LOGINEMILIA POV
The door opened.Axel stood there.Bruised. Bloody. Broken.But alive.I ran to him.He caught me."Em, ""Are you okay? What did they do to you?""Doesn't matter. Are you hurt? Did Nikolai, ""Isabella stopped him. I'm fine."We held each other.Both shaking.The door slammed shut.Locked.We were together. But still prisoners."Axel, what happened? Where did Vincent send you?"He pulled back. WouEMILIA POVAxel talked for an hour.In the bathroom.Shower running.Masking his voice.I couldn't hear everything.Just fragments.", killed your men on Vincent's orders, "", want him dead as much as you, "", need your help, "Finally, he emerged."Well?""He's meeting us. Tomorrow night. Neutral ground.""How do we get out of the mansion?""Isabella's helping. She'll arrange it.""Can we trust her?""No. But we don't have a choice.""What about the guards? The cameras?""She says she can disable them. For thirty minutes. That's our window.""And if it's a trap?""Then we die trying to escape instead of waiting for Vincent to kill us."He had a point.The next day crawled.We played along.Breakfast with Vincent.Smiling. Compliant.He bought it."You seem better today, Dante. More accepting.""I'm trying.""Good. Family is everything. Y
AXEL POVSeven PM.Guards escorted us to the dining room.The entire family waited.Vincent at the head.Isabella beside him.Nikolai. Jax.Captains and underbosses.Twenty people.All watching us."Dante, Emilia. Sit."Two chairs. Center of the table.On display.We sat.Food was served immediately.Elaborate. Expensive.I couldn't eat.Marco was dead.Because of me."Eat, Dante," Vincent said. "You need your strength.""I'm not hungry.""That wasn't a request."I picked up my fork.Forced food down.Tasted like ash."I'd like to make an announcement," Vincent said.Everyone quieted."Dante and Emilia are expecting. A Moretti heir. My great-nephew or niece."Applause.Congratulations.Fake smiles.I wanted to kill them all."This calls for celebration," Vincent continued. "To family. To legacy. To the future.""To famil
EMILIA POVThe door opened.Axel stood there.Bruised. Bloody. Broken.But alive.I ran to him.He caught me."Em, ""Are you okay? What did they do to you?""Doesn't matter. Are you hurt? Did Nikolai, ""Isabella stopped him. I'm fine."We held each other.Both shaking.The door slammed shut.Locked.We were together. But still prisoners."Axel, what happened? Where did Vincent send you?"He pulled back. Wouldn't look at me."Axel?""Marco's dead."The world stopped."What?""Vincent sent me to kill him. I couldn't. Jax did it.""No. No, Marco can't be, ""He is. I watched him die."I collapsed.Axel caught me.We sank to the floor.Both crying."I tried to miss," Axel said. "Tried to save him. But Jax, ""It's not your fault.""It is. I brought us here. Made the deal. Got him killed.""Vincent killed him. Not you.""I
AXEL POVThey dragged Em away.I couldn't stop them.Six guards held me back.Vincent watched, smiling."Let her go!" I roared."Kill Marco," Vincent said calmly. "Then you can have her back.""I won't kill Marco!""Then you won't see Emilia."He nodded to the guards.They dragged me to the basement, the old section where my father used to punish people.Stone walls. Cold. Dark.They threw me in a cell and locked the door.
EMILIA POVMorning came.Axel was gone.Left my room sometime during the night.I woke alone.Still in yesterday's clothes.Still terrified.Still trapped.The nausea hit immediately.I ran to the bathroom.Threw up.Fourth day in a row.I couldn't deny it anymore.Couldn't pretend.I was pregnant.Eight weeks, probably.From the proposal night.Or the wedding night.Didn't matter which.What mattered was I was carrying a baby.In Vincent's house.While Axel killed for the family.While we were prisoners.This was the worst possible timing.I needed a test.Needed confirmation.Needed to know for sure before I told Axel.But how?Vincent controlled everything.Watched everything.If I asked for a pregnancy test, he'd know.And once he knew, he'd use it.Another piece of leverage.Another chain.A knock on my door.
AXEL POVThat night, Vincent summoned us.Both of us.His study.Eight PM.Guards escorted us.Making sure we complied.Vincent sat behind his desk.Jax stood beside him.Seeing him alive.After two years thinking he was dead.After Marco "killed" him.It was surreal.And infuriating."Sit," Vincent ordered.We sat.Em close to me.Trembling."I think it's time we had an honest conversation," Vincent said."About what?" I asked."About why you're really here. About what I really want. About the truth.""I thought the truth was I work for you for two years. Then I'm free."Vincent laughed."Is that what you thought? How naive.""So the two years was a lie.""Not a lie. An impossibility. You see, Dante, once you're in the family, you never leave. Surely you remember that from your father's time.""I'm not staying here forever.""You are. And you'll do







