Chapter 2 - The Secret Dominic Was Never Supposed to Learn
Luca moved Chloe into an interior consultation room while one of his men checked the hallway.
Dr. Miller closed the blinds. “What do you mean, someone put a price on her?”
“A photograph of Ms. Bennett leaving this clinic was sent to a private security channel this morning,” Luca said. “The message asked for confirmation of pregnancy and information about the father.”
Chloe felt the room narrowing around her.
“Who sent it?”
“We’re still tracing it.”
“How did you find me?”
“The photograph was flagged because Mr. Russo ordered continued protection for everyone who survived the Starlight attack.”
“I haven’t seen security around me.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
That answer did not comfort her.
Chloe folded her arms over her stomach. “Dominic and I spent one night together. That does not give him ownership over my life.”
“No one said it did.”
“You’re about to take me to him.”
“I’m about to keep you alive.”
Twenty minutes later, Chloe sat inside a black SUV moving toward River North. The city passed outside in gray streaks of rain and glass.
Dominic’s headquarters occupied the upper floors of an old brick building overlooking the Chicago River. The lower floors held legitimate law offices, investment firms, and a private restaurant that never advertised.
Dominic was waiting in his office.
He stood behind a broad walnut desk, wearing a black suit with no tie. His dark hair was slightly longer than Chloe remembered. A thin scar crossed one knuckle.
His eyes moved from her face to the protective curve of her arms.
“How far along?”
She hated that her voice shook.
“Sixteen weeks.”
The calculation appeared in his expression.
“The gala.”
“Yes.”
Dominic looked away, gripping the back of his chair.
Chloe had imagined anger, suspicion, or a cold demand for proof.
She had not expected him to look wounded.
“You were never going to tell me.”
“I was trying to decide what kind of life I could give this child.”
“And you decided I should not be part of it.”
“I decided I didn’t want my baby raised around guns, threats, and men who follow orders because they’re afraid of you.”
His eyes returned to hers. “That is fair.”
The simple answer disarmed her.
Dominic came around the desk but stopped several feet away.
“I will ask for a paternity test when it is medically safe. Until then, I will treat the child as mine. I will not touch you, move you, or make decisions for you without permission.”
“Then let me leave.”
“No.”
Her anger flared. “You just said—”
“Someone is hunting information about you. Until I know who, leaving this building alone is not a decision. It is a risk.”
Luca entered and placed a tablet on the desk.
“We traced the photograph,” he said. “It was taken by a private investigator hired through Mitchell Development.”
Chloe went still.
“Derek’s company?”
Dominic studied her face. “Your former fiancé.”
“Yes.”
Luca swiped to another image.
Derek stood outside the clinic parking lot, speaking to a man Chloe recognized from the Starlight Gala’s temporary security crew.
Dominic’s expression became frighteningly calm.
“That man helped the shooters enter the hotel.”
Chloe remembered Derek’s eyes dropping to her stomach in the café. The brief disappearance of his smile.
He had not been surprised by her weight.
He had been confirming something.
Dominic reached for his coat.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“To speak with your ex.”
“No.”
He stopped.
“If Derek is involved, I want answers before you frighten him into disappearing.”
Dominic looked at her for several seconds.
Then he returned his coat to the chair.
“All right.”
Chloe had expected the city’s most dangerous man to ignore her.
May you like
Instead, he sat down.
“Tell me how you want to do this.”
