The Billionaire Mafia Boss Hugged His Estranged Wife After Two Years—Then a Tiny Kick Through His Winter Coat Exposed Her Ultimate Secret

The muffled pop of Adrian’s gun echoed through the bedroom.

Owen gasped, dropping his weapon and collapsing backward against the hallway wainscoting, clutching his shoulder where Adrian’s bullet had shattered the bone.

"I gave you ten years of my life," Owen groaned, blood pooling through his fingers. "Vance has fifteen men downstairs. You can't kill them all in the dark!"

Adrian kicked Owen's submachine gun away and hauled the traitor up by his collar, slamming him against the wall. "Where is Eli?"

"In... in the lodge cellar," Owen choked out, his eyes rolling back in terror. "Vance told his crew to burn the estate and take the woman. He doesn't know you're here."

Adrian threw Owen to the floor, knocked him unconscious with the butt of his pistol, and sprinted back to Mara.

He didn't waste a second. He scooped up the heavy charcoal wool coat from the floor and wrapped it securely around her shoulders, pulling her to her feet. "We have to move. Now."

"The stairs?" she asked, her voice trembling but surprisingly steady.

"Blocked," Adrian said. "We use the service elevator to the wine cellar, then the tunnel to the boathouse."

Gunfire erupted below—shouted orders in foreign accents, the sound of breaking glass, and the smell of smoke beginning to rise through the ventilation grates. Vance’s mercenaries had set fire to the ground-floor library to flush them out.

Adrian led her down the narrow back corridor, his arm firmly wrapped around her waist, shielding her body with his own. Every corner they turned, Adrian kept himself between the hallway and her belly.

When they reached the service elevator, Adrian pried the emergency release lever, revealing the manual counterweight shaft. "The power's out, so we take the fire escape stairs behind the shaft. Mara, can you climb down three flights?"

She looked down at her swollen belly, then up into his desperate, fierce eyes.