Chapter 5 - Fire in the Snow
The winter storm of late January was the worst Chicago had seen in a decade.
Sub-zero temperatures locked the city in an icy grip, turning Lake Michigan into a jagged expanse of white ice. Snow piled four feet high along the curbs, paralyzing public transport and trapping most citizens inside their homes.
Inside the Castiglione penthouse on Gold Coast, however, the atmosphere was warm and filled with the scent of pine, cinnamon, and roasting meat.
Mia was thirty-four weeks pregnant now. Her belly was a proud, beautiful curve that Leo adored. Every evening, no matter how chaotic his dark empire was, Leo would sit beside her on the sofa for an hour, resting his head against her stomach, talking softly to their growing daughter.
He had officially filed adoption papers to claim the baby legally as his own the moment she was born. Her name was already decided: Sophia Castiglione.
"You're quiet tonight," Mia murmured, running her fingers through Leo’s thick dark hair as he sat on the floor beside her chair.
Leo looked up, his dark eyes reflective in the firelight.
The Moretti war had been brought to a swift, brutal end three weeks prior. Dominic Moretti had surrendered his territories and fled to Florida after Leo dismantled his entire enforcement network in a single night. Chicago was entirely under Castiglione rule now.
"I was thinking," Leo said softly, "about how close I came to never walking into that store on a Tuesday afternoon."
"You came every week," Mia smiled softly. "For four months."
"Because I was afraid," Leo admitted—a confession that would have shocked anyone in the underworld. "I was afraid that if I brought you into my world, the darkness would touch you. I thought I was protecting you by staying in the shadows."
"And now?" Mia asked, reaching down to tilt his chin up.
"Now I know that you are the only thing keeping the darkness away from me," Leo whispered.
Suddenly, Mia’s body went rigid.
A sharp, violent gasp tore from her throat. She dropped her tea glass, which shattered against the marble hearth. Her hands clutched the sides of her stomach as a massive, agonizing contraction ripped through her lower abdomen.
"Mia!" Leo was on his feet in a fraction of a second, catching her as she gasped for air. "Mia, what is it?!"
"Leo..." Mia panted, her face instantly turning pale with sweat. "The... the baby... my water just broke!"
Leo’s heart hit his chest like a battering ram. "Paulie! Declan! Get the Maybach ready NOW!"
"Boss!" Paulie yelled from the hallway, running in with a radio. "The storm just took down the power lines on Michigan Avenue! The streets are completely blocked by jackknifed semi-trucks! The city has issued a red-level emergency travel ban—no vehicles can move!"
Leo didn't waste a second arguing with fate.
He lifted Mia into his arms, wrapping her in her thick fur coat. "Call Dr. Miller! Tell him to meet us at Northwestern Memorial Hospital! If the roads are blocked, we clear them!"
Within two minutes, Leo carried Mia down to the building’s lower lobby.
Outside, the blizzard was howling like a wild beast, blinding snow cutting through the dark night. Three of Leo’s armored SUVs were idling, but fifty yards ahead, Michigan Avenue was a total gridlock of abandoned cars, snowdrifts, and stalled trucks.
"Boss, we can't drive through that!" Declan shouted over the roar of the wind. "The snow banks are five feet high!"
Leo turned his cold, terrifying gaze toward his chief engineer standing near the garage entrance. "Bring out the heavy equipment."
In response to Leo’s command, the massive industrial garage doors at the rear of the building rolled open.
Two massive, commercial snow-plow trucks—custom-fitted with steel cowcatchers and heavy-duty engines that Leo had purchased for his private logistics docks—roared to life.
"Lead the way!" Leo roared over the storm. "Ram every abandoned vehicle out of the path! Clear a straight line to Northwestern Memorial! IF MY DAUGHTER IS BORN IN THIS CAR, I WILL FLAY EVERY ONE OF YOU ALIVE!"
The massive snow-plows surged forward into the howling night, their giant steel blades smashing through snowbanks, pushing stalled cars aside like toys, carving an open, roaring corridor straight down the center of Michigan Avenue.
Behind them, the armored Maybach sped through the cleared lane, its red security lights flashing through the white darkness.
Inside the car, Mia was screaming in agony as another massive contraction hit her. She squeezed Leo’s hand so tightly her knuckles turned white.
"Leo! I can't wait!" she wept, tears streaming down her red face. "She's coming! She's coming right now!"
Leo pulled her onto his lap, holding her head against his shoulder, his heart pounding harder than it ever had in his entire life.
"Look at me, Mia!" Leo commanded, his voice trembling with pure emotion. "Look at me, tesoro! Stay with me! We are two minutes away! Breathe for me! Breathe!"
"I love you, Leo!" Mia sobbed, clutching his suit jacket. "I love you!"
May you like
Leo froze for a single beat, his dark eyes filling with hot tears as those three words echoed through his soul.
"I love you," Leo whispered back, pressing his lips passionately against her sweaty forehead. "I have loved you since the second I saw you. Now fight, my queen! Fight for our daughter!"
