Don't Trust the Father of My Child

I had never told my father I was pregnant.

Yet four men were sitting at the dining table.

Andrea, the man who had promised to run away with me, had a split lip.

There was blood on the napkin he pulled away from his mouth. Renato, my father's right-hand man, offered him a fresh one. Andrea refused it.

My fiancé, Matteo, turned a glass of water with the hand that wore his engagement ring. Nicola, a businessman with interests at the port, was counting the guards outside the window. In the chair closest to the door sat Luca, our family's bodyguard.

Luca didn't eat with us. He was the one who stood while I ate.

"Sit down, Sera."

My father held out one hand, palm up, indicating my place.

There was water beside my plate instead of wine.

I glanced back at the door I'd come through. The guard took his hand off the handle. It shut quietly, but the sound was enough to wipe the smile from Nicola's face.

"Who did that?"

I was looking at Andrea.

Before he could open his mouth, Father answered.

"I told him to come. He tried to run."

"I asked who hit him."

"Sit down and we'll sort it out."

Renato placed the napkin on the table. Nobody looked at him.

"If you'd rather explain first, that's fine too."

Andrea's gaze dropped to my stomach.

That was when I knew.

Everyone in this room already knew what I'd been told at the hospital yesterday.

I gripped the back of a chair. My fingertips were cold. I ran through every call I'd made after leaving the examination room. None. I'd driven myself and hadn't paid with a family card.

"Did you call the hospital?"

Father drew out my chair.

"Sit down first. Don't stand for too long."

Matteo's hand went still. Luca lowered his head. The other two watched my face.

I didn't sit. Renato straightened. He was the man who locked doors for my father and disposed of the belongings of people who never came back.

My father, Vito Bellone, who commanded a mafia organisation, spoke to the guards by the door.

"Wait outside."

The guards left. Only Renato remained behind Father's chair. The door closed.

This time it sounded louder.

"Let's talk sitting down. Don't assume this is something you have to take responsibility for alone."

I had slept with all four men. I remembered those encounters.

There was only one night between them that I couldn't remember.

The Bellone villa. Red carpet on the stairs. A bitter taste in my mouth. The knot of a robe that wasn't mine when I woke the next morning.

I wasn't ready to explain that night. Least of all in front of these four men.

At last Andrea spoke.

"If Sera doesn't want us here, we'll leave first."

"I wasn't asking you."

Andrea tried again. Without even looking at him, Father raised one finger.

Renato seized Andrea's shoulder and forced him down. A chair leg scraped across the floor. I stepped forward and caught Renato by the arm.

"Let go."

He didn't look at me. Andrea's face twisted. Blood welled again from his lip.

"Father! Tell him to let go!"

Only when Father nodded did Renato release him.

I watched Andrea's back. His shirt trembled with every breath.

I sat down.

Father pushed the chair in from behind me. The table came close to my stomach. I edged the chair back.

Nicola leaned against his chair.

"Why gather us all here when a test will settle it?"

"There will be a test," Father said.

"But first I want to know who let you go to the hospital alone."

"I decided to go alone."

"I see."

He gave a small nod.

"Then was leaving on your own your decision too?"

Andrea stopped himself from reaching towards me.

Nicola turned away from the window.

I held my water glass. The cold surface clung to my palm. Father wasn't looking at my stomach. His gaze moved from Andrea to Nicola.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Father set his phone on the table.

"I've prepared rooms for you gentlemen."

"We have no reason to stay," Nicola said.

"I have appointments tomorrow."

"Cancel them."

"That's my decision."

Father studied him briefly, then turned to me.

"Sera, ask them yourself. Ask them to stay until we know which of them is the baby's father."

All four men looked at me at once.

If I refused, would he lock me up in their place? Or had what I wanted never mattered?

"Let them go."

I looked straight at Father.

"I'll contact them if I need to."

"All right."

He stood.

Then, outside the door, I heard car keys clatter against a tray.

Renato entered carrying a silver tray. Andrea's battered leather key ring lay beside Nicola's red car key. Matteo slipped a hand into his pocket, then withdrew it empty.

Father stroked my shoulder once.

"Until we know who fathered the child, no one leaves this house."

Nicola reached for his keys.

Renato caught his wrist. Nicola told him to let go. Renato didn't.

"Would you treat my father this way too?"

"Enough."

Luca stretched an arm between them.

Renato struck him across the face.

Luca's head snapped sideways. He caught himself against the table, then straightened. This time Renato drew a gun.

Nicola shoved his chair back so hard it fell. When I stood, Andrea stepped in front of me. His fingers gripped my arm too tightly.

"Sera. Don't move."

I pulled my arm free.

Renato pressed the muzzle of his gun beneath Luca's chin.