Chapter 5 - The Night Dominic Learned to PrayDominic had never believed in prayer.
He believed in leverage.
Money.
Information.
Fear.
Weapons.
Loyalty purchased through years of shared blood.
Those were measurable things.
Prayer required surrendering control to something unseen.
Dominic Gallo surrendered control to no one.
Until the night Layla began bleeding in his arms.
The armored SUV moved through downtown Chicago at nearly ninety miles per hour.
Police vehicles appeared ahead.
They did not stop Dominic.
Matteo had contacted officers on the Gallo payroll and ordered every intersection between the penthouse and St. Catherine’s Medical Center cleared.
Layla lay across the rear seat with her head against Dominic’s thigh.
One of the private nurses knelt beside her.
“Her blood pressure is dropping.”
Dominic’s hand tightened around Layla’s.
“Fix it.”
The nurse looked at him.
“Mr. Gallo—”
“Fix it.”
“Dominic.”
Layla’s weak voice broke through his panic.
He looked down.
Her face was nearly colorless.
“I am here.”
“If something happens—”
“Nothing is happening.”
“If something happens to me—”
“No.”
“Listen.”
“I said no.”
Her fingers tightened around his.
“Save them.”
Dominic stopped breathing.
“Do not say that.”
“They are thirty-two weeks.”
“You are all leaving that hospital.”
“Promise me.”
His eyes burned.
“No.”
“Dominic.”
“I will not choose.”
“If you have to.”
“I will burn the hospital to the ground before I allow anyone to make me choose.”
The nurse glanced away.
Layla almost smiled.
“You cannot threaten medicine.”
“I can threaten everyone else.”
Another contraction struck.
Layla cried out.
Dominic bent over her.
For the first time in years, helplessness entered him completely.
He remembered being eighteen again.
Standing beside his dying father.
Blood spreading across an expensive restaurant carpet.
Doctors moving around him.
Men giving instructions.
Nobody listening to Dominic because he was a boy wearing a suit too large for his shoulders.
His father had looked at him once before dying.
Do not let them see fear.
Dominic had obeyed for seventeen years.
Now fear was everywhere.
In his breathing.
His shaking hands.
The desperate way he held Layla.
The SUV stopped.
Hospital doors opened before they reached the entrance.
A medical team waited.
Dominic followed the gurney through the emergency corridor.
“You cannot enter beyond this point,” a doctor told him.
Dominic continued walking.
“Mr. Gallo.”
The physician stopped directly in front of him.
“If you interfere with my team, you increase the danger to Layla and the babies.”
That was the only sentence capable of stopping him.
Dominic stepped back.
The doors closed.
Layla disappeared.
Silence descended.
Not true silence.
Hospitals were never silent.
Machines beeped.
Telephones rang.
Shoes moved over polished floors.
But Dominic heard none of it.
Matteo arrived several minutes later.
His coat remained unbuttoned and snow covered his shoulders.
“How is she?”
“They took her.”
“Where?”
Dominic pointed.
Matteo studied his face.
“You look terrible.”
Dominic gave him a murderous stare.
“Helpful.”
“I am known for my compassion.”
Dominic sat.
Matteo sat beside him.
Neither man knew what to do with chairs.
They were men accustomed to creating outcomes.
Now they waited.
After forty minutes, Dominic stood.
After another twenty, he began walking the hallway.
At the ninety-minute mark, a doctor finally appeared.
Dominic reached her before she fully cleared the doors.
“Layla?”
“Stable.”
The word almost dropped him.
“The babies?”
“Stable.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
The doctor continued.
“She experienced a placental bleed accompanied by premature contractions.”
“Are you delivering them?”
“Not if we can prevent it.”
“Can you?”
“We administered medication to slow the contractions and steroids to help accelerate fetal lung development in case delivery becomes necessary.”
Dominic absorbed almost none of the medical language.
“Will they live?”
The doctor’s expression softened.
“Thirty-two-week twins generally have a strong chance with appropriate neonatal care.”
“Generally?”
“Mr. Gallo, I will not promise what medicine cannot guarantee.”
He hated her for the answer.
He respected her for it.
