“Damon, don’t do this,” I said, my chest tightening with panic.

“She helped you hide,” Damon said quietly, finally looking at me. “She kept my family from me.”

“She didn’t know anything,” I lied, my voice rising. “She just gave me a job when I had nothing.”

Damon looked up from Leo, his blue eyes locking back onto mine with a cold intensity.

The shock on his face had hardened back into resolve.

“I can buy this entire street by the end of the afternoon,” Damon said.

“The bank would foreclose on this bakery before the snow melts tomorrow morning.”

He took another step toward me, his presence looming over the small counter.

“I want my family back, Nora,” he said.

“You can’t just take us,” I said.

“I have the best custody lawyers in Chicago,” he replied. “And now I have proof of my heir.”

He looked down at Leo again, his expression softening just a fraction.

Leo gripped my fingers tightly, his small hand warm against mine.

“He doesn’t know you,” I said. “You will terrify him.”

“He will learn,” Damon said.