Chapter 12
Bianca went into labor at thirty-nine weeks and two days.
Naturally.
At three fourteen in the morning.
Her first call was not to Victor.
It was to her obstetrician.
Her second was to Rachel.
Her third was Lorenzo.
“Dad.”
He answered immediately.
“What happened?”
“I’m in labor.”
Silence.
Then Lorenzo’s voice changed.
“Which hospital?”
She told him.
“I’m coming.”
“Dad.”
He stopped.
“You wait outside until I ask.”
Another silence.
“All right.”
That answer made Bianca cry harder than she expected.
Not because Lorenzo stayed away.
Because he listened.
Their son was born seven hours later.
Anthony Vitale Hale.
Seven pounds, six ounces.
Healthy.
Furious.
Bianca held him against her chest and stared at his tiny face until the rest of the room stopped existing.
Only after she had fed him and slept for an hour did she allow Lorenzo inside.
He entered like a man walking into church.
Slowly.
Hands empty.
No entourage.
Bianca looked at him.
“You can hold him.”
Lorenzo sat first.
Then she placed Anthony into his arms.
The veteran Mafia boss who had frightened judges, union presidents, politicians, and criminals looked absolutely terrified by an eight-pound blanket.
“He’s small.”
“He’s a newborn.”
“He looks breakable.”
“So don’t drop him.”
Lorenzo glared.
Bianca smiled.
For ten minutes, everything felt normal.
Then Rachel arrived with court papers.
Victor had formally requested newborn visitation.
Not emergency custody.
His lawyers had apparently abandoned the earlier plan after its discovery.
Bianca’s face tightened.
“He pushed me toward stairs.”
“Yes.”
“And he wants to hold my son.”
“Yes.”
“Can I say no forever?”
Rachel answered carefully.
“Not necessarily. Courts will evaluate the child’s safety, Victor’s conduct, the criminal case, professional assessments, and what arrangement protects Anthony.”
Bianca hated that the legal answer was complicated.
Rachel continued.
“You do not have to decide his entire fatherhood today.”
That helped.
Temporary orders required professionally supervised contact only.
No Marcella.
No removal from the approved location.
No unsupervised care.
Victor would have to demonstrate safe behavior over time.
Bianca looked at Anthony.
May you like
Justice, she realized, was not always the same thing as erasing someone from existence.
Sometimes it meant making them prove they could approach safely.
