Chapter 7 - A Daughter Born During a War
Vivian’s contractions were seven minutes apart when Dominic reached Northwestern Memorial.
He hated hospitals.
Hospitals contained too many doors he could not control.
Doctors took Vivian through one of them.
Dominic attempted to follow.
A nurse stopped him.
“Family?”
The question caught him unprepared.
Vivian, already being wheeled away, looked back.
“He’s with me.”
Three words.
That was enough.
Dominic entered.
The baby was premature but strong.
Labor progressed quickly.
Between contractions, Vivian demanded updates about Daniel.
Dominic lied.
“We’re finding him.”
“You don't know where he is.”
“We will.”
“Don't lie to me.”
“I’m trying to keep you calm.”
“I am having a human being. Calm is no longer available.”
Even the doctor smiled.
Dominic did not.
He held Vivian’s hand.
Two hours later, a baby girl entered the world screaming.
Vivian began sobbing.
Dominic stared.
The infant was tiny.
Furious.
Alive.
“She’s beautiful,” Vivian whispered.
The nurse placed the child against her chest.
Vivian kissed her forehead.
“Hello, Rebecca.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You named her after her mother.”
“Rebecca Grace Mercer.”
The baby opened her eyes.
Dominic felt something dangerous.
Not fear.
Attachment.
He touched one tiny hand.
Her fingers closed around his index finger.
Dominic Russo had negotiated with killers without blinking.
A four-pound infant defeated him instantly.
Vivian watched his face.
“You're crying.”
“I am not.”
“You absolutely are.”
“Medication has affected your vision.”
She laughed.
For a moment, happiness existed.
Then Dominic’s phone vibrated.
A location.
Daniel.
One of Dominic’s investigators had traced Leo’s emergency phone to an abandoned church on the South Side.
Dominic looked at Vivian.
She understood immediately.
“Go.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“My brother is alive.”
“We don't know—”
“Go.”
Dominic hesitated.
Vivian reached for his hand.
“Bring him home.”
Home.
The word followed Dominic out.
At the church, snow had begun falling.
Chicago’s first snow of the season.
Dominic entered through the side door.
Leo stood near the altar.
Daniel Mercer knelt beside him.
Alive.
Older.
Thin.
Scarred.
But unmistakably the man from Vivian’s photographs.
Leo held a gun against his head.
“Where's Anthony?”
“Finished.”
Leo laughed.
“You always were dramatic.”
“You threatened a pregnant woman.”
“I threatened an employee.”
“That was your mistake.”
Dominic advanced.
Leo’s gun tightened against Daniel.
“Stop.”
Dominic stopped.
Daniel looked at him.
“Vivian?”
“Alive.”
“The baby?”
“Born tonight.”
Daniel’s face broke.
“A girl?”
“Rebecca Grace.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Tears fell.
Leo rolled his eyes.
“Touching.”
Then Daniel moved.
He slammed his head backward into Leo’s face.
The gun fired.
Dominic charged.
Leo fled through a side corridor.
Dominic pursued him into the snow.
They fought behind the church.
No guns.
No guards.
Just two men who had once considered each other brothers.
Leo struck Dominic with a metal pipe.
Dominic went down.
Leo raised it again.
“You should've killed the accountant.”
Dominic caught the pipe.
“No.”
He forced himself upright.
“You should've left her alone.”
Police sirens approached.
Leo heard them.
His expression changed.
Daniel had called them using Leo’s dropped phone.
Leo ran.
Dominic could have shot him.
Instead, he let him reach the street.
Federal agents surrounded him.
Vivian’s evidence had already reached them through an automatic release protocol.
Leo Rossi was arrested in the snow.
For the first time, Dominic chose not to solve betrayal with a body.
Daniel approached.
“You’re different from your father.”
Dominic wiped blood from his mouth.
“I’m not sure that's a compliment.”
“It is.”
May you like
Daniel looked toward the hospital skyline.
“Take me to my sister.”
