll have my lawyers send you a forged one before lunch. But stay away from us, Dominic. Or I will ruin whatever is left of your pathetic life."
Dominic looked from Serafina to the boy in the doorway. He looked at the way Leo stood-the exact same stance Dominic used when he was thinking. The doubt was there, but the pain was winning.
"I don't believe you," Dominic whispered, but the fire was gone. He looked like a man who had just watched his last hope go up in flames.
"Believe what you want," Serafina said, turning her back on him. "Julian, show him out."
