The Mafia Boss Received Her Ultrasound by Mistake and Sent a Helicopter Immediately

The next morning, the storm had cleared, leaving a bright, cold blue sky over the estate grounds.

True to his word, Dante arrived at eight o'clock accompanied by an elderly woman with silver hair and a sharp, professional demeanor. Dr. Evelyn Vance conducted a thorough examination, checked my blood pressure, and reviewed the ultrasound scan I had brought from the clinic.

“She’s under severe emotional stress, Dante,” Dr. Vance said, turning to face him as he stood near the window. “Her blood pressure is elevated. If you keep her trapped like a prisoner, you risk harming the child.”

Dante listened silently, his dark brows pulled down in thought. He looked at me, sitting pale and tired on the edge of the bed.

“Thank you, Doctor,” Dante said quietly. “Please step outside. I will discuss this with Miss Reynolds.”

Once the doctor left, Dante walked over to the desk and set down a thin silver tablet.

“I received a communication from Viktor Moretti two hours ago,” Dante said, his voice measured. “He knows Mark is still in New York. And he has put out a half-million-dollar bounty for your capture.”

I felt the color drain from my face once more. “How did he find out about me?”

“Mark used your name as leverage during a negotiation with one of Moretti’s lieutenants yesterday,” Dante revealed, his voice laced with disgust. “He claimed that if Moretti tried to eliminate him, he had instructed you to hand the stolen encrypted drive directly to the federal authorities.”

I stared at him in horror. “He... he used me as a human shield?”

“He painted a bullseye on your back to buy himself forty-eight hours to flee the country,” Dante said coldly. “He made Moretti believe you have the drive.”

“I don't have it!” I shouted, jumping to my feet. “You know I don't have it!”

“I know,” Dante said smoothly. “But Moretti does not. Which means within twenty-four hours, Moretti’s men will attempt to breach this estate or ambush us if we move.”

Dante stepped closer to me, his presence looming large, dark, and imposing.

“I have a proposal for you, Eliza,” he said softly.

“What kind of proposal?”

“A temporary public alliance,” Dante explained. “We announce to the underworld that you are under my personal protection—not as a hostage, but as my betrothed. We claim the child you are carrying is mine, conceived during a private affair months ago.”

I gasped, stumbling back a step. “Are you out of your mind? No one will believe that!”

“They will believe it because no man in the eastern seaboard would dare touch a woman carrying a Castellano heir,” Dante said, his pale eyes burning with iron certainty. “It removes you from Moretti’s hit list instantly. It forces Mark out of hiding when he realizes he has lost his bargaining chip. And it keeps your child safe.”