Six hours of screaming had pushed Dominic Moretti to the edge, and everyone inside the Chicago restaurant knew better than to go near him. Then I crossed the dining room, looked the most feared mafia boss in the city straight in the eye, and told him, “You’re hurting your own baby.”

I didn't think. I threw my entire weight into Dominic's chest, pushing him sideways just as the silenced bullet tore through the air.

THWACK!

The bullet shattered a heavy crystal vase directly behind where Dominic had been standing, sending water and glass raining down onto the dance floor.

Chaos erupted. Screams echoed as high-society guests scrambled for the doors.

Dominic grabbed me around the waist, pulling me behind a heavy stone pillar, drawing his pistol in one lightning-fast motion.

"Frank!" Dominic roared into his wrist mic. "Balcony! West side! Take him down!"

Above us, a quick burst of gunfire echoed, followed by the heavy body of the sniper falling over the velvet railing and crashing forty feet down onto the dance floor below.

Dominic looked down at me, his hands clutching my shoulders, his face pale with sheer terror. "You took a bullet for me!"

"I didn't take a bullet," I panted, my heart hammering against my ribs. "I pushed you!"

"You could have been killed, Clara!" Dominic shouted, his voice shaking with a rare, terrifying emotion. "Are you crazy?!"

"I'm not letting Mateo lose his father!" I yelled back, my hands grabbing the lapels of his tuxedo jacket. "And I'm not letting you die, Dominic! Do you understand me?!"

Dominic froze. He stared at me, his dark eyes wide, processing my words.

Before he could speak, Frank rushed up, his gun drawn. "Boss! The perimeter is clear! Falcone fled through the basement service doors!"

Dominic’s face transformed into an expression of pure, unadulterated, apocalyptic rage.

"Find him," Dominic ordered, his voice terrifyingly calm. "Call the Commission. Tell them Lucian Falcone broke the sacred truce at a charity event. Tonight, the Falcone family ends."

For the next forty-eight hours, Chicago experienced a war that was fought entirely in the shadows.

Dominic didn't come home that night. I stayed in the nursery with Mateo, surrounded by twenty armed guards, watching the news reports of "mysterious warehouse fires" and "industrial accidents" occurring across the city’s south side.

By Sunday morning, the news announced that Lucian Falcone had fled the country, his entire organization dismantled, his assets seized, and his lieutenants arrested by federal agents following an anonymous leak of his financial ledgers.

The war was over. Dominic had won complete, undisputed control of the city.

At noon on Sunday, the heavy oak doors of the nursery opened.

Dominic stood in the doorway.

He looked exhausted, his suit rumpled, dark circles under his eyes, but he was completely unharmed.

I stood up from the rocking chair, holding Mateo in my arms.

Dominic walked slowly across the room. He didn't say a word. He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a thick manila envelope, and set it on the changing table beside me.

I looked at the envelope. "What is this?"

"Your full reinstatement to Chicago Presbyterian School of Nursing," Dominic said softly, his voice raspy. "Along with a full scholarship paid in your name, a deed to a luxury condo in downtown Chicago, and a trust fund that ensures you will never have to work a day in your life if you don't want to."

My stomach dropped into a cold, bottomless pit. "Dominic... what are you doing?"

Dominic looked down at the floor, unable to meet my eyes for the first time since I had met him.

"You almost died twice because of me, Clara," Dominic whispered, his voice cracking with deep, agonizing pain. "First the attack on my house, then the sniper at the gala. You are a good person. You belong in a hospital saving children, not hiding in panic rooms with a monster."

Tears blurred my vision. "You're sending me away?"

"I'm giving you your life back," Dominic said softly. "The life you lost when your son died. The car is waiting downstairs to take you to your new apartment."