Chapter 11 - THE FIRST HEARTBEAT
Vivienne lunged.
Dominic caught her arm before the needle reached Layla.
They struggled beside the altar.
The syringe fell and shattered beneath a chair.
Federal agents advanced toward Charles.
He raised the explosive trigger.
Layla looked at the old grandfather clock in the ballroom.
Its ticking matched the clock in Dominic’s penthouse.
Samuel’s notes had mentioned that the Cross family used an antique clockmaker to hide communication devices.
She saw a wire running beneath the base.
“The clock,” she shouted.
Vincent fired at the mechanism.
The bullet destroyed the receiver.
Charles pressed the trigger.
Nothing happened.
Agents tackled him.
Vivienne screamed and reached for Dominic’s gun.
Layla stepped between them.
Vivienne struck her across the face.
Dominic pulled Vivienne away.
Then Layla felt a sharp pain beneath her ribs.
Warm liquid ran down her legs.
Her water had broken.
“It is too early,” she whispered.
Dominic’s face drained of color.
The ballroom became a temporary emergency room.
A doctor among the guests examined her.
“She needs a hospital now.”
Snow had become a blizzard outside.
The estate’s private helicopter could not fly.
Charles’s men had blocked the main road with burning vehicles.
Dominic carried Layla toward an armored SUV.
Gunfire erupted near the gates.
Vincent and federal agents returned fire.
Julian climbed into the vehicle beside Layla.
Dominic looked at him.
“You stay down.”
“I am not leaving her.”
The convoy forced its way through the gate.
Inside the SUV, contractions came every three minutes.
Layla gripped Dominic’s hand.
“I cannot lose them.”
“You will not.”
“You cannot promise that.”
“I can promise they will not face this alone.”
At the hospital, surgeons rushed her into an operating room.
Dominic waited outside with blood on his shirt and snow melting in his hair.
For forty minutes, he heard nothing.
Then a nurse emerged.
“The first baby is breathing.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“And the second?”
May you like
The nurse hesitated.
“The second child has no heartbeat.”
