Chapter 6 - What Adrian Never Knew
“Don’t move.”
Adrian’s voice was quiet.
Dominic stopped.
He stood twenty feet away beneath emergency lighting.
No weapon visible.
That did not make him safe.
Emma remained inside the room, one hand pressing the nurse call button.
Nothing happened.
Dominic smiled.
“You think I came here to hurt her?”
“I think you came because you’re desperate.”
“Same thing?”
“For you.”
Dominic glanced toward Emma.
“You look well.”
Emma felt disgust.
“Stay away from me.”
“I tried.”
Adrian’s shoulders tensed.
“For eight months.”
Dominic continued.
“You could have disappeared quietly. Raised the child somewhere else. None of this was necessary.”
Emma stared.
“You destroyed my marriage.”
“No.”
Dominic looked at Adrian.
“He did that himself.”
The words landed because they contained some truth.
Adrian did not deny it.
“I gave you distance,” Dominic told Emma. “That was all. Your husband supplied the fear.”
Emma stepped closer to the doorway.
Adrian glanced back.
“Stay inside.”
“No.”
“Emma—”
“I’m done letting men decide where I stand.”
Adrian went silent.
Dominic actually laughed.
“That’s why Isabella liked you.”
Emma stiffened.
“She didn’t like me.”
“She adored you.”
Adrian looked at his uncle.
“What?”
“Your mother knew Emma was the one person who might convince you to walk away from this family.”
Adrian’s face tightened.
“And you couldn’t allow that.”
“No.”
Finally.
No lie.
Dominic’s smile disappeared.
“Your father built an empire. Your mother tried to dismantle it piece by piece. Then you came along talking about legitimate investments, audits, independent boards.”
Adrian said, “I was cleaning it.”
“You were destroying it.”
“I was making it survivable.”
“You were making us ordinary.”
Adrian almost smiled.
“That was the point.”
Dominic looked genuinely offended.
“You had everything.”
“No. We had money.”
“You say that as if there is a difference.”
“There is.”
Adrian looked at Emma.
She understood what he meant.
Money had not saved their marriage.
Power had not protected his brother.
Fear had not protected Emma.
Dominic took one step closer.
Adrian immediately moved.
“Stop.”
Dominic did.
“You’ve always been soft.”
“Maybe.”
“That woman made you softer.”
Adrian looked at Emma again.
“Yes.”
Dominic shook his head.
“And now a daughter.”
Something in his voice changed.
Emma heard it.
Adrian did too.
“You will never touch her.”
Dominic smiled.
“I don’t need to.”
The fire alarm began to ring.
Emma jumped.
Smoke seeped under the far doors.
Adrian looked toward it.
Dominic moved.
Not toward Emma.
Toward a stairwell.
Adrian started after him.
Then stopped.
Old Adrian would have chased.
He turned toward Emma instead.
That single decision changed everything.
“Come on.”
He helped her into the hallway.
Nurses emerged from side rooms.
Backup lights illuminated exit signs.
The security system had been sabotaged, but the hospital’s independent fire controls opened the opposite stairwell.
Adrian stayed beside Emma.
Not ahead.
Not behind.
Beside.
They descended one flight slowly.
Emma was breathing hard.
“Contraction?”
“No.”
Another step.
Then she froze.
Adrian turned.
“What?”
Emma looked down.
Fluid spread across the front of her dress.
“Oh.”
Adrian stared.
Emma almost laughed at his expression.
“My water broke.”
“What?”
“My water broke.”
“Now?”
“Yes, Adrian. I scheduled it specifically for your convenience.”
For the first time in twenty minutes, he looked terrified.
Real terror.
“Doctor!”
Emma grabbed his sleeve.
“Indoor voice.”
“We’re in a stairwell!”
“I noticed.”
A nurse reached them.
Within minutes Emma was transferred to another secured wing.
Labor had begun.
Five weeks early.
Dr. Greene arrived.
The baby’s heartbeat was stable.
Emma’s contractions intensified.
Outside, police secured the building.
Dominic had escaped during the alarm.
