Chapter 2: The Cry That Silenced the Room
Chapter 2: The Cry That Silenced the Room
"Who did it?"
For a moment, Sophie thought she had misheard him.
The entire restaurant froze.
Even the bodyguards exchanged confused glances.
"Nobody did it," Sophie said carefully, continuing to sway the baby in her arms. "Colic isn't a person. It's a condition. Babies get stomach pain. Sometimes it's gas. Sometimes their nervous systems are overwhelmed."
Dominic stared at her.
A man feared by judges, politicians, and criminals alike looked completely lost.
"So you're telling me..." His voice dropped. "My son has been screaming for six hours because his stomach hurts?"
"Yes."
"And none of these idiots knew that?"
Four enormous bodyguards immediately found the floor fascinating.
The baby's cries began to weaken.
The shrill screams became ragged sobs.
Then hiccups.
Then whimpers.
A ripple moved through the dining room.
People leaned forward in disbelief.
For six hours, nobody had been able to calm the child.
Now a waitress had been holding him for less than five minutes.
Sophie gently rubbed small circles across the baby's back.
"Come on, sweetheart," she whispered.
A tiny burp escaped.
Then another.
The second one was loud enough to make several diners laugh nervously.
The baby's entire body relaxed.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The room seemed stunned by it.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The little boy blinked sleepily and rested his cheek against Sophie's arm.
Asleep.
Just like that.
The most terrifying man in Chicago stared at his sleeping son as if witnessing a miracle.
A strange emotion crossed Dominic's face.
Relief.
Raw, overwhelming relief.
For the first time all evening, the hard lines around his eyes softened.
One of the guards nearly dropped his phone.
"Holy—"
"Don't," Dominic warned without looking away from the baby.
The guard shut his mouth instantly.
Sophie carefully adjusted the blanket around the child.
"What's his name?"
Dominic hesitated.
Then answered quietly.
"Matteo."
The softness in his voice surprised everyone.
Including him.
Sophie smiled.
"Well, Matteo is exhausted."
Dominic slowly stood.
At six foot four, he towered over her.
The room immediately tensed again.
People remembered who he was.
Remembered the stories.
The disappearances.
The rumors.
The blood.
Dominic looked at Sophie for several seconds.
"What do I owe you?"
Sophie blinked.
"You don't owe me anything."
A bodyguard actually coughed.
Dominic Moretti didn't receive help for free.
Everyone knew that.
Yet Sophie sounded genuinely confused.
"You helped my son."
"I helped a baby."
His eyes narrowed.
"There's a difference?"
"To me? No."
Something unreadable flashed across his face.
Before he could answer, the restaurant doors suddenly burst open.
BANG.
The sound echoed like a gunshot.
Every bodyguard reacted instantly.
Weapons appeared.
Diners screamed.
Chairs crashed backward.
A young man staggered inside through the rain.
Blood soaked the front of his shirt.
His face was white with panic.
"Boss!"
The bodyguards surrounded Dominic immediately.
"What happened?" one demanded.
The man struggled to breathe.
"They found us."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.
Dominic's expression became ice.
"Who?"
"The DeLuca crew."
Murmurs spread through the restaurant.
Even Sophie recognized that name.
The DeLucas.
The only organization ruthless enough to challenge the Moretti empire.
The messenger stumbled forward.
"There was an ambush near the docks. Three of ours are down."
A vein appeared along Dominic's jaw.
"How?"
"Somebody leaked the route."
Silence.
Dangerous silence.
The bodyguards exchanged looks.
Nobody wanted to be the first to speak.
Because everyone was thinking the same thing.
A traitor.
Inside the organization.
One close enough to know confidential movements.
One close enough to betray Dominic himself.
The wounded messenger suddenly noticed the sleeping baby.
His eyes widened.
"Matteo's here?"
Dominic's gaze darkened.
"Lower your voice."
The man swallowed.
Then said the words that changed everything.
"They knew about him."
The room froze.
Every guard stiffened.
Sophie felt her stomach drop.
"What?" Dominic asked.
The messenger looked terrified.
"The DeLucas knew the baby was with you tonight."
Nobody moved.
Nobody blinked.
Dominic's face became completely expressionless.
Which was somehow worse than anger.
"Repeat that."
"They knew."
The messenger's voice shook.
"They said next time they won't miss."
A glass shattered somewhere in the restaurant.
No one knew who dropped it.
Dominic slowly turned toward his men.
Each bodyguard stood rigid.
Waiting.
Because they all understood what that statement meant.
Someone had betrayed more than business information.
Someone had leaked information about Dominic's son.
His newborn son.
The sleeping child in Sophie's arms suddenly became the most valuable target in Chicago.
And everyone in the room knew it.
Dominic looked at Matteo.
Then at Sophie.
Then back at his men.
When he finally spoke, his voice was terrifyingly calm.
"Lock the building down."
Every bodyguard moved instantly.
Doors were sealed.
Exits blocked.
Panicked diners began protesting.
"No one leaves," Dominic said.
The room erupted.
"What?"
"You can't do that!"
"I have children at home!"
Dominic ignored them all.
His gaze never left the wounded messenger.
"Find out who betrayed us."
The man nodded.
Then Dominic asked the question everyone feared.
"And if the traitor is in this room?"
Nobody answered.
Because they already knew.
Dominic Moretti's justice had never required a courtroom.
Across the restaurant, Sophie tightened her hold on sleeping Matteo.
A chill crawled up her spine.
Because for the first time that night, she realized something horrifying.
She wasn't just holding a baby anymore.
She was holding the center of a war.
And somewhere inside Bellavita, a traitor was trapped among them.
Watching.
May you like
Waiting.
And willing to kill for the child sleeping peacefully in her arms.
