Inside were names.

Routes.

Safehouses.

Bank accounts.

Evidence.

Enough information to cripple the Duca organization permanently.

Carlo stared. “Holy Christ.”

Seraphina’s smile turned razor sharp.

“My father arranged my marriage like a business merger. I decided to become a hostile takeover instead.”

Meline blinked in shock.

“You’re betraying your family?”

“No.” Seraphina’s eyes glittered. “I’m replacing them.”

A shot suddenly cracked through the snow.

Everyone ducked.

A Valente soldier collapsed.

“Sniper!” Carlo roared.

The peaceful Boston street exploded into gunfire.

Dominic grabbed Meline.

“Move!”

Ethan covered them as bullets shattered pharmacy windows.

Seraphina cursed elegantly and drew a silver handgun from beneath her coat.

“Apparently my father anticipated betrayal.”

Dominic shoved Meline toward the SUV.

She stumbled.

Then cried out sharply.

Pain shot through her abdomen.

Dominic froze.

Blood spotted the snow beneath her boots.

Everything stopped.

Her terrified eyes lifted toward him.

Another wave of pain hit.

And she collapsed.

Massachusetts General Hospital became a fortress within minutes.

Valente soldiers sealed entrances.

Duca gunmen circled outside.

Police scanners erupted across Boston.

And Dominic stood outside the operating room feeling more helpless than he ever had with a gun pointed at his head.

Blood stained his hands.

Meline’s blood.

Ethan emerged through the double doors wearing surgical scrubs.

Dominic moved instantly.

“How bad?”

“She’s stable.”

Dominic exhaled for the first time in ten minutes.

“But the stress triggered severe bleeding.” Ethan’s expression hardened. “If she keeps living like this, she could lose the baby.”

The words hollowed the room.

Dominic looked through the small window into the dim recovery room.

Meline lay unconscious beneath pale hospital lights.

So small.

So fragile.

And carrying something that suddenly terrified him more than any enemy alive.

Hope.

Ethan folded his arms.

“She loves you, you know.”

Dominic’s eyes remained on Meline.

“Then why does she look terrified every time your name comes up?”

That question landed harder than any accusation.

Because Dominic knew the answer.

He had taught her fear.

Not intentionally.

But inevitably.

A man like him carried violence the way storms carried lightning.

Everything close eventually got burned.

Carlo approached carefully.

“Boss. We found the sniper.”

Dominic’s expression cooled instantly.

“Alive?”

“Barely.”

“Good.”

Ethan watched him with visible disgust.

“You’re going to torture him.”

Dominic didn’t deny it.

“People tried to kill my family.”

Ethan looked toward Meline through the glass.

“That’s exactly the problem.”

Then unexpectedly, Dominic spoke quietly.

“My father was murdered in front of me when I was eleven.”

Carlo looked startled.

Dominic almost never discussed his childhood.

“I spent twenty years making sure nobody could ever hurt me again,” Dominic continued. “Then I met her.”

His eyes softened painfully.

“And suddenly everything could hurt me.”

Inside the recovery room, machines beeped softly.

Meline stirred.

Dominic moved before anyone could stop him.

He entered quietly.

The room smelled sterile and warm.

Meline’s lashes fluttered.

Then she saw him.

Fear crossed her face first.

That nearly killed him.

But then her eyes drifted downward.

“To the baby,” she whispered.

Dominic immediately crouched beside the bed.

“The baby’s alive.”

Tears filled her eyes.

“Oh God…”

He took her hand carefully.

Like she might break.

She looked at him.

And Dominic Valente—the man senators bribed and killers feared—bowed his head against her hospital bed.

“I am so sorry.”

Her breath caught.

“I should’ve told you the truth. I should’ve protected you better. I should’ve come after you sooner.”

His voice cracked.

“I failed you.”

Meline stared at him in shock.

Because this was not the cold king of Chicago.

This was simply a man terrified of losing the woman he loved.

Slowly, she touched his face.

“You found me.”

Dominic closed his eyes against her palm.

“And now?”

That question held everything.

War.

The baby.

Their future.

Dominic lifted his head.

“Now I burn down anyone who comes near you.”

A weak laugh escaped her.

“That’s not exactly comforting.”

A ghost of a smile touched his mouth.

Then suddenly alarms exploded in the hallway.

Carlo burst through the door.

“Boss!”

Dominic spun.

“Duca men breached the south entrance.”

Gunfire thundered somewhere below.

Meline went pale.

Dominic instantly pulled a hidden pistol from his coat.

Ethan swore. “Not in a hospital!”

But Dominic was already moving.

Then Seraphina appeared in the doorway.

Covered in blood.

Not her own.

“They’re not here for Meline,” she said breathlessly.

Dominic narrowed his eyes.

“Then who?”

Seraphina looked directly at him.

“My father found out I betrayed him.”

And behind her, more gunshots exploded.

The hospital descended into panic.

Nurses screamed.

Patients hid.

Security alarms flashed red across every corridor.

Dominic handed Carlo his gun without looking away from Meline.