Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO KNEW HER NAME
Hannah had never met Dominic Russo.
That was what she believed.
Yet when he came closer, he said her full name like he had been saying it for years.
“Hannah Elise Mercer.”
She stared at him. “How do you know me?”
Bradley pushed past a security guard. “This is insane. He has no right to be here.”
Dominic didn’t even look at him.
Dr. Kline did.
“Everyone who is not medical staff leaves now.”
Dominic nodded once. “Doctor, her insurance is active.”
Hannah blinked. “No, it isn’t.”
“It is now.”
Bradley barked a laugh. “You can’t just—”
Dominic finally turned.
“I can pay a hospital bill, Bradley. The interesting question is why you canceled coverage on a woman carrying your children six hours before she started bleeding.”
The room changed.
Bradley’s face tightened. “She asked me to handle the finances.”
“I never asked you to cancel anything,” Hannah said.
“Not now, Hannah.”
That familiar tone—soft, private, controlling—made her angrier than shouting would have.
Dr. Kline raised her voice. “Out.”
Bradley stepped toward Hannah. Dominic’s security man blocked him with one arm.
“My wife needs me.”
Hannah looked at Bradley’s tan linen shirt, the one he had bought for Cabo. No wedding ring.
“No,” she said. “I don’t.”
It was the first thing she had said to him in years that sounded like a door closing.
Bradley’s expression flickered.
Then the monitor screamed.
Baby A’s heart rate plunged.
Dr. Kline turned instantly. “We’re moving. General anesthesia if we have to. Hannah, look at me.”
The anesthesiologist fitted a mask over her face.
Hannah grabbed Dominic’s wrist before he could step back.
“Why are you here?”
For the first time, something cracked in his expression.
“Because your father asked me to come if this day ever arrived.”
Hannah’s fingers went cold.
“My father is dead.”
Dominic’s eyes held hers.
May you like
“No,” he said. “He isn’t.”
Then the medication pulled her under.
