Chapter 1

"Hello? Baby, the signal is bad here. What did you just say?"

I stood at the door of the private maternity room without a word.

"Rita, I'm about to board. After you eat, sit up for a while before you lie down. I'll be there when you wake up.

"I love you, Rita."

I stood outside the room and watched him end the call.

Then he looked down tenderly at the baby in his arms and brushed the child's cheek with the hand that held a gun.

The baby fussed and waved his little hands before falling asleep again.

Linda sat propped against the headboard, smiling at them. "He really does love his father. He stops crying the moment you hold him. He cries whenever I hold him."

Enzo kept his eyes on the baby and smiled faintly. "Then I'll make more time to spend with him."

Linda hesitated. "But if my sister finds out about him, will she..."

Enzo didn't look at her. "She's five months pregnant. She can't take a shock. She won't find out he exists."

I listened from the doorway. My lips twitched, but I couldn't bring myself to smile.

"But..." Linda seemed to want to say more.

He looked up at her. Her mouth opened, then closed.

Enzo went on, "This child was an accident. So were we. I won't let one mistake ruin what Rita and I have. I trust you know what to do."

Linda nodded and said nothing more.

I'd heard enough about his plan to hide the baby from me. I knocked.

He turned toward the door. The moment he saw me, he looked visibly rattled.

"Rita! What are you doing here?" Linda feigned surprise.

I didn't confront her about what she'd done. She'd added me to that chat, given me just enough time to watch the video, then kicked me out.

I looked only at Enzo. "Well? When you arranged for this baby to be born at Maria, did it never occur to you that you might run into me at a checkup?"

I tried to step inside, but the two bodyguards who usually shadowed Enzo blocked my way.

"Am I the Donna of the Wayne family or not?"

One of them looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, Donna. The Don gave us an order. No outsiders."

I looked back at Enzo. "So the Donna of the Wayne family is an outsider?"

He pushed the baby into Linda's arms and reached for my hand. I pulled away.

I did not look at him. "Don't touch me. You're filthy."

He drew his hand back. "Rita, you're carrying our children. Please don't get upset.

"Can we talk about Linda and me outside? It took me a long time to get Rami to sleep."

The name stopped me. I turned and stared at him. "You named this bastard Rami? That was our child's name!

"You stayed with your lover through the birth, then gave my child's name to her bastard!"

"A name is only a label," Enzo said dismissively. "We can think of another one for ours."

I was about to answer when Linda cut in.

Linda held the baby, her voice trembling. "Rita, don't blame him. It was all an accident!"

"Linda and I were an accident. A rival family drugged me, and that's how..." He looked at me. "Rita, it only happened once."

"You can stop making excuses for betraying me."

He froze. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"We're getting divorced, Enzo!"

Just then, a familiar voice came from behind me. "That's enough!"

I turned. It was my brother Luke.

Luke, the Don of the Bryan family, came in carrying a large bag of postpartum supplies himself.

He set it down and stepped in front of Linda to protect her. "Rita, you're the Donna of the Wayne family. Don't you know how things are done?

"You're questioning your husband in front of his men and ignoring his explanation. Is that what the Bryan family taught you?"

"Luke, there are already too many people in my marriage. I'm leaving it, and that's better for everyone."

"Enzo already explained. What happened between him and Linda was an accident."

Luke looked at me and went on. "Don't worry. Enzo and I have settled it. Linda and Rami won't affect your position.

"You're still executive director of the Wayne Group. Name another Donna on the East Coast with that much power!"

He turned to comfort Linda, who was in tears. "You have a career and power! Linda has nothing, and you're her sister! Why can't you let her have this one thing?"

It was absurd.

I said, "You two may have settled it. I haven't. My rule is simple: I won't accept betrayal in any form.

"Not even an accidental one."

Luke frowned. "Rita! Do you have any idea what you're saying?"

"The law doesn't pretend sex never happened just because someone was drunk or drugged. Neither will I."

I turned back to Enzo. "I'll have the divorce papers delivered to your estate as soon as I can."

I turned to go, but he grabbed me. "I'm not signing anything. Rita, we need to talk this through."

I pried his fingers off. "There's nothing to talk through."

I pulled the three-carat diamond ring off my finger and dropped it in the trash can.