Chapter 86 *
Damon's POV
The emergency room doors swung shut behind them.
Like a wall slamming down between us.
I stood there. Watched the red light above the door turn on.
Surgery in progress.
My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
I shoved them in my pockets. Tried to steady my breathing.
The fluorescent lights hummed overhead. That sterile hospital smell filled my lungs with every breath.
I couldn't stay here. Not like this.
Not dressed as Ronin.
I turned. Walked fast toward the nearest exit. Outside, the parking garage was chaos. FBI vehicles everywhere. NYPD cruisers. Ambulances.
I kept my head down. Moved through the shadows.
Found the black SUV I'd stashed three blocks away. Climbed in the back.
Peeled off the tactical gear. The nano-mask. The voice modulator.
Stripped down to nothing. Changed into the suit I'd left in the vehicle.
I got out. Locked the vehicle. Started walking back.
The emergency room entrance was packed now.
Reporters. Cameras. Police tape everywhere.
I pushed through. Flashed my ID to the officer at the door.
"Damon Wolfe. My wife was brought in from the hostage situation."
His expression changed. Recognition. Maybe fear.
"Yes, sir. Right this way."
He led me through the chaos. Past the media circus. Past the FBI agents taking statements.
Straight to the surgical wing.
The same hallway. The same red light.
He left me there.
I stared at that red light. Started pacing.
Couldn't help it. Couldn't stand still.
My shoes clicked on the floor. Over and over. That sound echoed in the empty hallway.
I'd faced down cartel bosses without flinching. Had pulled triggers on men begging for their lives. Never felt helpless. Not once.
But this?
This was different.
My hands curled into fists. I could feel my nails digging into my palms.
The memories came anyway. Couldn't stop them.
I was six years old. Strapped to a table in a basement laboratory.
Then the needle. That burning sensation spreading through my veins.
Cosmos-1.
The alien serum that changed everything.
Made me faster. Stronger. Smarter than any normal human.
But it came with a cost.
The doctors had explained it years later. "Your genetic code has been altered," they'd said. "Reproduction will be difficult. Possibly impossible."
I'd accepted it. Didn't care. Never wanted a family anyway.
Until Scarlett and everything changed.
My throat felt tight. I forced myself to breathe.
The baby had to be okay. Had to be.
Because if something happened...
I didn't know what I'd do. Didn't want to find out.
Maybe burn the whole world down. Maybe worse.
Footsteps behind me.
I turned. Axel was walking toward me. His expression was careful. Controlled.
"Boss."
"What do you have?"
He pulled out his tablet. Started scrolling through information.
"The Bratva cell is completely eliminated. All hostiles neutralized. FBI is processing the scene now."
"Good."
"Media is going crazy. Five different news outlets are running the story. They're calling it the biggest terrorist attack in Manhattan since—"
"I don't care about the media." My voice came out harder than I intended. "What about the organization behind this?"
Axel's expression shifted. "We're tracking the money. Initial reports suggest Eastern European connections. Bratva affiliated. But the funding came from somewhere else."
"Where?"
"Still working on it."
"I want names. Addresses. Family connections. Everything."
"Yes, sir." He left. I went back to pacing.
Thirty minutes passed. Felt like thirty years.
The door pushed open. The red light went off.
A woman in scrubs walked out. She was holding a clipboard.
"My wife. Scarlett Wolfe. How is she?"
The doctor looked up at me. Her eyes were kind but serious. "Mr. Wolfe?"
"Yes. How is she?"
"Your wife is stable. She suffered a mild concussion, significant shoulder trauma requiring eight stitches, and blunt force abdominal trauma with signs of internal bleeding."
My hands went numb. "Internal bleeding?"
"We've managed to stop it. She'll need rest and monitoring, but she should make a full recovery."
The relief hit me so hard I almost staggered.
"Thank God."
Then the question came out before I could stop it.
"What about the baby?"
The doctor's expression changed. Confusion flickered across her face.
"What baby?"
The world stopped.
Everything just... stopped.
"What?" The word came out strangled.
"Mr. Wolfe, there's no baby." She checked her clipboard. Frowned.
The blood in my veins turned to ice.
She kept talking. I couldn't hear it.
My heart stopped beating.
Everything inside me just... froze.
No baby.
The words echoed in my skull. Over and over.
No baby.
No miracle.
No impossible chance at having a family.
Gone.
Just gone.
The doctor was still talking. Her mouth was moving. Sound was coming out.
I couldn't process any of it.
All I could think about was the future I'd started imagining. The quiet moments I'd pictured. Teaching a kid to ride a bike. Reading bedtime stories. Watching them grow up.
All of it. Every single image. Every quiet hope.
Destroyed.
My hands were shaking again. I shoved them in my pockets.
"Mr. Wolfe? Are you alright?"
I looked at her. Forced my voice to work.
"The abdominal trauma. Was it deliberate?"
Her expression shifted. "I can't make that determination. But the injuries were consistent with—"
"Blunt force trauma. Someone hit her."
"Possibly. But I can't confirm—"
"Thank you, doctor."
I walked past her. Didn't wait for a response.
My phone was in my hand before I realized I'd pulled it out.
Dialed Axel.
He answered on the first ring.
"Boss?"
"Change of plans." My voice came out flat. Dead. "I want that organization found. Every single member. Every affiliate. Every person who knew about this operation."
"Yes, sir. How deep do you want us to go?"
"All the way." My jaw clenched so hard I thought my teeth would crack. "I want them erased. Completely. Like they never existed."
Silence on the other end.
Then: "Understood."
"I don't care who they're connected to. I don't care who's protecting them. I don't care if they have ties to governments or cartels or other Families."
My knuckles cracked as my fists tightened.
"They're all dead."
"Yes, sir."
I hung up.
Those bastards hadn't just threatened innocent people. Hadn't just seized a hospital.
They'd killed my child.
The only chance at a family I'd ever get.
And for that?
They were going to pay in ways they couldn't imagine.
Behind me, the door opened again.
They were wheeling her out. Scarlett. On a hospital bed.
Her face was pale. So pale. Eyes closed. Breathing shallow but steady.
The shoulder wound was bandaged. Clean white gauze. An IV line in her arm.
She looked so fragile.
I reached out. Touched her hand. Careful not to disturb the IV.
Her skin was cold.
But she was alive. At least I hadn't lost her too.
I leaned down. Close enough that only she could hear.
Even though she was unconscious. Even though she couldn't hear me.
I said it anyway.
"I'll make them pay for this, Scarlett. I swear to God."