Evan pressed his hand harder against his bleeding side.

“The Alpha Group is ready to buy the patent for three billion dollars,” Evan said.

“But they needed human trial data first.”

“They needed a success story that the whole world would watch.”

I looked at the tiny, fragile shape beneath the blue blanket in the crib.

“You starved a newborn baby for money,” I said, my voice shaking with rage.

“Not just for money, Hunter,” Julian said, his tone conversational.

“For progress.”

“The technology behind this antidote will revolutionize molecular medicine.”

“A few weeks of discomfort for one child to secure funding for generations of research.”

“It is a simple mathematical equation.”

Lorenzo moved with a sudden, lethal speed, reaching for his waist.

But Julian reacted instantly, pressing the tip of the needle against Leo’s bare leg through the bars of the crib.

“Don’t,” Julian warned.

Lorenzo froze, his hand hovering near his jacket.

“One touch of the plunger, Lorenzo, and the concentrated dose enters his bloodstream.”

“It will stop his heart in three seconds.”

“The autopsy will show nothing but sudden infant death syndrome.”