“Why?” Adrian growled. “The Morettis have no business with my family.”

“They do now,” Miller said. “Leo told them that you were preparing to hand over your entire ledger to the Feds to buy a clean slate for your wife and child.”

“That’s a lie,” Adrian said. “I haven’t agreed to anything.”

“The Morettis don’t know that,” Miller said.

“They think your child will be raised under federal protection while you put their whole caporegime in prison.”

“So they put a price on the baby,” I said, the realization hitting me like a physical blow.

My breath came in short, shallow gasps.

“Yes,” Miller said. “Leo used your unborn child as leverage to force the Morettis into backing his takeover.”

Adrian stared at the floor, his face pale under the harsh fluorescent lights.

“He sold out my kid to buy an army,” Adrian whispered.

The snow scraped against the window pane like fingernails.

“The contract is active,” Miller said. “And the bounty is high enough that people are already moving.”

“I have men,” Adrian said, his eyes snapping back to Miller. “I can secure this entire wing of the hospital.”