At 5:03 in the morning, Victor Rinaldi came home smelling like another woman and found both cribs empty.

The silence in the neonatal unit was broken by the sharp vibration of Dominic’s phone out in the hallway.

Dominic pushed open the glass door, his face pale, his eyes wide with urgency.

"Victor," Dominic barked. "We have an emergency. We need to move now."

Victor stood up slowly, wiping his eyes. "What is it?"

"Carlotti," Dominic said, dropping his voice to a whisper. "His men tracked our speed-run out of Chicago. They saw the Range Rover hit the interstate at ninety miles per hour. They figured out why you abandoned your perimeter."

Victor’s body instantly went rigid. Antonio Carlotti was a ruthless human-trafficking and extortion syndicate boss whom Victor had systematically dismantled in Detroit two years ago. Carlotti had been looking for a leverage point on Victor for twenty-four months.

"Where are they?" Victor demanded, his hands dropping to his waist.

"Two black SUVs just pulled into the hospital’s lower parking garage," Dominic said, pulling his weapon from beneath his coat. "They have six heavy shooters. They know Nora and the twins are in this wing."

Nora stood up from her chair, her face turning white as paper as she instinctively placed herself between the incubator and the door. "Victor... what is happening?"

Victor turned to look at Nora. For the first time in his life, he didn't look like a calculating intelligence officer or a cold businessman. He looked like a father protecting his blood.

He pulled his custom 9mm pistol from his holster, racked the slide with a crisp clack, and handed it handle-first to Nora.

Nora stared at the steel weapon.

"You know how to use this," Victor said, his eyes locking onto hers with absolute, burning truth. "If anyone comes through that door who isn't me or Dominic... you put a bullet in their chest. Do you hear me?"

Nora took the heavy pistol. Her hands were surprisingly steady. "What are you going to do?"

Victor pulled a second weapon from his ankle holster. He looked at his sleeping son in the incubator, then looked at his wife.