Chapter 2

The doctor frowned at the ultrasound screen, his brows tightly knit.

"Ms. Russo, your body's in a very special condition. You haven't gotten pregnant once in the last seven years. If you terminate this one, you might never get pregnant again."

I let out a bitter laugh. "I'm already divorced. I don't want my child to be born without a father."

The cold anesthetic slid into my veins, and my consciousness slowly blurred.

As everything faded out, I thought I saw the Leone I used to know.

He pressed his ear against my belly and smiled, saying this child would grow up to be a card shark, so he'd have to teach him poker from the cradle up.

He even called the old Don and said he wanted the luckiest name possible for our baby.

He wrapped his arms around me and promised that once he found someone to inherit the casino, he'd take the baby and me out of the family so the three of us could travel the world.

...

All of that tenderness had shattered to dust the moment he told Bliss she was the only one who deserved to be the woman in charge of the casino.

When I woke up, I dragged my hollowed-out body to Jason's ward.

Thank God this time, Jason had only taken a minor hit while he was out on a job. He'd be fine after a short recovery.

In my last life, I'd watched him being beaten to death right in front of me. In this life, I refused to be that stupid again.

I contacted some people in the black market and paid a fortune for two tickets on a flight to Santoria that left in three days.

If I tried to leave through normal channels, Leone would know immediately.

Then, I called the only associate I still trusted, handed him some cash, and asked him to quietly take care of Jason's discharge.

Only after I'd done all that did I finally let myself breathe out a sigh of relief.

I flagged down a cab and gave an address a few blocks away from the family villa.

I'd always had that habit. I had too many enemies, and I couldn't afford to let anyone follow me straight home.

But I never expected that the moment I stepped out of the cab, a man would clamp a hand over my mouth from behind and drag me backward.

I struggled hard, but I'd barely taken two steps when another man swung a club straight into my back.

Pain tore through my back, and warm blood soaked my clothes in an instant.

I didn't need to guess. They had to be Leone's enemies.

The casino had taken over so much territory that the enemies who wanted Leone and everyone close to him dead could've lined up from here to the harbor.

I reached for the knife I kept in my bag, but my arm was twisted hard behind me. Then, they snatched my phone and smashed it into pieces.

"Stay still, puttana!" the man choking me around the neck snarled as he dragged me toward a van parked by the curb.

Just when I was about to lose all hope, a familiar black limousine turned in from the main road.

It was Leone's car.

I forced out the last of my strength, screaming hoarsely and fighting to break free, desperate to make the man in the car notice me.

The car clearly hit the brakes and slowed down.

He'd seen me.

But the very next second, the limousine sped up without a hint of hesitation and drove off.

Through the window, I saw Leone pull Bliss against his chest in the passenger seat, shielding her eyes so she wouldn't look my way.

It was as if the woman being dragged off to die wasn't his wife, but just an ugly scene he didn't want Bliss to see.

In that instant, every shred of struggle and hope drained out of my body.

Pain and cold swallowed me whole, and the darkness closed over the last of my awareness.