SEINE GELIEBTE DEMÜTIGTE SEINE ACHT MONATE SCHWANGERE FRAU UND ZWANG SIE, EINE DIENERUNIFORM ZU TRAGEN – DOCH ALS DER MAFIA-BOSS ENTDECKTE, DASS ER SEINE FRAU UND SEINE UNGEBORENEN ZWILLINGE ZU VERLIEREN HÄTTE, GAB ER EIN VERSPRECHEN AB, DAS GANZ CHICAGO IN ANGST VERZWEIFELTE!

Emily’s hand moved to her stomach. One baby shifted against her palm, then the other. She breathed carefully and listened to the reassuring sounds from the monitors.

“What happens if I refuse?” she asked.

“Then your refusal matters.”

Emily looked toward the closed door. For months she had been told her choices were childish inconveniences. It was unsettling to hear a professional speak about her refusal as something with legal force.

She pulled the blanket closer. “Then I refuse. I refuse the transfer, the custody threats, and the story that I’m too fragile to know what is happening around me.”

Naomi wrote down the words.

At noon, Lucia sent Dante a still image from the house security camera. It showed Vanessa at the bottom of the stairs, gripping Emily’s wrist. Vincent Moretti stood two steps above them, reaching toward Emily’s phone. The timestamp was eleven forty-six.

A second still showed a dark blue folder tucked beneath Vincent’s arm.

Dante stared at the image. He knew the man. Vincent had come to him three times about a redevelopment project near the harbor, and Dante had refused each offer. The third time Vincent had smiled and said he would find a quieter way to make the numbers work.

Dante’s phone rang. A distorted voice said, “If you want to know why Moretti was in your house, look at the property under the Harbor House clinic.”

The call ended before Dante could ask a question.

For the first time, he realized that the assault on Emily might be part of something designed long before she reached the stairs.