in the room came from the opened door. The cot was at the far wall. Beth crept over to it, her heart thundering, terrified that she would find it empty...
Dom lay in it on his back, tiny hands in fists either side of his head, sleeping peacefully, as snug as a bug in a rug.
The relief that surged through Beth to find him there safe and sound was so great that she doubled over and gulped air into her burning lungs.
But the relief was only temporary. Danger remained close. Remembering the fury on Alessio’s face when that man had called him by his real name, she figured his plans to snatch Dom from her had been interrupted.
Alessio’s minions might be on their way right now to get him.
She had to take Dom now, and leave this palace before...
A large shadow filled the open doorway.
‘No!’ The word shot from her mouth as a howl and she straightened clumsily to spread her arms wide across the cot. If he wanted to get to Dom, he would have to get through her first.
Dom stirred, a tiny mewing sound coming from his cot.
Beth held her breath. She didn’t dare take her eyes off Alessio, who remained at the threshold of the room.
‘I’m sorry you had to discover the truth like that.’ His words echoed off the walls.
Nausea roiled violently in her stomach. ‘Sorry that it prevented you taking Dom, Alessio?’
She tried to keep a lid on the fresh panic gripping her as she took in the lean yet muscular proportions of the man with a new ominous perspective. If it came to a fight, she would never win.
But she would try. She would fight. She would do whatever it took to keep Dom out of the clutches of the man from whom she had sworn to protect him. She would protect her ward with her life.
He shook his head slowly. ‘If I wanted to take him, I would have done so already.’
‘Stay back!’ He’d stepped into the room. The shoe she’d lost on the stairs was in his hand. ‘Don’t come any closer.’
She tensed her body, readying herself for the first physical fight of her life.
He took another step forward and placed the shoe on the dressing table.
Dom let out a loud cry.
Not wanting to take her eyes away from the slowly nearing Italian, she twisted an arm into the cot and groped carefully until she found Dom’s belly and gently stroked it. He cried out again. It was a cry of pain.
Valente... Alessio...stopped walking.
He expelled a deep breath then stepped back to the door. At the threshold he called out, ‘Miranda.’
The nanny appeared.
‘I’m going to take Miss Hardingstone to my suite. Domenico needs attending to.’
‘No!’ But Dom’s cries of pain were increasing and Beth could no longer bear the agony in her heart to hear them. She turned quickly and scooped him into her arms. Immediately his cries lessened.
Holding him securely and rocking him gently, she turned to her adversary and fought unsuccessfully to hold her own tears back. ‘Please, I am begging you, don’t do this. Don’t take him from me.’
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