All Chapters of Mafia Boss's stolen sperm: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

ALEXANDRAThe operating room was a shock of cold and light.It was nothing like the soft, dim room I had imagined for months. That room had wood floors and a big window. It had a birthing ball and Liam pacing by the door. This room was steel and blinding white. It hummed with a low, constant electricity. The air smelled sharp, like cleaned metal and strong soap.Hands moved me from the gurney to a narrow table. The table was hard and cold through the thin gown. More hands strapped my arms down on padded rests. They were not rough. They were efficient. It made me feel like a thing to be repaired. A broken device.A woman in blue scrubs and a patterned cap leaned over me. Her eyes were brown and calm behind clear plastic glasses. "Alexandra, I'm Dr. Rosetti. We're going to take care of you and your baby. We need to do a cesarean section now. Your baby is telling us it's time to come out."I tried to speak. My throat was dry glue. I managed a nod.Another contraction seized me. It was di

ALEXANDRAThe NICU was a world of silent alarms.I learned the language of the machines. The steady beep-beep-beep was a lullaby. The faster, insistent beeping was a siren. A long, flat tone was the sound of a heart stopping. I heard that sound once, from an isolette three bays down. A flurry of quiet voices, a curtain drawn, then a terrible, hollow silence. I clutched the arms of my chair and stared at my daughter until my eyes burned, begging her machines to keep singing their steady song.They had taken the oxygen tube away. That was the first victory. Her tiny nostrils flared with each breath, in and out, all on her own. She wore a miniature onesie, pale yellow, swamping her bird-like limbs. A knit cap covered her head. She was so small the preemie diaper looked bulky as a suitcase.A deep exhaustion lived in my bones. It was more than physical. It was the exhaustion of fear. Fear was a cold syrup in my veins, slowing everything. I watched the rise and fall of her chest. I counted

LIAM Dawn came gray and cold through the NICU windows.I had not slept. Sleep was a luxury for men without enemies. I sat in the hard plastic chair, Ella's isolette between me and the window, and watched the light creep over the mountain. The monitors beeped their steady reassurance. Alexandra slept, curled in her recliner, one hand resting on the edge of Ella's bed.Ella grew stronger with each passing hour. Her oxygen tube was gone. She took small bottles eagerly, her tiny fist gripping the nipple like she was afraid it would be taken away. Dr. Rosetti said she was a miracle. A preemie with a fighter's spirit.I said nothing. I simply watched. I memorized the curve of her cheek, the delicate shell of her ear, the way her lips pursed in sleep. These were the images I would carry into the darkness ahead.My phone buzzed. A coded message from Marcos.Haas is in the box. Zurich operation complete. No casualties. He is talking. I did not respond. There would be time for Haas later. The

ALEXANDRA Three weeks changed everything.Ella gained weight. Her cheeks filled out. The wires disappeared one by one until she slept in a normal bassinet, wearing normal onesies, looking like any other newborn instead of a fighter in a plastic box. Dr. Rosetti cleared her for discharge with a smile and a list of instructions I memorized before we left the room.We moved into the private residence wing of Aethelgard. It was not a home. It was a luxury bunker. But Liam had painters working on the nursery, and Kaela was stationed outside our door like a stone guardian, and slowly, day by day, the fortress began to feel like a sanctuary.I slept when Ella slept. I fed her when she woke up. I learned the language of her cries: hungry, wet, lonely, tired. It was a simple life. The most complicated thing I had to do was decide which swaddle blanket to use.Liam was there for all of it. He changed diapers with the focus of a bomb disposal expert. He walked Ella around the room at three in t

LIAM The private jet terminal hummed with quiet money.It was a different world from commercial airports. No crowds, no lines, no noise. Just polished floors, soft lighting, and the distant whine of turbines. People moved with purpose, attended to by staff who anticipated their needs before they spoke.Victoria thought she belonged here.I watched her through the tinted window of an observation lounge. She sat in a leather chair near the boarding gate, a designer bag at her feet, a flute of champagne in her hand. She wore expensive clothes and looked elegant. Composed. Like a woman who had won.Her flight to Zurich was scheduled to depart in forty minutes. A private charter, paid for with money that should never have been hers. Money from Carlo. Money from the destruction of lives.She didn't know I was here. She didn't know her accounts were already frozen. She didn't know her passport had been voided by contacts who owed me favors in three different agencies.She thought she was es