Chapter 5 - The Shadow War
Three days later, Matteo and Isabella were cleared for discharge. But they didn't go back to Isabella’s luxury townhouse in the Gold Coast.
Instead, a convoy of four black armored SUVs waited in the hospital’s private basement bay. Lauren found herself packed into the middle vehicle, sitting beside Isabella, who was holding Matteo like he was made of spun glass.
Isabella was beautiful, with the same dark eyes as her brother, but her face was lined with a profound, exhausted grief. Her husband, a captain in the Cassano organization, had been killed in an ambush three months before Matteo’s birth.
"Thank you," Isabella whispered to Lauren as the convoy pulled out into the gray Chicago rain. "Alessandro told me what you did. He said you stood up to fifteen men with guns and degrees to save my boy."
"I just did my job," Lauren said gently, checking the baby’s oxygen saturation on a portable monitor she had brought along.
"No," Isabella said, her voice fierce. "In our world, people only do what they are paid to do, or what they are afraid not to do. You did it because you cared. That makes you dangerous to our enemies, Lauren. And precious to us."
The convoy drove north, far out of the city limits, entering a massive, heavily fortified estate on the shores of Lake Michigan. The property was surrounded by a ten-foot stone wall, topped with security cameras and patrolled by men with guard dogs. It was a beautiful prison.
Lauren was assigned a massive suite next to the nursery. Her life transformed overnight. The fifty thousand dollars had cleared her debts completely, but her freedom was gone. She couldn't leave the estate without a four-man security detail. She couldn't call her friends. Her phone was encrypted and monitored by Marcus.
But as the days turned into weeks, Lauren began to see a different side of the Cassano family.
She watched Alessandro come into the nursery every evening at midnight, after the bloody business of his day was done. He would shed his heavy coat, thoroughly wash his hands, and sit in the rocking chair, holding Matteo against his chest. He would stay there for hours in absolute silence, watching the boy breathe.
"You look tired, Mr. Cassano," Lauren said one evening, stepping into the nursery to check the baby’s temperature.
"The Moretti family is getting desperate," Alessandro said, his voice quiet so as not to wake the infant. "They are losing their grip on the river terminals. They are the ones who paid the technician at the hospital. They thought if they killed Isabella’s son, it would break her. It would break me."
"Did you find the technician?" Lauren asked, instantly regretting the question.
Alessandro looked up at her, the moonlight from the window cutting across his sharp jaw. "He was found in the river two mornings ago, Miss Hayes. In my world, we don't call the police. We close the account."
Lauren took a step back, a chill running down her spine. "He had a family, probably."
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"He took money to murder a three-hour-old infant," Alessandro said, his voice dropping to a freezing whisper as he stood up, carefully laying the sleeping baby into his crib. He walked over to Lauren, his presence overwhelming in the small room. "Do not waste your sympathy on monsters, Lauren. You are here because you are a healer. Let me handle the rot."
He reached out, his hand hovering over her shoulder for a fraction of a second before he dropped it. "Go to sleep, Lauren. The house is secure."
