Chapter 6 - Norah’s Choice
Norah woke to Dominic moving furniture.
“What are you doing?”
He dragged a chair against the hospital door.
“Improving security.”
“You have twelve armed men outside.”
“Fourteen.”
“That somehow makes this worse.”
Dominic turned.
Relief crossed his face when he saw her awake.
“How do you feel?”
“Like my uterus tried to murder me.”
He approached.
“Baby’s heartbeat is good.”
“I know.”
Norah watched him.
Something had changed.
“Tell me.”
He remained silent.
“Dominic.”
“Victor knows we’re here.”
She closed her eyes.
“Of course he does.”
“I’m moving you.”
“No.”
“Norah—”
“Did we learn nothing yesterday?”
His jaw flexed.
“Someone wants to kill you.”
“And you cannot protect me by becoming another person who takes away my choices.”
He looked genuinely frustrated.
“What exactly do you expect me to do?”
“Ask.”
Dominic stared at her.
Then, visibly fighting decades of instinct, he tried.
“Norah Hayes, would you please consider moving somewhere safer?”
She almost laughed.
“That sounded painful.”
“It was.”
“Where?”
“A private medical facility outside the city.”
“Who runs it?”
“A friend.”
“Criminal friend?”
“Cardiologist.”
“That wasn't the question.”
His mouth twitched.
“Both.”
Norah considered.
“Lily comes.”
“Yes.”
“I choose my obstetrician.”
“Yes.”
“No tracking device implanted in my shoe.”
Dominic looked offended.
“I wasn’t going to put it in your shoe.”
She stared.
He cleared his throat.
“Joke.”
“You’re terrible at those.”
“I’m learning many new skills.”
Norah agreed.
By evening, they were transferred discreetly.
The facility resembled a country house more than a hospital.
Lily arrived soon afterward.
She climbed carefully beside Norah.
“Is baby okay?”
“Yes.”
“Did baby get scared?”
“Maybe.”
Lily placed both hands on Norah’s stomach.
“Don’t be scared. Daddy scares everybody else.”
Norah laughed so hard she nearly cried.
Dominic stood in the doorway.
“I heard that.”
“Good,” Lily said.
Rafael arrived after dark.
Norah studied him.
The resemblance to Dominic was unmistakable.
“You’re the dead brother.”
Rafael blinked.
“Apparently my reputation precedes me.”
“Your family is exhausting.”
“That also precedes me.”
Dominic entered.
“We have twenty-eight hours before Victor’s deadline.”
Rafael spread documents across the table.
“Victor expects us to fight.”
“Then we disappoint him.”
Rafael looked surprised.
Dominic continued.
“You said you wanted the empire.”
“I did.”
“You can have part of it.”
Norah frowned.
“What are you doing?”
“Ending what my father started.”
Dominic looked at his brother.
“The legitimate businesses get divided. Everything illegal gets dismantled.”
Rafael laughed.
“You think men simply retire from this?”
“No.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“I think we give federal prosecutors enough evidence to make retirement attractive.”
Everyone stared.
Rafael spoke first.
“You want to cooperate with the government?”
“I want my children to grow up without inheriting this.”
Norah felt something shift inside her.
Dominic looked at her.
“I can’t change who their father has been.”
His voice softened.
“But I can change what being a Russo means next.”
For the first time, Norah believed him.
Not completely.
But enough.
Rafael knew where Victor kept the organization’s master financial records.
A private vault beneath an old hotel.
If they obtained them, Victor’s network could collapse.
“I’ll go,” Rafael said.
Dominic shook his head.
“We both go.”
Norah immediately said, “Absolutely not.”
Both brothers looked at her.
“You’re going into a building owned by the man trying to kill you?”
Dominic approached her bed.
“I need to finish this.”
“You need to survive.”
“I intend to.”
“That’s not a plan.”
He took her hand.
The gesture surprised her.
“I spent years believing protecting family meant building walls around them.”
His thumb moved across her fingers.
“You were right. Walls can become cages.”
Norah swallowed.
“I’m going to tear mine down.”
He bent and kissed Lily’s forehead.
Then hesitated beside Norah.
She could see the question.
For once, Dominic Russo was actually asking without words.
Norah touched his cheek.
Then kissed him.
Briefly.
Softly.
When she pulled back, his eyes remained closed for a second.
“Come back,” she whispered.
“I will.”
“You don't control everything.”
“No.”
His gaze dropped to her stomach.
“But I finally know what’s worth fighting to come home to.”
Hours later, Dominic and Rafael entered the abandoned hotel.
They found the vault.
They found the records.
They also found Victor waiting.
He sat behind a desk with six armed men surrounding him.
Victor smiled.
“My boys.”
Dominic stopped.
Victor looked between the brothers.
“I wondered how long it would take before blood made you sentimental.”
Rafael raised his weapon.
Victor laughed.
“You still don’t understand.”
He placed a phone on the desk.
A live video appeared.
Norah was asleep in her hospital room.
Victor smiled.
“I never needed Dominic’s house.”
May you like
He tapped the screen.
“I needed his attention somewhere else.”
