Chapter 1
Silvano wanted answers.
The paramedic wanted him out of the way.
“Sir, let us work.”
Silvano stepped back.
It was harder than striking Marco had been.
The Hidden Hills estate had reached 106 degrees that afternoon. Even beneath the covered motor court, the inside of a closed vehicle could become dangerous quickly.
Clara was crying now.
That was good.
Ethan was not.
The boy lay on a stretcher with an oxygen mask near his face while paramedics cooled him with damp cloths.
Silvano stood beside him.
Ethan was his late younger brother Daniel’s son. After Daniel and his wife died in a freeway collision two years earlier, Silvano became Ethan’s legal guardian.
Lucia had never agreed with that decision.
She loved Ethan.
Silvano had never doubted that.
Until today.
A paramedic approached.
“We're taking both kids in.”
Silvano nodded.
Lucia stepped forward.
“I’m coming with Ethan.”
Silvano looked at her.
“No.”
“He’s my nephew too.”
“You were holding the key.”
Lucia’s mouth tightened.
Marco tried to stand near the overturned tire rack.
One bodyguard stopped him.
Marco pointed toward Silvano.
“This isn’t what it looks like.”
Silvano looked at Ethan.
His shirt was soaked.
Clara’s blanket was damp with sweat.
“Then you're lucky.”
Marco frowned.
“Why?”
“Because what it looks like is attempted murder.”
Lucia flinched.
Silvano saw it.
Not outrage.
Fear.
At the hospital, Ethan’s temperature gradually came down. Clara was dehydrated but stable.
The pediatrician told Silvano something he would remember.
“Another ten or fifteen minutes could have changed this conversation.”
Silvano sat beside Ethan’s bed afterward.
The boy opened his eyes.
“Clara okay?”
“She’s okay.”
Ethan relaxed.
Silvano touched his hair.
“Tell me what happened.”
Ethan looked toward the door.
“Am I in trouble?”
Silvano felt something inside him shift.
“No.”
“Aunt Lucia said I was helping.”
“Helping with what?”
May you like
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Showing everybody your house isn’t safe.”
