Chapter 5 - Blood in the Nursery
The door pushed open slowly.
Hazel flinched, bracing herself, but it was Dominic who stepped back into the nursery.
His knuckles were grazed and bleeding slightly, and a faint smear of dark blood stained the cuff of his silk robe, but his expression was as calm and collected as if he had just stepped back from a business meeting.
“It’s handled,” Dominic said quietly, slipping his gun back into his pocket.
“Who—who was it?” Hazel asked, her voice trembling despite her best efforts to keep it steady.
“A scout sent by the Moretti syndicate,” Dominic replied coldly, walking over to the intercom panel on the wall and pressing a button. “Vance, clean up the hallway on the second floor. Dump the trash outside the perimeter and double the night patrols.”
“On it, boss,” Vance’s voice crackled back over the speaker.
Dominic turned back around, walking over to the floor where Hazel knelt with his son. He knelt down beside them, his dark eyes sweeping over Hazel and the baby to ensure neither of them had a scratch.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, his voice softening noticeably when he looked at her.
“No,” Hazel whispered, shaking her head. “I’m fine. But Dominic... this is real. This isn't just a rich man’s dispute. If they can get into your estate this easily—”
“They got in because someone on my outer security detail took a bribe,” Dominic interrupted, his jaw tight with suppressed rage. “That leak has already been permanently plugged. But it proves a point you made earlier: a fortress isn't enough.”
He reached out, his warm, calloused hand gently brushing a stray lock of hair away from Hazel’s forehead. The touch was so tender, so completely out of character for a mafia boss, that Hazel froze.
“When I brought you onto that yacht,” Dominic murmured, his voice dropping an octave, “I thought I was just hiring someone to keep my son quiet. I didn't realize... I didn't expect you to become the anchor for both of us.”
Hazel looked up into his eyes, seeing past the syndicate boss, past the danger and the blood, right into the lonely, exhausted father who had been carrying the weight of an empire entirely alone.
“You don't have to carry it all by yourself, Dominic,” Hazel whispered.
Before Dominic could reply, the secure phone in his pocket buzzed violently.
He pulled it out, glanced at the encrypted screen, and his face instantly hardened into absolute stone.
“What is it?” Hazel asked, sensing the shift in the air.
“The Moretti vanguard is moving on our primary shipping terminal in Miami,” Dominic said, standing up smoothly and reverting instantly back to the syndicate king. “They think tonight’s breach was a sign of weakness. They’re wrong.”
He looked down at Hazel, who was still kneeling on the nursery floor with his son.
“Vance and two trusted teams will secure this entire wing. No one enters, no one leaves until I return,” Dominic commanded. He turned toward the door, then paused, looking back over his shoulder. “Hazel... if anything happens to me tonight... the offshore accounts are locked in your name. You and Maya will be untouchable.”
“Don't talk like that,” Hazel said fiercely, standing up with Leo in her arms. “You come back. You hear me? You come back and tell me yourself.”
A rare, fierce smile touched Dominic’s lips.
May you like
“I always keep my promises, Hazel.”
Then he walked out of the room, closing the heavy mahogany doors behind him, marching straight into the war he had been preparing for his entire life.
