Chapter 1 - The Touch of a Stranger
The pressurized hum of the private jet seemed to vibrate in rhythm with the infant’s relentless wailing. Mateo Vance, a man feared in boardrooms and underground syndicates alike, felt utterly powerless. His inked fingers gripped the crying newborn with clumsy, desperate tension. Beside him, Victoria—his fiancé in name and alliance—drew back, her silk dress rustling as she smoothed her hair in sheer exhaustion. Then Elena stepped forward.
Elena was not hired to counsel the mafia’s most guarded heir. She had been assigned to the flight crew merely as an attendant with an off-the-record background in neonatal care. Yet the sight of the distraught infant tore through her professional reserve. Kneeling beside the polished mahogany armrest, Elena softly unclasped Mateo’s defensive grip. ""May I?"" she asked, her voice steady against the engine’s drone.
May you like
Mateo looked into her eyes, searching for deceit, but found only quiet resolve. He nodded once. As Elena took the baby into her arms, she pressed the boy’s tiny cheek against the exposed skin of her collarbone, swaying in a slow, rhythmic circle. Within moments, the infant's shrill cries subsided into shuddering breaths, then silence.
Mateo stared, his breath catching in his throat. But before anyone could speak, the aircraft shuddered violently, the cabin lights flickering red as an alarm pierced the air.
