CHAPTER 4: The Boss Comes Home Early

The front doors opened before the guards touched Elena's arm.
Cold night air moved across the marble. The white roses stirred. Every guest turned as Sebastian Moretti stepped into the foyer in a black suit, no coat, rain shining on his shoulders.
He had left a private negotiation across town without explanation. Men who feared him would spend the next hour wondering what emergency had pulled him away.
Then he saw Lily.
Not the flowers. Not Vivienne. Not the dismissed housekeeper. His eyes went to his daughter first, because fear had a different shape when it belonged to his child.
Lily pressed her face into Elena's skirt and gripped the teddy bear so hard one button eye bent sideways.
Sebastian's expression changed without becoming loud.
That was what made the room afraid.
Vivienne crossed toward him with soft urgency. 'Darling, thank God. Elena overreacted. Lily had a small episode.'
Sebastian did not look at her.
He lowered himself to one knee on the marble.
'Piccola,' he said gently. 'Who made you cry?'