Chapter 3

The door opened again just as I hid the watch under my sleeve.

Maximus, now in dry clothes, stood at the foot of the bed, his face like a thundercloud.

"Angelina, I have to warn you again. Camilla is my woman now. Don't you lay a single finger on her."

I leaned against the headboard and looked up at him.

"I know."

"You'd better," he said, his eyes narrowing. "What was that look you gave her by the pool today? I've known you for ten years. When have you ever looked at someone like you wanted to kill them?"

"Don Maximus."

"What?"

"I won't touch her," I said, enunciating every word. "I swear."

He stared at me for a long moment, probably not expecting me to agree so easily, before turning and leaving with a heavy sigh.

Not long after he left, Mia came in with my dinner.

"Donna, Jenna had her baby."

I put down my book. "How's the child?"

"A boy, but he has a high fever. The doctors say it doesn't look good."

I strode to the safe.

Inside was a stack of Swiss bank key cards, a coded ledger, and all the cash I had secretly saved over the years.

Seven figures. Enough for a normal person to live two lifetimes.

I pushed it all toward her.

"It's all yours."

Mia's face went pale.

"Donna… what is this…?"

"I need you to hold onto it for me for a few days."

"Are you trying to scare the Don by leaving again?" She relaxed. "You did this last time. He chased you for three days, and then he—"

"Mia."

I cut her off.

She looked up.

"This time, I'm not trying to scare him," I said, looking right at her. "This time, I'm really leaving. To a place far away. And I'm never coming back."

Mia froze.

"Donna…"

"It's been ten years," I said with a small smile. "I've laundered 3.7 billion dollars for him. I helped him take the South Side, the docks, and three casinos. I've paid my debts."

"But…"

"Mia, listen to me."

I took her hands in mine.

"After I'm gone, you take this money and leave Chicago. Go to California, Miami, anywhere. Find a good man, get married, have some kids. Live the life you want to live."

Her tears fell onto the back of my hand.

"Mia," I said softly, "Promise me."

The next morning, I went to the nursery.

In the small incubator, the newborn's wrinkled face was flushed red.

He was so small, it made my heart ache.

I reached out and gently touched the glass.

"Donna, the baby's fever is very high," the nurse said quietly. "The doctor says he might not make it through the night."

A sudden tightness gripped my chest.

Five years ago, my baby was this small.

I remember feeling him kick inside me, singing to him, telling him stories.

But I never got to see him.

"Use the best medicine. Get the best doctors," my voice was hoarse. "Whatever it costs."

"Yes, Donna."

I stood in front of the incubator for a long time, until the next nurse came on shift.

When I got back to my room, I had just sat down when the door was kicked open. Four soldatos in black suits stood in the doorway.

The one in the lead wouldn't meet my eyes. "Donna, the Don requests your presence in the main hall."

"Requests?"

"...You must come."

Before I could stand, two of them were on me, grabbing my arms.

The air in the main hall was thick with tension.

Jenna was on the sofa, clutching the swaddled baby, wailing. The infant in her arms was blue, with foam at its lips.

Maximus sat in the main armchair, one hand draped over the back, the other flicking a Zippo lighter open and closed.

Camilla was curled up against him, looking like she was on the verge of tears.

I was pushed into the center of the room.

"Angelina," Maximus said. "You were in the nursery this morning?"

"Yes."

"How do you explain the baby's condition now?"

I looked at the child in Jenna's arms.

His breathing was even weaker than it had been this morning.

"I didn't touch him," I said. "I just looked at him and told the nurse to make sure he was fed on time."

"Liar!" Jenna shrieked. "You were the only one who went near that incubator all morning! The only one!"

"I see now..." Camilla said softly, sitting up from Maximus's lap.

She walked over to me, her eyes red, putting on a show of pained reluctance.

"Angelina," she said, her voice trembling. "Were you... were you just jealous?"

"Jealous of what?"

"Jealous that Jenna had Maximus's baby," she said, covering her mouth as if the words were too painful to speak. "You haven't been able to give him one in ten years... Did you not want any other woman to have his child?"

The air in the hall turned to ice.

I turned to look at Maximus.

He said nothing. He just watched me, his eyes like he was interrogating a criminal.

The lighter snapped shut with a click.

"Maximus," I said. "You've known me for ten years."

He didn't speak.

"Do you really think I would harm a newborn baby?"

Still nothing.

Just then, Jenna screamed.

"I have a witness! I have a witness!!"

The side door to the hall opened.

Mia stumbled in, clutching the corner of her apron, her face white as a sheet.

She saw me and flinched.

Then she dropped to her knees on the floor.

"Don…" her voice was a trembling whisper. "It… it was the Donna."

My ears started ringing.

"I... I saw her with my own eyes. She injected something... into the baby's IV line."