The absolute silence that fell over the master bedroom was heavy enough to crush diamonds.

Vincent Rossy, a man who commanded hundreds of lethal soldiers and struck terror into the hearts of rival bosses, was completely paralyzed.

He stared up at Norah, his dark, dangerous eyes wide with a mixture of absolute shock and overwhelming awe.

Slowly, carefully, he reached out his bloodstained hands, stopping just inches away from her stomach, terrified of his own violence.

"A father?" Vincent whispered, his raspy voice cracking under the weight of an emotion he had never allowed himself to feel.

Norah smiled through her tears, gently taking his heavy, bruised hands and pressing them flat against her stomach.

"Yes, my king," Norah promised softly. "We are going to have a child."

Vincent buried his face in her lap, his massive shoulders shaking as the ruthless monster finally surrendered completely to love.

He stayed there for a long time, breathing in her warmth, silently vowing to protect this new life with every drop of blood in his body.

When he finally stood up, the absolute vulnerability in his eyes was replaced by a terrifying, cold, and calculated lethal intent.

Julian’s extraction team was waiting at the shipping docks, and they represented a direct threat to his unborn child.

"Enzo," Vincent commanded, his voice echoing with the absolute authority of a king going to total war.

"Mobilize every single soldier we have on the payroll, lock down the city limits, and cut all communications to the docks."

Enzo nodded sharply, a grim, deadly smile touching the corner of his scarred mouth.

"And Julian?" Enzo asked, referring to the broken, bleeding cousin currently chained in the basement.

Vincent walked over to the closet, stripping off his blood-soaked shirt and pulling a heavy Kevlar tactical vest over his broad chest.

"Keep him alive so he can feel exactly what it is like to lose his entire army," Vincent ordered coldly.

He turned to Norah, walking over to press a deep, lingering kiss against her forehead.

"You stay here, in the absolute center of the house, and you do not open the door for anyone except me," Vincent instructed fiercely.

"I am going to burn their entire operation to ash, so our child inherits a world with no enemies."

Norah grabbed the heavy straps of his tactical vest, pulling him down for one last, desperate kiss.

"Come back to me, Vincent," she demanded, her voice strong and unwavering.

Vincent smiled, a terrifyingly confident expression that promised absolute destruction to his enemies.

"I always do," he whispered, turning and marching out of the room to unleash hell on the Eastern Seaboard.