Chapter 8 - The Baby Who Came Too Soon
The ambulance ride became the longest twelve minutes of Nico Bellandi’s life.
Nora was terrified.
She hid it behind sarcasm until the contractions became too strong.
At the hospital, doctors confirmed premature labor.
They tried medication.
For several hours, it seemed to work.
Nico remained beside her.
“You don't have to stay,” Nora whispered.
“Yes, I do.”
“Because it's your baby?”
“Because it's you.”
She looked away.
That answer frightened her more than the wrong one.
By afternoon, labor progressed.
The baby was coming.
Nora squeezed Nico’s hand so hard his knuckles turned white.
He didn't complain.
Seven hours later, their son entered the world with a tiny cry.
Then nurses carried him away.
Nora panicked.
“Why isn't he here?”
The neonatologist explained.
Premature.
Small.
Breathing assistance needed.
But stable.
Stable became the most beautiful word Nora had ever heard.
They named him Daniel.
Not because blood made Daniel Ellis his grandfather.
Because love did.
Nico cried when he saw his son through the NICU glass.
Nora pretended not to notice.
Later, Viviana arrived with flowers.
“You look terrible.”
Nora laughed.
“You're supposed to compliment new mothers.”
“I don't lie.”
She leaned over and kissed Nora’s forehead.
That shocked them both.
Viviana had formally ended her engagement to Nico.
The tabloids called it scandal.
She called it Tuesday.
Vittorio visited next.
He apologized.
Not elegantly.
Not sufficiently.
But sincerely.
Nora told him forgiveness would take time.
He accepted it.
Then he gave her something.
Daniel Ellis’s watch.
“I kept it thirty-two years.”
Nora held it against her chest and cried.
For three days, life became almost ordinary.
NICU updates.
Coffee.
Sleep deprivation.
Nico learning how tiny diapers worked.
Then a detective entered Nora’s hospital room.
Marco had escaped custody during transport.
Nico immediately stood.
The detective continued.
Marco had left something behind.
A voice recording.
It was addressed to Nora.
She played it.
“Nora, you think this ends with me. It doesn't. Ask Nico what happened in Florence six years ago.”
Nora looked at Nico.
He became still.
“What happened in Florence?”
“Nora—”
“No more secrets.”
Nico sat down.
Six years earlier, he had infiltrated a Meridian operation in Florence.
He had helped federal authorities dismantle part of the network.
Someone died.
A young woman.
Marco’s sister.
Nico had believed she was part of Meridian.
She wasn't.
She had been an informant.
Marco blamed him.
“That is why this became personal,” Nico said.
Nora stared at him.
“You knew Marco?”
“Not until tonight.”
She believed him.
That realization surprised her.
Trust had returned quietly.
Not completely.
But enough.
Nico reached for her hand.
A nurse rushed into the room.
“Ms. Ellis?”
Nora stood.
“What happened?”
“It's Daniel.”
Her heart stopped.
They ran toward the NICU.
Daniel’s incubator was empty.
A security badge lay on the mattress.
On its back someone had written:
May you like
COME ALONE, NORA.
OR YOU NEVER SEE YOUR SON AGAIN.
