Part 2: The Mafia Boss Came to End His Marriage, but the Midwife Said She Was Only Twenty-Nine Weeks Pregnant

The front doors of the estate slammed open, followed by the heavy stamp of boots on hardwood. Four paramedics rushed into the bedroom carrying trauma kits and a portable infant transport pod.

Lucian stepped back, his dark eyes tracking every move the medics made. His hands and forearms were stained with Kate’s blood, his dress shirt ruined, his pulse racing at an erratic cadence.

“Maternal vitals are dropping,” the lead paramedic shouted, wrapping a pressure cuff around Kate’s limp arm. “Blood pressure eighty over forty-five. She’s hemorrhaging. We need two lines running wide open!”

“Kate!” Lucian crossed the room in two strides, but a medic put a hand out to stop him.

Lucian caught the man by the wrist with terrifying speed, his grip tightening until the medic’s face went white. “You touch her with care, or I bury you beneath this mountain. Do you understand me?”

“Lucian, let them work!” Miriam barked, tossing a blood-soaked towel into the basin. “She needs the hospital, and so does that baby. Stand down or get out of the way!”

Lucian released the medic, stepping aside, his jaw ticking with suppressed violence. He pulled his phone from his pocket, dialing with a thumb that trembled despite his iron discipline.

Marco answered on the first ring. “Boss?”

“Code black,” Lucian said, his voice deadly calm. “Clear the road from Hawthorne Ridge to Hudson Valley Regional. I want state police escorts, traffic blocked, and the best neonatal intensive care team in the tri-state area scrubbed and waiting at the bay. If a single red light slows this transport, I will hold you personally responsible.”

“On it. What about the Hawthorne perimeter?”

Lucian’s eyes drifted to the floor near the doorway. The leather folder containing the divorce papers lay trampled, a footprint smearing the cream-colored parchment.

“Lock it down,” Lucian replied coldly. “Nobody enters. Nobody leaves.”

He hung up and followed the gurney down the grand staircase. They had Kate stabilized enough for transport, an oxygen mask over her face. In a separate, sealed transport incubator, the baby lay under blue lights, tiny leads taped to his translucent chest.

Kate’s eyes fluttered open as they rolled her into the chill autumn drizzle outside. She searched the gray gloom until she found Lucian walking beside her.

Her hand lifted weakly from the gurney. He caught it, interlacing his fingers with hers.

“Don't... don't let them take him away from me,” she whispered behind the plastic mask.

“Nobody takes him,” Lucian promised, bending over her so she could see the absolute conviction in his eyes. “Nobody takes either of you. I’m right behind you.”

They loaded her into the lead ambulance. The transport incubator went into the second. Lucian climbed into his black SUV, engine roaring to life before the doors even slammed shut.

As his vehicle tore down the winding gravel driveway behind the flashing red lights, Lucian caught sight of something in his rearview mirror.

A silver sedan sat parked half a mile down the private road, lights off, hidden beneath the pines. The moment the ambulances passed, the sedan flicked its high beams once, executed a sharp three-point turn, and vanished into the fog.