Chapter 3 - The Reunion
The walk down the pristine hospital corridor felt exactly like a highly terrifying death march.
Silas walked closely behind me, his heavy footsteps serving as a constant reminder that escape was completely impossible.
I held Chloe’s hand so tightly that her small fingers started to turn slightly pale.
Two massive mob enforcers wearing dark sunglasses quickly opened the heavy double doors to the intensive care unit.
The room was filled with the rhythmic beeping of expensive medical monitors and the sharp smell of harsh antiseptic.
Lying in the center of the room, connected to a dozen plastic medical tubes, was David Carter.
He looked incredibly pale and physically exhausted, but his dark, calculating aura still filled the entire room.
When he turned his head and saw me standing in the doorway, the heart monitor beside his bed immediately spiked.
"Natasha," he breathed out, his voice hoarse and raspy from the heavy surgical intubation tube.
"You vanished without a single trace eight years ago, and now you suddenly appear to save my life."
I swallowed the massive lump of pure fear forming rapidly in my dry throat.
"I only did it because it was the right thing to do, David," I replied, refusing to step any closer to his hospital bed.
David tried to sit up, wincing in severe pain as his fresh abdominal stitches pulled incredibly tightly.
His piercing blue eyes scanned my face meticulously before slowly drifting downward toward the floor.
He finally noticed the small, terrified eight-year-old girl hiding completely behind my long winter coat.
The most feared mafia boss in Chicago completely stopped breathing for a prolonged, incredibly agonizing second.
He stared directly at Chloe's striking blue eyes, seeing a perfect mirror image of his own terrifying gaze.
Silas stepped boldly into the sterile room and tossed a printed medical document onto the foot of David's bed.
"The rapid DNA results just came back from the lab, boss," Silas announced with an incredibly grim expression.
"The blood type is a flawless match, and the genetic markers confirm she is officially your biological daughter."
David stared at me, a dangerous storm of absolute betrayal and profound awe brewing wildly in his eyes.
"You stole my child from me," he whispered, his voice vibrating with a terrifying, quiet fury.
"You hid my own flesh and blood for eight years while I tore this entire city apart looking for you."
I opened my mouth to defend myself, desperately wanting to scream that I did it to protect her from his violent world.
Before I could utter a single defensive word, the bright fluorescent lights in the hospital room suddenly flickered and died.
The emergency backup generators failed instantly, plunging the entire intensive care unit into pitch-black darkness.
A deafening explosion rocked the southern wing of the hospital, violently shaking the solid floor beneath our feet.
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David ripped the IV needles completely out of his arm and shouted a chilling warning into the dark room.
"The Romanos are here."