But Castillo now had enough evidence for a nationwide warrant.
Emma did not care.
For the first time, Dominic became secondary.
Her daughter was coming.
Adrian stayed near the wall.
“You can leave,” Emma told him during a contraction.
“I’m not leaving unless you tell me to.”
“I just did.”
He looked stricken.
Emma almost smiled.
“I meant the room. For ten minutes.”
“Oh.”
He stepped out.
Rachel entered.
She held Emma’s hand.
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“I thought I had another month.”
“Babies don’t care about calendars.”
Emma laughed weakly.
Then another contraction hit.
Hours passed.
Labor progressed slowly.
Adrian remained outside unless invited in.
Finally, shortly after midnight, Emma asked for him.
He entered immediately.
His jacket was gone.
Sleeves rolled.
Hair disordered.
The feared Adrian Moretti looked like every frightened father who had ever stood helpless beside a hospital bed.
“Come here.”
He did.
Emma took his hand.
“Don’t say anything stupid.”
“I’ll try.”
“If you tell me to breathe, I’ll kill you.”
“Understood.”
Another contraction.
She nearly broke his fingers.
He made no sound.
Afterward, Emma opened her eyes.
“Adrian.”
“Yes?”
“If something goes wrong—”
“No.”
“Listen.”
He swallowed.
She continued.
“You do whatever the doctors say. Not what you want. Not what scares you less.”
“I promise.”
“And if I can’t make decisions…”
His face went white.
“Emma.”
“You listen.”
“I’m listening.”
“You protect her without turning her life into a prison.”
Adrian’s eyes filled.
“I swear.”
“You tell her the truth about us.”
“I will.”
“You tell her I loved her.”
“Emma, stop.”
“I need to say it.”
“You’re going to tell her yourself.”
She stared at him.
“That’s an order?”
He almost smiled.
“No.”
“Good.”
Dr. Greene entered.
“Time.”
The next hour blurred.
Pain.
Voices.
Numbers.
Adrian’s hand.
Rachel crying somewhere behind him.
Then urgency.
The baby’s heart rate dipped.
Staff moved quickly.
Emma saw Adrian begin to panic.
She squeezed his hand.
“Remember.”
He nodded.
He stepped back.
He let the doctors work.
That might have been the greatest act of trust he had ever performed.
Minutes later, a cry filled the room.
Small.
Angry.
Perfect.
Emma burst into tears.
Adrian stopped moving.
The nurse lifted a tiny baby.
“Your daughter.”
Adrian covered his face.
Emma laughed and cried at once.
The baby was premature but breathing on her own.
Four pounds, eleven ounces.
A head of dark hair.
Tiny fists.
When the nurse placed her on Emma’s chest, Emma whispered, “Hi.”
Adrian stood two steps away.
She looked at him.
“Come here.”
He approached as if entering a church.
Emma touched the baby’s hand.
“Meet your father.”
Adrian broke.
He kissed Emma’s forehead.
Then stopped.
“Sorry.”
Emma shook her head.
“It’s okay.”
He touched one finger to his daughter’s hand.
She gripped it.
Adrian whispered, “I’m Adrian.”
Emma laughed.
“She probably knows.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“That’s new.”
He smiled through tears.
For ten minutes, the world was complete.
Then Detective Castillo appeared at the door.
Adrian looked up.
Her expression wiped away his smile.
“What happened?”
“We found Dominic’s car.”
“Where?”
“Lake Forest.”
“Was he in it?”
“No.”
Castillo hesitated.
“But we found a phone.”
Adrian frowned.
“His?”
“No.”
She looked at Emma.
“Rachel’s.”
Emma turned toward her sister’s chair.
Empty.
She had assumed Rachel stepped out after the delivery.
Castillo continued.
“There was a message on the screen.”
Emma’s blood went cold.
“What message?”
Castillo read it.
Bring Isabella’s original letter to the old Moretti lake house before sunrise, or your sister learns exactly how Luca died.
Emma looked at Adrian.
The color drained from his face.
May you like
Because Rachel was gone.
And sunrise was less than three hours away.
