Chapter 6 - Born Under Fire
Adrian had faced armed men without fear.
He had watched businesses collapse, enemies betray him, and fortunes disappear in hours.
Nothing terrified him like Lena saying, “Something's wrong.”
The emergency generator restored partial power.
Victor barricaded the hospital-room door while Adrian hit the nurse-call button.
No response.
Another contraction tore through Lena.
She gripped Adrian's hand.
“Find somebody.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Adrian!”
The door opened from the adjoining bathroom.
Adrian turned violently.
A terrified nurse emerged.
“I was hiding.”
“Can you help her?”
The nurse looked at Lena, then at the blood.
“Yes.”
One word.
Enough.
Victor and two security men held the corridor while the nurse called the obstetric team through an emergency radio.
Minutes stretched like hours.
Lena's premature labor advanced too quickly.
Adrian stood beside her.
She squeezed his hand hard enough to hurt.
“Look at me,” he said.
“I hate you.”
“I know.”
“This is your fault.”
“Probably.”
“You're supposed to disagree.”
“I've learned not to argue with you.”
Despite everything, Lena laughed once.
Then screamed.
Twenty-eight minutes later, their daughter entered the world weighing barely four pounds.
She did not cry.
Lena saw the doctor's expression.
“Why isn't she crying?”
The medical team rushed the tiny infant to the warmer.
Adrian couldn't move.
“Why isn't she crying?”
Then a sound came.
Small.
Weak.
But unmistakable.
Their daughter cried.
Lena collapsed backward, sobbing.
Adrian lowered his forehead to hers.
“She's here.”
Doctors rushed the baby to neonatal intensive care.
Adrian followed until Lena called his name.
He turned.
“Go with her,” Lena whispered.
He hesitated.
“Our daughter shouldn't be alone.”
Adrian kissed Lena's forehead.
Then followed his child.
The assassination team never reached the room.
Victor's men captured one attacker alive.
The man talked.
Richard Voss had ordered everything.
The stalking.
Marcus's kidnapping.
The restaurant.
The hospital assault.
Richard believed Grace's evidence had resurfaced. Once he learned Lena was pregnant, he saw an opportunity.
If Adrian died without an heir, control of several Voss family holdings would pass through a trust Richard controlled.
But if Adrian had a child, that path disappeared.
Lena's daughter wasn't merely personal.
She threatened Richard's empire.
Adrian listened to Victor's report outside the NICU.
Through the glass, his daughter slept inside an incubator.
Tiny.
Fragile.
Surrounded by wires.
“What did Lena name her?” Victor asked.
“She hasn't.”
“You?”
Adrian stared through the glass.
“I haven't earned the right.”
Victor looked at him.
“You nearly got yourself killed protecting them.”
“That doesn't make me a father.”
“No.”
Victor placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Staying does.”
Three days later, Lena was wheeled into the NICU.
Adrian sat beside the incubator.
His finger rested through an opening.
Their daughter's tiny hand was wrapped around it.
Lena stopped.
Adrian didn't notice her immediately.
He was whispering.
“I know I'm frightening. Your mother tells me that frequently.”
Lena's mouth twitched.
“But I won't ever be frightening to you.”
The baby's fingers tightened.
Adrian swallowed.
“I don't know how to do this. My father didn't get enough time to teach me.”
Lena's eyes filled.
“But I'll learn.”
She rolled closer.
Adrian looked up.
Embarrassment flickered across his face.
“How much did you hear?”
“Enough.”
She looked at their daughter.
“Emma.”
Adrian repeated it softly.
“Emma Voss?”
Lena looked at him.
“Emma Park-Voss.”
His smile appeared slowly.
“Negotiable.”
“Absolutely not.”
Emma opened her eyes.
Adrian laughed.
It was quiet and astonished.
Lena had never heard that sound from him.
For one perfect minute, the war outside ceased to exist.
Then Victor entered.
His expression destroyed the moment.
“We found Richard.”
Adrian stood.
“Where?”
“Your house.”
Adrian frowned.
Richard had entered the Voss estate voluntarily.
He was sitting in Alexander Voss's old study.
Waiting.
May you like
And according to the message he had sent—
he would speak only to Lena.
