Chapter Eight: The Threat
“This is Dante Castellano. Who came to your establishment?”
His voice was pure authority.
Emma watched him listen. His jaw clenching tighter with each passing second.
“Description. I see. No, you did the right thing calling. If they come back, you contact this number immediately.”
He rattled off a phone number.
“And Gary? Thank you for looking out for her.”
He ended the call. Immediately dialing another number.
“Antonio. We have a problem. Someone’s sniffing around Emma’s old workplace.”
Pause.
“I don’t know yet. Get me eyes on the diner. And run down everyone who’s been asking questions about my wife in the past month.”
Another pause.
“No, not Salvatore’s style. This is something else.”
He hung up. Turned back to her.
And Emma saw something in his face that terrified her.
Not anger.
Fear.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
“I don’t know yet. But we’re going to find out.”
He pulled out another phone. She’d learned he kept several. And made a series of rapid calls. Each one short and clipped.
Within minutes, he’d mobilized what sounded like an entire security apparatus.
When he finally sat back down, his hand immediately went to her belly. As if reassuring himself they were still there. Still safe.
“I need you to tell me everything,” he said quietly. “Everyone you talked to after you left. Every place you stayed. Every person who might have known you were pregnant.”
“Why? What does it matter?”
“Because someone is looking for you. Someone who isn’t me. Who isn’t my organization.”
His thumb traced soothing circles over her stomach. A contrast to the tension in his voice.
“And I need to know who and why. Before they get any closer.”
The baby kicked hard. As if responding to the stress.
Emma took a shaky breath and started talking.
She told him about the bus station where she’d bought a ticket with cash. The motel where she’d stayed for two weeks, working under the table at a laundromat. The diner where she’d finally landed a steady job. The free clinic where she’d confirmed the pregnancy.
“Did you use your real name anywhere?”
“Only at the clinic. They needed ID for the medical records.”
His expression darkened.
“The clinic. What was it called?”
“Women’s Health Services. On Maple Street. Why?”
He was already on the phone again.
“I need everything you can find on Women’s Health Services. Maple Street location. Patient records. Staff. Security footage. Everything from the past eight months. I don’t care if it’s legal. Get it done.”
He hung up and looked at her.
“Free clinics sometimes sell patient information. Especially pregnancy records.”
“Why would anyone want—”
She stopped. Understanding dawning.
“The baby.”
“The baby,” he confirmed grimly. “An heir to the Castellano fortune. Leverage against me. A target for anyone who wants to hurt me or force my hand.”
The room suddenly felt too small.
The air was too thin.
“Oh God. Dante, what if—”
“No.”
He cupped her face in his hands. Forcing her to look at him.
“No one is touching you. No one is touching our baby. Do you understand me? I will burn down this entire city before I let anything happen to either of you.”
The ferocity in his voice should have scared her.
Instead, it anchored her.
Because she knew he meant every word.
“We should have left already,” she whispered.
“We should have. We will. As soon as you’re cleared for travel.”
His forehead pressed against hers.
“Two more weeks. Dr. Morrison said. Two more weeks of monitoring. And then we can go. I already have a place arranged. Remote. Secure. Somewhere no one will find us.”
“What about your uncle? What about—”
“I don’t care.”
The words were fierce. Absolute.
“Let them fight over the scraps of the empire. Let them tear each other apart if that’s what they want. All that matters is you. You and our baby.”
A knock on the door interrupted them.
Antonio stepped in. His face grim.
“We have a problem. The men asking around at the diner. We have an ID.”
He paused.
“They’re Russian. Volkov’s crew.”
Dante went very still.
“Dmitri Volkov?”
“Same. Word is he’s looking to expand his territory. Thinks taking your family would give him leverage in negotiations.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.
Dante stood slowly. And Emma saw the transformation happen in real time.
The gentleman who’d been holding her became someone else.
Someone cold.
Lethal.
Terrifying.
“Double the security. No one in or out without clearance. And get me a meeting with Volkov.”
“Dante—”
Antonio started.
“Get me the meeting tonight if possible.”
His voice was pure ice.
“He wants to negotiate. Let’s negotiate.”
Antonio nodded and left.
Dante turned back to Emma. And she saw him visibly force himself to soften. To push back the darkness she’d just witnessed.
“I have to handle this,” he said quietly. “But I’m leaving six men outside this room. Patricia is here. You’ll be safe.”
“You’re going to meet with him? The man who’s been hunting me?”
“I’m going to make him understand that you’re off limits. That this baby is off limits.”
He leaned down, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“I’m going to make sure he never thinks about you again.”
“Dante—”
She caught his hand.
“Be careful. Please.”
Something softened in his eyes.
“Always. I have too much to come back to now.”
He kissed her then. Really kissed her for the first time since she’d walked back into his life.
It was gentle and desperate all at once. A promise and a goodbye.
And when he pulled away, Emma saw her own fear reflected in his eyes.
“I love you,” he said quietly. “I need you to know that. Whatever happens. Whatever you decide after all this is over. I love you.”
“I—”
The words stuck in her throat.
She couldn’t say them back. Not yet. Not when she still didn’t know if they had a future.
He smiled sadly. Like he understood.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to say it. Just be here when I get back.”
“Where else would I go?”
She tried to joke. But it came out shaky.
“Nowhere. Not anymore.”
He pressed one more kiss to her forehead. Then to her belly.
“Take care of your mama, little one. Daddy’s got some business to handle.”
And then he was gone.
Leaving Emma alone with her racing heart and the terrifying certainty that everything was about to change again.
