Chapter 1

The next evening, I finished up my work and drove home.

Living away from the villa added two hours to my daily commute. By the time I got home, I was completely drained.

I punched in the code out of habit and pushed open the apartment door, and there was a familiar figure on the sofa.

Daniel. Again.

"Did you leave this at the house on purpose?"

The second I stepped inside, a pregnancy test with two lines came flying at my face.

He stared at me coldly, his voice thick with disgust.

"Daisy, I told you to know your place. Don't go dreaming about things that will never be yours."

"I told you I'm not pregnant! That isn't..."

Before I could defend myself, he was on his feet, crossing the room in two strides.

He picked the test up off the floor and held the two lines out for me to see, his eyes bloodshot with rage.

"You knew Sophia just got pregnant with my child. You left this behind on purpose. Were you trying to upset her?"

"She found it this afternoon and cried for hours."

I looked at him, my vision blurring, and suddenly I didn't want to explain anymore.

Eight years. He knew perfectly well that my work was always clean, that I would never leave something this clumsy behind to be found.

But now he only believed Sophia's tears. He believed a pregnancy test that came out of nowhere, and he wouldn't hear a single word from me.

When I said nothing, the anger on his face actually eased a little.

I felt his grip on my wrist loosen.

But before I could speak, his phone rang.

The ringtone was jarring, shattering the frozen air in the room.

He answered the phone without releasing my wrist.

"Sophia?"

His voice went soft in an instant. The whole shift took barely two seconds. I stood right in front of him, his hand still clamped around my wrist, burning hot.

But he had already turned away, lowering his voice into the phone, coaxing gently.

"Okay, I got it. Don't cry, it's alright. Okay, I'm heading home right now."

He hung up and released my hand. The anger in his eyes had already given way to a flicker of guilt.

"I'm sorry, Daisy. I misjudged you."

"Sophia says the test might have been one she threw out herself and forgot about. She's been emotional lately, testing over and over, so she lost track."

I leaned against the wall and listened, still saying nothing.

I didn't know what someone in my position was allowed to say.

The room was quiet for a few seconds. Daniel held his phone and looked at me for a long moment.

"Daisy, put up with things for now. Once Sophia has the baby, I'll bring you back to the villa. I know you, you understand me best. Right now I need Sophia's family behind me. Once I'm on solid ground, I promise I'll make it up to you."

Listening to him, I thought of the beginning, when I had lived alone too.

Until that mission, when an enemy bullet nearly hit Daniel.

I threw myself in front of him and took the shot.

The bullet struck me in the lower abdomen. I thought I was going to die.

But after a day and a night of fighting for my life, I opened my eyes and saw Daniel again.

It was the first time I ever saw him cry.

The bullet left lasting damage. Afterward my cycles were never regular, and I bled when I shouldn't have.

The cramps became brutal.

He moved me into his villa, into the room next to his, saying it would make it easier for him to take care of me.

Every time the pain hit, he would even make me hot cocoa himself.

Back then I always said, "You shouldn't be doing these little chores for me. You should spend your time on more important things."

He would just smile and ruffle my hair, his voice serious.

"Your health matters to me too. Once I take over, I'll make you the happiest woman in the world."

I came back to the present, looked at him, and shook my head.

"No need, Don Rossi. Before Sophia has the baby, I'll pay off every cent of my father's debt. Then all I want is for you to let me go."