Chapter 2 - The Mafia Boss Who Refused to Ignore a Miracle
Roman’s vehicle was not a limousine.
It was a black armored SUV with reinforced windows and two more cars following behind it.
I sat in the middle row with Sofia on my lap.
Leo and Adrian were strapped into car seats beside me.
None of them cried.
Roman sat across from us, watching everything.
He watched the way Sofia held my finger.
He watched Leo lean toward me whenever the SUV turned.
He watched Adrian smile when I whispered his name.
His expression grew darker with every mile.
“How do you know which one is Adrian?” he asked.
I looked at the boy on my right.
“You said their names in the restaurant.”
“You only heard them once.”
“I remembered.”
Roman leaned back.
“And you knew Sofia wanted to be held.”
“She reached for me.”
“She reaches for no one except Mrs. Carver.”
“Who is Mrs. Carver?”
“Their nanny.”
“Where is she?”
Roman’s face closed.
“She disappeared three days ago.”
I tightened my hold on Sofia.
“Disappeared?”
“She left the house without taking her belongings.”
“Did she say why?”
“No.”
“That doesn’t sound like leaving.”
“It wasn’t.”
The SUV passed through a private security gate.
A modern medical building rose ahead of us, its windows glowing against the darkening sky.
“No police?” I asked.
Roman gave me a flat look.
“The Chicago police do not investigate my problems.”
“Because they’re afraid of you?”
“Because some of them work for the people creating them.”
The driver stopped beneath a covered entrance.
Donovan opened my door.
I remained seated.
“What kind of hospital is this?”
“One that values discretion,” Roman said.
“That usually means rich people pay to hide things.”
“It also means no one can alter the test results.”
I looked at the triplets.
“What tests?”
Roman’s eyes held mine.
“DNA.”
The word made my stomach twist.
I handed Sofia to him.
She screamed immediately.
Roman flinched.
I reached back without thinking.
Sofia lunged toward me so hard he nearly lost his grip.
“Careful,” I said.
His eyes flashed.
“I know how to hold my daughter.”
“I didn’t say you didn’t.”
“You thought it.”
“I thought she was going to fall.”
Roman stepped closer.
For one dangerous second, we stood almost chest to chest, each holding one side of the child.
Then Sofia grabbed my hair and Roman’s shirt at the same time.
She pulled us toward each other.
My forehead nearly struck his chin.
Donovan looked away, hiding what might have been a smile.
Roman carefully freed himself.
“She has never done that before,” he said.
“Done what?”
“Pulled someone closer.”
The anger left his voice.
I took Sofia back.
Inside, a doctor was waiting near the elevator.
He was in his fifties, gray-haired, with wire-rim glasses and a white coat that looked freshly pressed.
“Mr. Voss.”
“Dr. Bell.”
The doctor noticed me.
“This is Pamela Hayes?”
I stiffened.
“How do you know my name?”
“Mr. Voss called ahead.”
Roman stepped between us.
“You told me the birth mother disappeared.”
Dr. Bell lowered his voice.
“We should discuss this upstairs.”
“We will discuss it now.”
Nurses passing through the lobby slowed their steps.
Dr. Bell glanced at them.
Roman did not.
“The records provided to us listed the mother as Anna Delaney,” the doctor said.
“That name was false.”
Dr. Bell’s face tightened.
“We did not know that.”
“Who brought the children here?”
“A private medical transport company.”
“Which company?”
“Northbridge Neonatal Services.”
Donovan typed the name into his phone.
His expression shifted.
“That company dissolved thirteen months ago.”
Dr. Bell swallowed.
Roman took one slow step forward.
“Who signed the transfer?”
“I will retrieve the file.”
“You will retrieve everything.”
Dr. Bell nodded quickly and led us into the elevator.
On the third floor, nurses drew blood from me and collected cheek swabs from the babies.
Leo cried when the swab touched his mouth.
I held his face between my palms.
“It’s all right, sweetheart. Just one second.”
He stopped struggling.
The nurse looked at me.
“You’ve done this before.”
“No.”
She glanced at Roman.
“He responds to her as if she has.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
The test would take less than two hours.
We waited in a private room with a couch, television, and a glass wall overlooking the city.
Donovan stood near the door.
Roman remained beside the window.
I sat on the carpet with the triplets.
