Chapter 9 - The Longest Night of Dominic Russo’s Life
Dominic had survived bullets with greater dignity.
At 4:03 a.m., he asked whether the contractions were too close.
At 4:07, he asked again.
At 4:11, Norah threatened to have him removed from the vehicle.
At 4:15, Lily called from the back seat.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, Bug?”
“Stop talking.”
Marco laughed so hard he nearly missed the hospital entrance.
Norah was admitted immediately.
Labor progressed slowly.
Dominic remained beside her.
Hours passed.
Norah squeezed his hand through every contraction.
By afternoon, she was exhausted.
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“Say that again and I’ll kill you.”
Dominic nodded.
“Understood.”
The nurse hid a smile.
Then the monitors changed.
The baby's heart rate dropped.
Dominic saw the doctor’s expression.
“What?”
“We’re repositioning her.”
“What’s happening?”
“Dominic.”
Norah grabbed him.
He looked at her.
Fear filled her eyes.
“Stay.”
“I’m here.”
The heart rate recovered.
Everyone exhaled.
Twenty minutes later, it dropped again.
The doctor made the decision.
“We need to deliver.”
Norah started crying.
Dominic kissed her forehead.
“You’re not alone.”
“What if—”
“No.”
He stopped himself.
He had almost promised everything would be fine.
That was the old Dominic.
The man who treated certainty as something he could manufacture.
Instead, he pressed his forehead against hers.
“I’m scared too.”
Norah opened her eyes.
“But whatever happens,” he whispered, “I’m here.”
The emergency Cesarean moved quickly.
Dominic sat beside Norah behind the surgical curtain.
Then a cry filled the room.
Small.
Furious.
Perfect.
Norah sobbed.
Dominic stopped breathing.
“Baby girl,” someone announced.
A nurse brought her closer.
Dark hair.
Tiny fists.
A red, outraged face.
Dominic laughed and cried simultaneously.
Norah stared at him.
“You're crying.”
“No.”
“You absolutely are.”
“Surgical lighting.”
She laughed weakly.
The nurse placed the baby against Norah.
Dominic touched one tiny hand.
Five fingers closed around his index finger.
The most feared man in half of Chicago became completely helpless.
“Hi,” he whispered.
Norah watched him.
“What should we call her?”
They had argued over names for weeks.
Dominic wanted Sofia as a middle name.
Norah had agreed.
But the first name remained undecided.
Then Norah said, “Hope.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Hope Sofia Russo.”
He swallowed.
“Hope Hayes Russo.”
Norah smiled.
“Better.”
The baby yawned.
Dominic kissed Norah’s forehead.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
He looked at their daughter.
“For not burning that ultrasound.”
Norah laughed.
“I almost did.”
“I know.”
“You were terrifying.”
“I remain terrifying.”
“You spent forty minutes yesterday researching bottle warmers.”
“Security requires preparation.”
“Of course.”
Three days later, they brought Hope home.
The estate looked different.
Most armed guards were gone.
Security remained, but discreetly.
Dominic’s old office was being converted.
Half would become a legitimate investment office.
The other half?
Lily had claimed it for crafts.
Rafael visited carrying an enormous stuffed giraffe.
“You bought something larger than the baby.”
“I’m an uncle. Excess is my constitutional right.”
“That isn't in the Constitution,” Norah said.
“Dominic denied me a normal education.”
Dominic rolled his eyes.
Watching the brothers argue became one of Norah’s favorite forms of entertainment.
Months passed.
Dominic’s legal situation remained complicated.
He testified.
He surrendered assets connected to criminal proceeds.
Several investigations continued.
The legitimate Russo companies were reorganized under independent management.
Dominic stopped pretending consequences were persecution.
He accepted them.
That mattered to Norah.
One evening, she found him sitting on the nursery floor with Hope asleep against his chest.
Lily slept beside him, one hand holding his sleeve.
Norah leaned against the doorway.
Dominic looked up.
“Help.”
“What happened?”
“If I move, they wake up.”
“So?”
“I’ve been here fifty-two minutes.”
Norah grinned.
“Terrifying.”
“Norah.”
“Most feared man in Chicago defeated by two girls under forty pounds combined.”
“Three.”
She raised an eyebrow.
His gaze moved to her.
“You’re worse.”
Her smile softened.
She crossed the room and sat beside him.
Dominic kissed her.
“Marry me.”
Norah froze.
“That was terrible.”
His face fell.
“The proposal.”
“Oh.”
Relief.
Then offense.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“You’re sitting on the floor wearing a shirt covered in baby spit.”
“Authenticity.”
“No ring.”
“I have one.”
“You do?”
Dominic carefully reached into his pocket.
He produced a small velvet box.
Norah stared.
“How long have you been carrying that?”
“Thirty-seven days.”
She laughed.
“You've been scared to ask me?”
“Yes.”
Dominic Russo admitted it without shame.
Norah opened the box.
The ring was elegant.
Simple.
Nothing like the enormous stones worn by women at his old parties.
“You remembered.”
“You said once that jewelry shouldn’t require its own security team.”
She looked at him.
“Ask again.”
Dominic shifted carefully so neither child woke.
“Norah Hayes, would you marry me?”
She made him wait.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Dominic began looking genuinely ill.
Finally, Norah smiled.
“Yes.”
He exhaled.
Then Lily’s sleepy voice came from the floor.
“Finally.”
Both adults stared.
Lily opened one eye.
“I knew about the ring.”
Dominic looked betrayed.
“You promised secrecy.”
“I’m four.”
“You're five.”
“Exactly.”
Norah laughed until Hope woke and began crying.
Within seconds, all four were awake.
The room filled with noise.
For the first time in Dominic’s life, chaos felt exactly like peace.
But one thing remained unfinished.
Victor Russo’s trial began in six weeks.
And the prosecution had just discovered something inside an old evidence box.
A letter.
May you like
Written by Dominic’s father on the night he died.
Addressed to both sons.
