Page 35 of The Billionaire's Distraction

Tony glared at Sal, but eventually sighed, but he wasn’t happy about losing the little girl from his arms.Immediately, the tension returned, knotting the muscles in his neck like a vice.“I don’t currently have a plan.”His gaze swept over the two men, steady and unflinching.“Right now, Calvino’s still getting his footing.Consolidating.But that window won’t last long.”He straightened, arms crossing over his chest, his presence filling the room.“I think we should—”

“Uh…Boss?”Lizzy’s voice cut in from across the room.She was hunched over her bank of monitors, her face pale in the blue glow of the screens.“There’s a woman approaching the house.”Her fingers flew over the keys.“I’m running her face through the system now and—” She gulped audibly.“I think she’s Madelaine Keane.”

The room stilled.

All eyes shifted to Paulo.His easy humor vanished in a blink, features tightening into a mask of cold, hard control.His jaw flexed once, his eyes unreadable.

Tony stepped closer, his hand heavy on Paulo’s shoulder.“I’ll handle her.”

Without waiting for a reply, he turned on his heel and headed for the stairs.Through the tunnel, up into his own house.The reinforced door clicked shut behind him.

And then—

A scream.Piercing, high, unmistakable.Catarina.

Tony didn’t think—he moved, his boots pounding up the stairs.Sal was already a step ahead of him, sprinting like a man possessed, his daughter conspicuously absent from his arms.

Tony risked a glance back—and nearly barked out a laugh.

Paulo—stone-faced, lethal Paulo—was clutching tiny Gianna.Both predator and infant stared at each other as if equally horrified by the arrangement.The baby’s dark eyes blinked up in bewilderment, while Paulo stared warily down at her, like she was a live grenade with the pin already pulled.

But Tony knew Paulo wouldn’t harm her.Not even by accident.So he kept running, his focus on the sound of Catarina’s voice.

At the landing, Sal skidded to a halt.His hands moved with muscle memory, pulling twin pistols from the hidden panel in the wall.Tony mirrored the motion, his own fingers closing around cold steel, both men raising their weapons in the same breath.

Then they froze.

Because Catarina wasn’t in danger.

She was strolling into the foyer arm in arm with the newcomer.

Madelaine Keane—daughter of Ronan Keane.The Irishman who had been enemy number one of Paulo for the past two decades.

The woman walked as if she had no concerns in the world, her smile lazy, her posture graceful and unbothered.

Neither she nor Catarina seemed to notice the three men staring them down: two bristling with weapons, and one standing stiff as a post with a baby clutched awkwardly in his arms.

Gianna squirmed, making a tiny noise of protest.Paulo adjusted her with the stiffest, most uncomfortable movement Tony had ever witnessed, his expression murderous—not at the baby, but at the sheer absurdity of the moment.

And still, Catarina and Madelaine Keane walked forward, oblivious to the tension, chattering like old friends.

“Oh my gosh!”Catarina blurted out when she saw her husband and the other two men, frozen like statues.“How rude of me!”

She hurried over to Paulo and, without hesitation, plucked Gianna from his stiff arms.The baby immediately settled against her mother’s shoulder, cooing softly.Catarina went up on her toes and kissed Paulo’s cheek, utterly ignoring the low, warning growl from her husband.

“Thank you for taking care of her,” she said warmly, then turned to beam at Sal.“Honey, this is my roommate from boarding school, Madelaine.”

Tony slid his weapons back into the recessed holders and closed the panel with deliberate calm, locking it with a firm snap.His eyes flicked toward Paulo—and froze.

The man’s face was as unreadable as ever, every muscle under perfect control.But Tony had known him for a long time.He could see it, the taut line of Paulo’s jaw, the faint twitch in the fingers still clenched at his side, the coiled rigidity running through his shoulders.

Paulo was rattled.

Shaken, even.

The Detroit boss was staring at the newcomer as though he hadn’t decided whether to destroy her where she stood…or toss her over his shoulder and disappear with her into the night.

And then Tony’s gaze slid to the woman herself.