“Can I see Layla?”
“In a few minutes.”
“I want additional security.”
The doctor frowned.
“This is a hospital.”
“Last night three armed men entered my home.”
She paused.
“Understood.”
“I also want every person assigned to Layla identified.”
“That is not how—”
“Doctor.”
Matteo touched Dominic’s shoulder.
Dominic stopped.
He remembered Layla’s words.
Control.
Fortress.
Fear.
He exhaled.
“Reasonable security,” he corrected.
The doctor nodded.
“Reasonable.”
When Dominic entered Layla’s room, she was awake.
Machines surrounded her.
An intravenous line entered her hand.
Two monitors recorded the twins’ heartbeats.
The rapid rhythm filled the room.
Dominic stopped at the doorway.
Layla looked toward him.
“You look worse than I do.”
His throat closed.
He crossed the room.
“You frightened ten years from my life.”
“I may have improved your personality.”
“Impossible.”
She smiled weakly.
Dominic sat beside her and touched her hand.
“They are keeping the babies inside for now.”
“Yes.”
“The doctor explained.”
“She explained to me too.”
“I asked whether they would survive.”
Layla looked at him.
“She said the odds were good.”
“She said strong chance.”
“That is good.”
“It is not certainty.”
“Nothing is.”
Dominic hated the sentence.
Layla squeezed his hand.
“Welcome to being a parent.”
He stared at the monitors.
“I dislike it.”
“You have been a father for approximately five months without knowing it.”
“I disliked those months too.”
Layla laughed softly.
Dominic lowered his head and pressed his mouth against her knuckles.
A nurse entered.
She examined the monitors.
“Twin B is active.”
“Which one is Twin B?” Dominic demanded.
The nurse smiled.
“The one higher on the mother’s left side.”
Dominic immediately placed his hand there.
A kick answered.
His expression softened.
The nurse noticed.
“So that is the secret.”
“What?”
“You frighten half the hospital, but apparently your children can control you.”
Dominic looked at her.
The nurse decided silence was safer.
When she left, Layla smiled.
“You terrified her.”
“I said nothing.”
“Exactly.”
Dominic remained beside Layla throughout the night.
At three in the morning, she woke and found him sitting in the same chair.
His head rested against the wall.
His eyes were closed.
His hand remained around hers.
Layla watched him.
She had spent years imagining powerful men possessed different hearts from ordinary people.
They did not.
Fear made them foolish.
Love made them vulnerable.
Exhaustion made them look younger.
Dominic opened his eyes.
“What?”
“You were sleeping.”
“No.”
“You were.”
“I was thinking with my eyes closed.”
“Very convincing.”
He straightened.
“How do you feel?”
“Better.”
“Pain?”
“Less.”
“Bleeding?”
“Almost stopped.”
He exhaled.
Layla studied him.
“Did you contact Celeste?”
“No.”
“Her father?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because tonight I am not interested in war.”
That surprised her.
“What are you interested in?”
His gaze moved to the monitors.
“This.”
Layla felt warmth behind her eyes.
Dominic remained quiet.
Then he spoke.
“My mother wanted children.”
Layla waited.
“She wanted six.”
“That is ambitious.”
“She came from a large Sicilian family.”
“What happened?”
“Cancer.”
Layla’s expression softened.
“I am sorry.”
“I was nine.”
Dominic looked at their joined hands.
“My father never recovered.”
“Did he love her?”
“Completely.”
His mouth tightened.
“I used to believe loving someone that much made him weak.”
“And now?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Now I think losing her made him weak.”
Layla understood.
“There is a difference.”
“Yes.”
He brushed his thumb across her fingers.
“I spent years making certain I never possessed anything an enemy could take from me.”
“You possessed an empire.”
“Empires can be rebuilt.”
His gaze lowered to her stomach.
“This cannot.”
Layla did not know how to answer.
He continued.
“The photograph they found on Mercer means the Morettis knew about the pregnancy almost immediately.”
“Yes.”
“That means they allowed you to remain alive.”
The implication entered the room.
“Why?”
Dominic’s eyes hardened.
“That is what I intend to learn.”
By morning, Matteo had an answer.
