The afternoon my maid asked me for two months of salary in advance and begged to leave early, I assumed someone had compromised her. So I followed her through freezing Chicago rain expecting to find a rival, an informant, or a man blackmailing one of my employees—but instead I found Linda on her knees beside a dying seven-year-old boy, crying into his hospital blanket because she was eighty thousand dollars away from saving his life.

The lock clicked, and the door swung open slowly. Linda stood there, pale and trembling, her eyes wide with terror as she looked past me down the empty hallway.

"They're gone, Linda," I said, stepping inside and closing the door softly behind me. "They won't be coming back."

Keo was sitting up in bed, holding his Captain Galaxy action figure close to his chest. His eyes were wide as he stared at me.

"Are you the big boss man my mom talks about?" the boy asked, his voice thin but curious.

A rare, small smile touched my lips as I approached his bed. "I am Dominic. And you must be Captain Keo."

The boy’s face lit up with a fragile smile. "Mom said you paid for my magic medicine."

"I did," I said, leaning down so I was at eye level with him. "Because space captains need to get back to their ships as quickly as possible."

Linda stood by the window, tears silently rolling down her face. "Mr. Gallo... those men... they were looking for you, weren't they? I'm putting you in danger... I should take Keo and leave Chicago—"

"You aren't going anywhere," I interrupted firmly, turning to face her. "Dante Moretti thinks he can use you to get to me. If you leave this hospital without my protection, his men will track you down within an hour."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" she asked, her voice cracking with desperation. "I'm just a cleaner, Mr. Gallo! I don't know how to deal with men like that!"

"You don't have to deal with them. That is my job," I said. "Starting right now, St. Jude’s pediatric wing is under twenty-four-hour armed guard. My personal detail will handle security. Furthermore, as soon as Keo’s condition stabilizes enough for transport, I am moving both of you to my private estate in Lake Forest."

Linda gasped. "Your private estate? But Mr. Gallo—"

"It is a fortified compound," I said plainly. "It has private medical suites, full security systems, and twenty-inch reinforced walls. Dante Moretti couldn't get a mouse inside that property without my permission. It is the only place where your son will be completely safe while he undergoes his recovery."

She looked at her frail son, then back at me. She saw no malice in my eyes—only absolute, unyielding determination.