Adrian stacked wooden blocks.
Leo kept knocking them down.
Sofia climbed into my lap every time I tried to move away.
“What were their first months like?” I asked.
Roman did not answer.
I looked up.
“I deserve to know.”
“We do not know anything yet.”
“You know there’s a chance.”
He turned from the window.
“Yes.”
“Then tell me.”
He stared at me for a long moment.
“They were premature.”
My heart lurched.
“How early?”
“Seven weeks.”
So were mine.
“Leo had trouble breathing,” Roman continued. “Adrian had an infection. Sofia was the smallest.”
I pressed my lips together.
“They were in the hospital for six weeks.”
“Were you there?”
“Every day.”
The answer surprised me.
Roman noticed.
“You assumed I left them with servants.”
“I assumed you were busy threatening people.”
“I can do both.”
Despite everything, a short laugh escaped me.
Roman looked almost offended.
Then, unexpectedly, one corner of his mouth moved.
It disappeared quickly.
“Why did you take them?” I asked.
His face hardened again.
“I did not take them.”
“You suddenly became the father of three children who weren’t biologically yours?”
“I was told they were mine.”
The room went silent.
I slowly stood.
“What?”
Roman looked at Donovan.
The scarred man left the room and closed the door behind him.
Roman waited until we were alone.
“Fourteen months ago, a woman named Elena Markov told me she was pregnant with my children.”
“Was she?”
“We had been together briefly.”
My stomach tightened at the word briefly.
“She disappeared during the pregnancy,” he said. “Then I received a call saying there had been complications. She was dead, but the children survived.”
“And you believed them?”
“There were medical reports. DNA documents.”
“Did you take another test?”
His silence answered me.
“You didn’t.”
“I had no reason to question it.”
“You’re Roman Voss. You question everything.”
Pain flashed behind his eyes.
“Not that.”
I looked at the children.
“Where did you first see them?”
“At St. Catherine’s Hospital.”
My breath stopped.
That was where I had delivered.
Roman saw the recognition.
“You were there.”
I nodded.
“Room 814.”
Roman moved closer.
“The children were kept on the eighth floor.”
My legs weakened.
He caught my elbow before I fell.
His grip was strong but careful.
“Sit down.”
I pulled away.
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
“Then stop collapsing.”
“I’m not collapsing.”
“You’re white as the wall.”
A knock interrupted us.
Donovan entered with a tablet.
“We found Mrs. Carver.”
Roman turned.
“Where?”
“Her car is at the airport, but she never boarded a flight.”
“Phone?”
“Left inside the vehicle.”
I hugged Sofia closer.
“Someone took her.”
Donovan’s eyes met mine.
“That is our assumption.”
“What did she know?”
Roman looked at the children.
“Perhaps too much.”
Another knock sounded.
Dr. Bell entered holding a sealed folder.
His hands were trembling.
Roman saw it.
“What happened?”
The doctor shut the door.
“The preliminary results are complete.”
The room became unnaturally quiet.
Dr. Bell looked at me first.
Then at Roman.
“The children are biological siblings.”
“I know that,” Roman said.
The doctor inhaled.
“All three have a maternal match with Ms. Hayes.”
The floor seemed to shift beneath me.
Sofia pressed her cheek against my chest.
Leo held my apron.
Adrian stared up at my face.
My children.
Alive.
A sob broke from somewhere deep inside me.
I dropped to my knees and pulled all three babies toward me.
“My babies.”
They climbed over each other to reach me.
“Mom,” Leo whispered.
Roman stood motionless.
I looked up at him through tears.
“They’re mine.”
“Yes,” Dr. Bell said.
Roman’s voice was almost too quiet to hear.
“And the paternal results?”
Dr. Bell did not answer.
Roman’s eyes sharpened.
“Doctor.”
Dr. Bell opened the folder.
“Mr. Voss, you are also their biological father.”
No one moved.
Roman stared at me.
I stared back.
“We have never met,” I whispered.
“I know.”
Dr. Bell removed another page.
“There is something else.”
Roman took the document.
His face changed as he read it.
“What is it?” I asked.
He handed the page to Donovan.
Donovan cursed under his breath.
Roman looked at me.
“The hospital did not merely steal your children.”
May you like
His voice was colder than I had ever heard it.
“They used us to create them.”
