Chapter 7 - The Journey Back
The snow had stopped by the time Luca arrived with a heated all-terrain transport vehicle parked at the edge of the wood line.
They didn't speak during the short drive back to the private airstrip in Kenosha.
Nora sat in the back seat, holding both twins against her chest under a heavy woolen throw blanket Luca had brought from the vehicle. Victor sat in the front passenger seat, staring straight ahead through the windshield, his hands clenched into fists in his lap. He didn't look back at her, not because he didn't want to, but because he knew his presence was still the storm she was recovering from.
When they reached the heated hangar at Kenosha, a private medical transport jet was idling on the tarmac, its engines humming a low, steady bass.
Dr. Hayes stood near the mobile stairs, looking cold and relieved.
“Get them inside,” Victor ordered the medical staff who hurried forward with heated incubators. “Check their temperatures. Check Mrs. Rinaldi’s vitals immediately.”
Nora allowed the medics to assist her up the stairs, but she paused at the cabin door, turning back to look at Victor, who remained standing on the tarmac in the freezing wind.
“Aren't you coming?” she asked, her voice carrying over the whine of the turbines.
Victor shook his head. “I have things to settle in Chicago.” “What things?” “The penthouse,” Victor said simply. “I’m having the nursery painted. And I’m selling the Chicago office downtown so I can run operations from the home study.”
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Nora stared at him for a long, quiet moment. “That won't fix what you broke, Victor.” “I know,” he said. “It’s just the first brick.”
She turned and stepped inside the cabin. The heavy door closed with a hydraulic hiss, sealing out the wind.
