Chapter 1 - I’M THE WALL
The ceramic vase struck the marble floor before Andrea Hayes had been inside the Marino mansion for twenty minutes.
It shattered with a crack nearly as violent as the thunder rolling over Lake Michigan.
Five-year-old Leo and Luca Marino crouched behind an overturned playroom chair. The identical twins wore matching navy sweaters, but Andrea could already tell them apart. Luca watched the room through frightened gray eyes. Leo watched the exits.
Leo held a jagged piece of the vase in his trembling fist.
Mrs. Whitaker stepped toward them. The silver-haired house manager had interviewed Andrea downstairs with the severity of a judge and the efficiency of a soldier.
“Put that down. Now.”
Both boys recoiled so violently that the chair scraped backward.
Andrea moved before fear could tell her not to. She stepped between Mrs. Whitaker and the twins.
“Stop! You’re scaring them!”
Mrs. Whitaker stared at the new nanny in the thrift-store blazer as though Andrea had just broken a second vase.
Andrea slowly knelt among the ceramic pieces. She kept both hands where the children could see them and did not reach behind the chair.
From the floor, she picked up a small red Lego brick that had fallen from a half-built tower. She placed it on the marble in front of her.
“I’m not going to grab you,” she said gently.
Luca’s gaze moved from the brick to her face.
Leo tightened his grip on the shard.
Lightning whitened the tall windows.
Thunder exploded over the lake.
The ceramic fell from Leo’s hand. Both boys collapsed onto the floor and covered their ears. They did not merely startle. They folded into themselves, shaking so hard their teeth clicked.
Andrea’s careful calm vanished.
“Hey! I’ve got you!”
She crawled through the broken pieces. A sharp edge sliced her palm as she knelt, but she barely felt it. She pulled both boys against her chest.
They fought her for one terrified second. Andrea did not squeeze. She formed a loose circle with her arms and let them decide whether to remain inside it.
“I’m here,” she whispered. “I’m the wall. I’m the shield.”
Luca caught her sleeve.
Leo buried his face against her shoulder.
The fight left their bodies. They clung to Andrea while she rocked them gently on the cold floor. Blood from her palm darkened the edge of her blouse. Rain struck the windows. Another rumble moved across the sky, and both boys pressed closer.
Andrea did not notice the man in the doorway until Mrs. Whitaker straightened.
Enzo Marino stood beneath the warm hall light in an expensive black three-piece suit. He had the controlled stillness of someone accustomed to making entire rooms wait for his next breath.
The most feared man in Chicago stared at his sons as though he had never seen them before.
Then he walked toward them.
The twins tightened their arms around Andrea.
Enzo stopped in front of her.
“Leo. Stand up.”
Leo hid deeper against Andrea’s shoulder.
She tightened one protective arm around both boys.
“They’re not soldiers. They’re five.”
Enzo’s eyes snapped to hers.
May you like
“Do you know who I am?”
Andrea held his gaze and did not lower her eyes.
