Chapter 2 - The Midnight ConvoyBefore I could process his words, Kieran pulled his phone from his pocket, dialing an encrypted line with his thumb.
"Leo," Kieran commanded flatly, his voice dropping into a cold, lethal register. "Bring the primary armored convoy to the front drive in five minutes. Call Dr. Aris Vance at Mount Sinai. Tell him to clear the pediatric floor for my arrival."
"Kieran... wait!" I gasped, wiping my eyes with the sleeve of my robe. "It's three in the morning! Mount Sinai's visiting hours closed at eight PM!"
Kieran looked down at me, taking off his black wool overcoat and gently draping it over my shoulders. The coat was heavy, warm, and smelled faintly of cedarwood, rain, and raw silver, completely enveloping my small frame.
"I don't follow visiting hours, Saraphina," Kieran murmured softly, his thumb gently wiping a tear from my cheekbone. "Put on your shoes. We're going to see our daughter."
Our daughter.
The word hung in the quiet hallway, sending a wild, unexpected flutter through my chest.
Ten minutes later, four midnight-black armored Maybachs tore out of the gates of the Westchester estate, their heavy tires gripping the wet asphalt as rain lashed the windows.
I sat in the rear passenger cabin of the central Maybach, wrapped in Kieran's wool coat, holding a mug of warm tea that his housekeeper had handed me before we left. Beside me sat Kieran, his dark suit jacket unbuttoned, his laptop open on his knees as his chief financial officer routed wire transfers across the screen.
"The balance to Mount Sinai pediatric oncology," Kieran spoke to his CFO over the satellite line. "Transfer fifty thousand dollars immediately to clear the current accounts. Establish a five-million-dollar irrevocable medical trust under Clara Torres's name by six AM."
I stared at him, my jaw slack, my hazel eyes wide with total, speech-bound shock. "Fifty thousand dollars...? Kieran, I can't accept that! That's... that's more than my annual salary! I'll never be able to pay you back—"
Kieran closed his laptop with a quiet, heavy snap.
May you like
He turned his broad frame toward me, reaching out his hand to cover mine over my tea mug. His storm-blue eyes looked straight into mine with a depth of intense, unyielding devotion that made my pulse race.
"You aren't paying back a single cent, Saraphina," Kieran revealed quietly. "You spent eighteen months taking care of my home while carrying a broken heart in secret. Tonight... my empire takes care of you."
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