The room felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of it in a single second. The rhythmic, rhythmic thump-thump, thump-thump of the baby's heartbeat on Dr. Miller's ultrasound machine was the only sound echoing through the sterile examination room.

Dominic Russo stood motionless. His towering six-foot-three frame filled the doorway, his tailor-made dark suit radiating an aura of lethal authority. His sharp, dark eyes were locked onto the black-and-white screen, watching that tiny flick of life pulsing on the monitor.

Then, his gaze shifted down to me. The harsh, cold crime boss who ruled Chicago’s underworld vanished for a fraction of a second, replaced by a man struck by sheer, unadulterated awe.

"Chloe..." Dominic’s voice was a low, gravelly whisper that vibrated right through my chest. He took one slow, deliberate step toward my examination bed, completely ignoring the terrified doctor pressing himself against the wall. "Answer me. Is that my child?"

My breath caught in my throat. I looked at his broad shoulders, his scarred jawline, and the intense, protective fire burning in his eyes.

"Yes," I whispered, my voice trembling. "It’s yours, Dominic."

Out in the clinic hallway, Derek was standing frozen beside Britney. His face was ghastly pale, his jaw practically touching the floor as he recognized Dominic Russo—a man whose name was whispered with absolute terror in every high-society circle and board room in Chicago.

Derek’s smugness was completely gone. The man who had laughed at me in the café two hours ago, calling me fat and discarded, was now sweating through his tight designer polo.

Dominic didn't even turn his head toward the hallway, but his two broad-shouldered security men stepped backward, blocking the exit and sealing Derek and Britney inside the corridor.

Dominic reached out with a hand that had ordered the destruction of empires, and gently—so gently it brought tears to my eyes—brushed his calloused thumb across my cheek.

"You spent four months carrying my heir alone in the dark, Chloe?" he murmured, his thumb trailing down to rest lightly against the curve of my belly beneath my oversized cream sweater. "Why didn't you come to me?"

"I... I was scared," I confessed, swallowing hard. "I thought you'd think I was lying. Or worse... that you'd take the baby away from me."

"Take them away from you?" Dominic’s eyes flared with a fierce, possessive warmth. "I would burn this city to the ground before I ever let anyone separate you from me."