The most feared man in Chicago believed nothing on earth could make him tremble... until the woman he had thrown away was rushed past him in a hospital corridor—dying with his unborn child still inside her.

Thirty-six hours later...

Grace finally woke.

The room was quiet except for the steady rhythm of the heart monitor.

Her eyes slowly focused on the man asleep in the chair beside her bed.

His expensive suit was wrinkled.

His beard had begun to grow.

He looked nothing like the feared king of Chicago.

He looked...

Broken.

She whispered weakly.

"Ethan."

His eyes flew open instantly.

For several seconds neither of them spoke.

Finally he fell to his knees beside the bed.

"I'm sorry."

She stared at him.

"I know."

"I was a coward."

"I thought pushing you away would keep you safe."

"I convinced myself my enemies would never stop hunting me."

"My love became an excuse."

Grace slowly reached beneath her pillow.

She pulled out a sealed envelope.

"I wrote this the day I found out I was pregnant."

His hands trembled as he opened it.

Inside was a single ultrasound photo.

On the back, written in careful handwriting:

If anything happens to me...

Tell our child his father wasn't evil.

Only afraid.

Ethan couldn't breathe.

He buried his face in the blanket and cried harder than he had since he was a little boy.

Grace gently touched his hair.

"I never hated you."

"I only wished you had chosen us."