Chapter 1 - The Joke That Silenced the Café
“Well, someone certainly let herself go.”
Derek Mitchell delivered the insult across the crowded downtown café, his new girlfriend wrapped around his arm and laughing before anyone else decided whether it was funny.
Chloe Bennett slowly raised her eyes from her chamomile tea.
Derek stood beside her table in a tight designer polo, wearing the smug expression he had perfected during the final year of their engagement. Britney Hayes—the twenty-two-year-old spin instructor he had called “just a friend”—looked Chloe up and down with open satisfaction.
“Wow,” Britney said. “I almost didn’t recognize you.”
Derek leaned his knuckles against the table. “She means you got fat. I guess the breakup hit harder than you expected.”
Two women at the next table covered their smiles. A man near the pastry case glanced over, then quickly looked away.
Chloe’s hand moved beneath her oversized cream sweater and rested against the gentle curve of her stomach.
Four months pregnant.
The baby was not Derek’s.
The father was Dominic Russo, the most feared and protected crime boss in Chicago.
“I’m healthier than I’ve ever been,” Chloe said.
Derek laughed. “Sure. Whatever helps you sleep.”
He turned to leave, but his gaze dropped toward the hand beneath her sweater.
For half a second, his smile vanished.
Then it returned.
“Come on, Brit. The air over here is depressing.”
They walked toward the counter while the café slowly resumed its conversations.
Chloe finished neither her tea nor the pastry beside it. She buttoned her coat and stepped into the cold Sunday rain.
She had an appointment with Dr. Miller at a private clinic outside the city. She had chosen the office because it promised discretion, separate entrances, and patient records that could not be accessed through the major hospital network.
She had not told Dominic about the baby.
Their night together had happened after a coordinated attack at the Starlight Charity Gala. They had spent six hours trapped in a private study while gunmen searched the hotel.
Fear, adrenaline, and loneliness had turned into something reckless.
By sunrise, Chloe had left.
She never expected to see him again.
At the clinic, Dr. Miller studied the ultrasound monitor and smiled.
“The baby looks perfect.”
Chloe stared at the small moving shape on the screen. Every time she saw it, the rest of the world became quiet.
“Would you like to know the sex?”
“Not yet.”
He wiped the gel from her stomach and lowered his voice.
“Have you decided whether to contact the father?”
“No.”
“Chloe, I won’t pressure you. But someone called this office yesterday asking whether you were a patient.”
Her body stiffened.
“Who?”
“They claimed to be your fiancé.”
“I don’t have a fiancé.”
Dr. Miller’s expression became serious. “My receptionist refused to confirm anything. The man became aggressive.”
“Did he give a name?”
“No. But he called back from three different numbers.”
Chloe reached for her phone.
Before she could unlock it, the clinic door opened.
A large man in a charcoal suit entered, followed by two others.
Chloe recognized the first man immediately.
Luca Moretti, Dominic Russo’s chief of security.
He looked at the ultrasound screen, then at Chloe’s stomach.
For the first time since she had met him, Luca appeared genuinely stunned.
“Ms. Bennett,” he said carefully. “Mr. Russo needs to know about this.”
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
“No, he doesn’t.”
May you like
Luca’s expression hardened.
“He does now. Someone put a price on the mother of his child.”
