Chapter 4 - The Breach
Marcus didn’t hesitate. Years of street warfare and close-quarters combat trained him to read micro-expressions better than any textbook. The split-second hesitation in Sloan’s eyes was his green light.
With explosive speed, Marcus lunged sideways, tackling the guard on the right into the concrete wall. The guard’s assault rifle discharged, the bullet shattering a overhead water pipe that instantly unleashed a high-pressure spray of freezing water across the corridor.
At the exact same moment, Roman raised his 9mm and fired two rapid shots.
Thud. Thud.
The second tactical guard crumpled to the floor before he could squeeze his trigger.
Dr. Sloan shrieked, his finger slipping off the remote as he scrambled backward toward the open door of Storage 402. The silver remote clattered onto the wet concrete.
“Get him!” Roman roared, diving forward and grabbing Sloan by the collar of his turtleneck, slamming him hard against the reinforced steel door.
“You can’t do this!” Sloan gasped, clutching at Roman’s grip as water rained down from the broken pipe overhead. “Victor will hunt you down! He has half the police department on his payroll!”
“Let him try,” Roman snarled, pressing the barrel of his pistol directly beneath Sloan’s chin. “Where is my son?”
Sloan, shaking with terror, pointed a trembling finger at the keypad. “The code... it’s four-zero-two-eight. Just punch it in!”
Roman kept his eyes locked on Sloan while Marcus stepped up to the keypad, punching in the digits. With a mechanical clack, the heavy steel door unlocked and swung inward.
Elena was the first to rush inside.
The room wasn’t a storage closet at all. It had been converted into a high-tech medical nursery. Banked monitors hummed softly against the far wall, and in the center sat a modern, pristine incubator.
Inside lay a tiny infant.
Elena rushed to the incubator, her hands trembling as she unlocked the side port and gently touched the baby’s left foot.
She traced her finger over the second toe.
It curved inward, exactly like the footprint on the original hospital intake card.
“Mr. Bellaro,” Elena whispered, tears welling in her eyes as she lifted the tiny baby out of the incubator and wrapped him in a soft flannel blanket. “It’s him. It’s Nico.”
Roman released Sloan, letting the doctor collapse into a heap on the wet floor. Roman walked slowly into the room, his boots splashing in the puddles. He stopped in front of Elena, staring down at the tiny bundle in her arms.
The baby had a tuft of dark hair, and as Roman reached out with a massive, calloused hand to gently touch the infant’s cheek, the baby stirred, letting out a soft, healthy cry.
“Nico,” Roman whispered, his voice cracking for the first time in his life. He gently pulled the blanket back, seeing the familiar double-looped red thread tied around the infant’s tiny wrist—the one Lucia had made with her own hands.
The overwhelming wave of relief and fury crashed over him simultaneously. His son was alive. But the man who had tried to steal him—his own cousin—was still sitting in a penthouse suite downtown, believing his plan had succeeded.
Marcus hauled Dr. Sloan into the room by his collar, tossing him onto the floor like a sack of garbage.
“Boss, what do we do with him?” Marcus asked, wiping a streak of blood from his cheek.
May you like
Roman looked down at Sloan, then turned to Elena, who cradled the baby securely against her chest.
“Call an ambulance from an outside line, Marcus,” Roman said coldly, his eyes turning dark as obsidian. “And tell the rest of the captains that the family meeting has been moved up to tonight. We’re going to pay a visit to my cousin.”
