Chapter 5 – THE TRUTH OF THE CRASH

The armored car swerved slightly as Leonardo’s hand clamped down on the door handle.

“Bianca ordered the hit on my brother?”

His voice was terrifyingly calm. It was the calm of a man who had just decided to burn the world to ashes.

“Yes,” Anthony cried over the speakerphone. “She paid the truck driver through one of Thorne’s offshore accounts. She knew Matteo was going to expose the clinic to you!”

I sobbed, burying my face in Leonardo’s leg.

Matteo had died alone on a cold highway because he was trying to protect a child he thought he had lost.

And then he died trying to protect the child inside me.

Leonardo ended the call. He didn’t say a word.

He stared out the window into the dark Chicago night, his eyes reflecting the passing streetlights like shattered glass.

“Leo,” I gasped, another contraction tearing through me.

He looked down at me, the fury in his eyes instantly melting into deep, profound sorrow.

“I’m so sorry, Emma,” he whispered. “I brought that woman into my house. I let her near you.”

“It’s not your fault,” I cried, squeezing his hand. “Matteo didn’t want you to know until he had proof.”

“He should have trusted me.”

“He did trust you,” I said, looking up at his tattooed face. “He trusted you to protect us when he couldn’t.”

The car slammed to a halt outside the emergency room of St. Jude’s.

Medical staff were already waiting with a gurney. Leonardo had called ahead.

The doors flew open.

Leonardo carried me out himself, laying me gently on the pristine white sheets of the gurney.

“Thirty-two weeks pregnant, water broken, in active labor!” a nurse shouted, pushing the gurney through the sliding glass doors.

Leonardo walked right beside me, holding my hand so tightly I could feel his pulse.

“Sir, you have to stay in the waiting room,” a doctor said, stepping in front of him as we reached the delivery ward.

Leonardo looked at the doctor.

He didn’t make a threat. He didn’t pull rank.

He just looked at the man with eyes full of tears.

“She is my brother’s wife. I am the only family she has left. I am not leaving this room.”

The doctor hesitated, then nodded. “Get him some scrubs.”

For the next four hours, the world was a blur of pain, bright lights, and the steady, rhythmic beeping of monitors.

Every time I felt like I couldn’t breathe, Leonardo was there.

He wiped the sweat from my forehead. He held the ice chips to my lips. He let me crush his hand every time a contraction hit.

He was the anchor keeping me tied to the earth.

“You’re doing perfectly, Emma,” he whispered over and over. “Matteo is watching. He’s so proud of you.”

Finally, the doctor looked up.

“It’s time, Emma. Give me everything you have on the next contraction.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, gripped Leonardo’s hand, and pushed with every ounce of strength left in my broken, exhausted body.

A sudden, sharp pressure released.

And then, the most beautiful sound in the world pierced the sterile silence of the room.

A high-pitched, furious cry.

“It’s a boy,” the doctor smiled, quickly wrapping the tiny infant in a warm blanket.

I fell back against the pillows, sobbing uncontrollably.

They brought him to me.

He was small, but he was perfect.

He had a shock of dark hair, exactly like his father’s.

I kissed his tiny forehead, inhaling the sweet, perfect scent of my son.

“He’s here, Matteo,” I whispered to the ceiling. “He’s here.”

I looked up at Leonardo.

He was standing frozen by the bed, tears pouring freely down his face.

“Do you want to hold him, Uncle Leo?” I asked softly.

Leonardo swallowed hard. He wiped his hands on his scrubs, trembling as he reached out.

I gently placed the baby in his massive, tattooed arms.

Leonardo stared down at the tiny face.

The feared Mafia boss, the man who commanded armies, completely dissolved into a puddle of pure love.

“Hello, little Matteo,” Leonardo whispered, kissing the baby’s cheek. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life keeping you safe.”

But our peace was shattered instantly.

The door to the delivery room burst open.

Don Carmine stood in the doorway, his face pale.

“Leonardo,” Carmine said urgently. “We have a problem.”

Leonardo handed the baby back to me, his expression hardening.

“What is it?”

“Thorne talked. He gave up the location of Matteo’s first child.”

I clutched my baby tightly.

“Where is she?” Leonardo demanded.

Carmine looked at the floor.

“She’s not far, Leo. Thorne sold the child to a family in the suburbs. But Bianca found out Thorne talked.”

Carmine looked up, his eyes grim.

“Bianca escaped custody during the raid. And she’s heading to that house right now.”

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