He entered the hospital room carrying his phone.
Layla was eating breakfast.
Dominic was arguing with a nurse over the amount of caffeine in her tea.
Matteo closed the door.
“We found Nora.”
Dominic became still.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Milwaukee.”
Layla put down her cup.
Matteo looked at her.
“She has been living under the name Nora Collins with a man connected to Rossi Maritime.”
Dominic’s eyes became deadly.
“Bring her here.”
“We already have men on the way.”
“No.”
Layla interrupted.
Both men looked at her.
“Do not bring her here.”
Dominic frowned.
“She is a witness.”
“This hospital is supposed to be secure.”
“It is.”
“Then do not bring someone connected to Moretti and Rossi directly to us.”
Matteo nodded slowly.
“She is correct.”
Dominic looked irritated by the frequency with which Matteo agreed with Layla.
“Take Nora to another location,” Layla said. “Question her there.”
Dominic considered.
“Do it.”
Matteo left.
Several hours later, the contractions stopped completely.
The doctor wanted Layla hospitalized for observation.
Dominic agreed before the doctor finished speaking.
Layla argued.
Dominic ignored her.
The argument ended only when the obstetrician said, “Mrs. Bennett, I agree with him.”
Dominic looked unbearably pleased.
“I dislike both of you,” Layla muttered.
That afternoon, Matteo sent a secure video recording.
Nora appeared on the screen.
She looked exhausted and terrified.
Dominic played the interview.
“I never wanted anyone hurt,” Nora said.
Matteo’s recorded voice answered.
“You sold a pregnant woman’s medical information.”
“I sold it to Celeste.”
Layla’s stomach tightened.
Dominic’s expression did not move.
On the screen, Nora began crying.
“She offered fifty thousand dollars. She said she needed proof because she believed Mr. Gallo was sleeping with the maid.”
“Did you know who the father was?”
“No. Not at first.”
“When did you know?”
“After I gave her the clinic form.”
Nora wiped her face.
“Celeste asked me about the masquerade gala. She wanted to know whether Layla had worked that night.”
Dominic leaned closer to the screen.
Nora continued.
“Two days later, Celeste told me to resign.”
“Why?”
“She said someone would eventually ask questions.”
“Did she mention Moretti?”
Nora hesitated.
“Yes.”
Layla’s skin turned cold.
“She said the Morettis would make certain Layla disappeared after the children were born.”
Dominic stopped the recording.
Silence.
Layla whispered.
“After the children were born.”
He looked at her.
“They were never planning to kill me during the pregnancy.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Dominic’s face became pale with rage.
Matteo’s voice continued when the recording resumed.
“What were they planning?”
Nora sobbed.
“I do not know everything.”
“What do you know?”
“Celeste said Dominic needed an heir.”
Layla covered her mouth.
Nora continued.
“She said once the babies were born, the mother would become unnecessary.”
Dominic shut off the video.
The room became silent except for the heartbeat monitors.
One twin.
Then the other.
Fast.
Alive.
Dominic stood.
“I am going to kill her.”
Layla caught his hand.
“Dominic.”
“She planned to take our children.”
“We do not know the entire plan.”
“I know enough.”
“No.”
He looked at her as if she had gone insane.
Layla forced herself to remain calm.
“If you kill Celeste now, Victor Rossi declares war.”
“I do not care.”
“You should.”
“Why?”
“Because war creates more men with guns outside our children’s bedroom.”
Dominic froze.
His own argument returned to him.
Layla continued.
“Celeste believed I was disposable.”
“Yes.”
“Then let her continue believing we do not understand everything.”
His anger shifted.
Toward calculation.
“What are you suggesting?”
“We find out why Moretti and Rossi wanted your heirs alive.”
Dominic stared at her.
Then a slow, dangerous understanding entered his face.
“They were not targeting the twins.”
“No.”
Layla looked toward the monitor.
“They wanted them.”
Dominic sat again.
His hand covered hers.
For the first time, fear became something colder.
Because an enemy who wanted to kill his children was simple.
May you like
An enemy who wanted to possess them had a plan.
And somewhere inside Chicago, that plan was still unfolding.
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