Chapter 1 - THE PHONE CALL THAT DESTROYED HIS WORLD
Three months after I divorced the only woman I'd ever loved, a hospital called at 10:03 P.M. to tell me she'd been found unconscious with a serious head injury. I was Nico Marchetti, Chicago's most feared mafia boss, a man who controlled more than eight hundred armed men and had never allowed anyone to see him afraid. But when the nurse revealed that my ex-wife was sixteen weeks pregnant, the bourbon glass slipped from my hand and shattered. The baby was mine—and the last thing I'd told Elena before our divorce was that our entire marriage had been a lie.
My name is Nico Marchetti. I'm thirty-nine, and for six years, Elena Brooks was the only person who could make me forget the dangerous world I controlled.
Three months earlier, I'd destroyed our marriage with a single sentence.
Now I was sitting in my private office forty-three floors above downtown Chicago, listening to six associates argue over money, territory, and a missing shipment.
Outside, snow swept across Lake Shore Drive.
Then my phone rang.
“Mr. Marchetti? This is Amanda Lewis from St. Matthew Medical Center. You're listed as the emergency contact for Elena Brooks.”
My hand stopped halfway toward my bourbon.
“Elena Marchetti,” I corrected automatically.
“Sir, her identification says Elena Brooks.”
Of course it did.
She'd taken back her maiden name the day after our divorce became final. I'd kept wearing my wedding ring beneath my glove, where nobody could see it.
“What happened?”
“She was brought in unconscious approximately forty minutes ago.”
My chest tightened.
“Is she alive?”
“Yes, but she sustained a significant head injury.”
I gripped the desk.
Then the nurse asked a question that made the entire room disappear.
“Mr. Marchetti, were you aware that Ms. Brooks is pregnant?”
The glass slipped from my hand.
It shattered against the hardwood floor.
Nobody moved.
“How far along?”
“Approximately sixteen weeks.”
Sixteen.
I calculated immediately.
Our child had been conceived before the divorce.
Before Elena sat across from me in that courthouse conference room, crying so hard she dropped her pen twice.
Before she looked into my eyes and whispered, “Was any of it real, Nico?”
And before I gave her the cruelest answer of my life.
“No.”
I'd watched her face collapse.
Then I'd let her walk away.
Now she was carrying our baby.
“Is the child alive?” I demanded.
“The fetal heartbeat is currently stable.”
“Currently?”
“Sir, please come to the hospital.”
I grabbed my coat.
My younger sister, Ava, stood near the fireplace.
“Nico? What's happened?”
“Elena's unconscious. She's in the hospital.”
Ava covered her mouth.
Then I told her.
“She's sixteen weeks pregnant.”
Her eyes widened.
“Does that mean—”
“It's mine.”
“You can't know that.”
I turned toward her.
“Elena never betrayed me, Ava. Not once.”
I remembered our final night together, her sleeping against my chest while I held her close, knowing I was about to destroy the only happiness I'd ever trusted.
Eleven minutes later, four black SUVs stopped outside the emergency entrance.
My security men followed as I rushed inside.
A nurse approached.
“Mr. Marchetti?”
“Where is my wife?”
“Sir, your ex-wife is undergoing imaging.”
Ex-wife.
The word hit harder than any bullet ever had.
Then a physician stepped into the hallway.
“I'm Dr. Karen Whitmore.”
I moved toward her.
“What happened to Elena?”
Her expression was serious.
And as I waited for her answer, I realized something terrifying.
For the first time in my life, I had all the power in Chicago—and absolutely no power to protect the two people who mattered most....The entire story is in the comment and Comment "Wow" if you want to read the full story
Dr. Whitmore glanced at the four security guards standing behind me.
“Mr. Marchetti, I need you to lower your voice.”
I hadn't realized I was shouting.
“Where is she?”
“Elena was found unconscious near a parking structure in the South Loop. Emergency personnel reported a head injury, bruising, and possible signs of a struggle.”
The hallway tilted.
“A struggle?”
“We don't yet know exactly what happened.”
“Was she attacked?”
“That is being investigated. Right now our priority is treating her.”
I swallowed.
“And the baby?”
“The fetal heartbeat is reassuring at present. But Elena's condition requires careful monitoring.”
I looked through the glass doors toward the trauma area.
Somewhere beyond them, the woman I'd once promised to protect was lying unconscious.
And she was carrying my child.
“Can I see her?”
“Not until the team has completed its immediate assessment.”
I nodded.
Then stopped.
“Does she have anyone else listed?”
Dr. Whitmore consulted her notes.
“Her sister-in-law, Ava Marchetti.”
Ava stepped forward.
“I'm here.”
The doctor looked relieved.
“Elena kept your number as well.”
Ava covered her mouth.
Three months earlier, Elena had left my mansion, returned every expensive gift I'd ever given her, and disappeared from my daily life.
But she'd kept my sister as an emergency contact.
And somehow, she'd kept me.
I looked toward the ceiling.
For the first time in years, I wanted to pray.
I didn't remember how.
Ava took my arm.
“Nico.”
I looked at her.
“Sit down.”
“I can't.”
“You haven't stopped moving since we arrived.”
I shook my head.
“If someone hurt her—”
Ava's grip tightened.
“Then the police will investigate. You are not going to turn this hospital into another battlefield.”
I stared at her.
She didn't look away.
“You already hurt Elena once because you decided you knew what was best for her.”
The words struck harder than I expected.
Ava continued.
“Don't do it again.”
I sat.
An hour passed.
Then another.
At 12:41 a.m., Dr. Whitmore returned.
“Elena has regained some responsiveness.”
I stood immediately.
“Can I see her?”
“She's being monitored closely. We can discuss a brief visit when she's ready, but I need to tell you something first.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“The circumstances of her injury are unclear. Someone contacted the hospital claiming to be her husband and requested access to her room.”
I stared.
“I didn't call.”
“I know.”
Ava went pale.
The doctor continued.
“The caller gave a different name.”
My pulse accelerated.
“What name?”
She checked her notes.
“Daniel Cross.”
I stopped breathing.
Daniel Cross.
My former financial director.
The man who'd vanished three months earlier after I discovered evidence that someone inside my organization had been moving money through unauthorized accounts.
The man whose betrayal had forced me into the decision that destroyed my marriage.
He was supposed to be in Europe.
Instead, he was in Chicago.
And now he was asking where Elena lay unconscious.
My phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Elena standing outside a grocery store that afternoon.
One hand rested protectively against her stomach.
Beneath it was a message.
YOU DIVORCED HER. THAT DOESN'T MEAN SHE'S SAFE.
I stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
ASK YOUR SISTER WHAT SHE KNEW.
Slowly, I turned toward Ava.
Her face had gone white.
May you like
And for the first time, I understood that the lie I'd told Elena in the courthouse might not be the only lie destroying our family.
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