Chapter 5

I asked Colton several times.

He always brushed me off, saying he only wanted to test the waters.

He had even taken over some of Beth's work himself. A quiet unease settled over me.

Then I saw an email from a drug lord detailing the first shipment.

Holding back my anger, I asked him, "Why are you doing what Beth says?

"I already told you we can't touch drugs. They're too dangerous. The Rinaldi Family needs to go legitimate. We cannot touch them."

Colton watched me, swirling his drink. "So what? I have a lot of men to feed.

"Everything you and I have came from dirty work. Who are you to act so righteous now?"

A crushing weight settled on my chest.

I snatched the glass from his hand and smashed it. We had a screaming match. When I grabbed the laptop to smash it too, a message from Beth lit up the screen.

Email sent! Book our flights to Southeast Asia. Once we're there, leave the itinerary to me—we'll eat well and have some fun!

I turned the screen toward him.

"So now you're doing your assistant's work for her?

"Is that what your business trips are? Eating, drinking, and partying together? Answer me!"

Colton's expression changed. He snatched up the laptop and smashed it to pieces.

"I told you! We're working!

"She's the one you found for me!

"You're crazy!"

Colton slammed the door and didn't come back all night.

I sat in the living room all night, my eyes swollen from crying and cramps twisting through my belly. At dawn, I went to the Family's headquarters to find him.

But his men told me Colton had gone to Southeast Asia with Beth.

I booked the next flight and had a private investigator check their hotel. There was only one room reservation.

When I arrived, I knocked on their door.

Beth opened it in a silk nightgown, radiant and flushed. Dark hickeys marked the cleavage exposed by its neckline.

Behind her, Colton lay half naked on the bed.

My hand shook as I slapped Beth hard, then charged inside and screamed at Colton.

I trashed the room and screamed at him like a madwoman. I even thought about shooting him.

Colton barely looked at me. "Are you done?

"If you're done, go home."

He was utterly indifferent, as if my pain meant nothing.

I considered divorce, but I couldn't bear to take a father away from the baby inside me.

By then, I was in the final weeks of pregnancy.

The fight threatened the baby. Back in Sicily, I spent the rest of my pregnancy on bed rest at a private hospital.

Meanwhile, Colton and Beth vacationed in Southeast Asia.

Unable to reach Colton, the Family's underboss called me. A rival crew was preparing to seize the weapons at the docks.

They were about to make their move.

Heavily pregnant, I went to the docks myself. That night, amid blades and gunfire, a bullet struck me in the back. They rushed me to the hospital.

The doctor said only one of us could be saved, the child or me.

I held myself up and called Colton. The phone rang a long time and nobody answered, and after a while he sent me a text.

Could you stop bothering me?

If you still want to be the lady of the house, don't contact me until the baby's born.

A moment later, Beth sent me a photo of Colton from behind in the bathroom. Everything you have will be mine.

The photo shattered me.

Some part of me still held on to the hope that he would come back.

In despair, I gripped the doctor's hand and said, "Save my baby."