Chapter 1

Leonardo Caruso was sitting beside the bed when the doctor told me the baby was gone.

He clutched a diamond necklace, the one he had intended to fasten around my neck at our anniversary dinner the night before. Blood stained the cuff of his shirt, and a broken strand of beads still hung from it. They had come from Isabella Greco's gown.

The memory dragged me back to the night before.

Through the shattered car window, I had watched him carry Isabella on his back and place her inside the backup car himself. My car had been right beside it, yet he never came to save me.

"There's one more thing, Elena..." the doctor said. "You won't be able to get pregnant again."

Leonardo's head snapped up.

"Then get another specialist! I can have one here tonight. There has to be a way."

The doctor paused for a moment.

"The surgery results are very clear."

The necklace slipped from Leonardo's grip and struck the edge of the bed.

Radio static crackled outside the door.

My fingers curled instinctively, as though I were still holding the car radio from the night before.

After the convoy was attacked, my car had flipped over, and my leg had been pinned beneath the crumpled door.

"Leonardo, I'm trapped in the last car. Please come get me."

Through the windshield, I saw him climb out of the lead car and run toward me.

Then Isabella's sobbing burst through the radio.

"Don't let them take me, Leonardo... This is exactly how my father died that night."

She stood beside another car with only a few cuts on her arm from the shattered glass. She had pushed away the guard sent to help her.

Leonardo stopped, turned around, and went to her.

One of the guards had already crouched beside my window.

"Donna, don't move. I'll get someone to pry the door open."

The moment he picked up his radio, Leonardo's order came through.

"Go up front and cover Isabella. Now!"

The guard looked at me and hesitated for a second, but he still released the door and ran off.

"Leonardo, my stomach hurts so much..." I tightened my grip on the radio. "Leonardo, I can't get out. Please come save me..."

"Just stay in the car and don't move. The bulletproof glass will stop the bullets."

He held Isabella and let her bury her face against his chest.

"Give me one more minute. I'll come for you as soon as I get her into the car."

He knew I was pregnant.

At the ultrasound the week before, he had replayed the baby's heartbeat recording over and over. He had repaired the wooden cradle he slept in as a child and moved it into our bedroom.

He had even placed it on his side of the bed, saying he would be the one to soothe the baby if it woke up during the night.

So I waited for him one more time.

All that came was another impact.

Before I lost consciousness, I was still calling his name.

Over the radio, he was coaxing Isabella to let go of him.

Later, a nurse told me it was Vittorio Salerno who had brought me to the hospital. By the time Leonardo arrived, the surgery was already over.

"Elena, I'm sorry."

He set the necklace on the nightstand and reached for my hand.

"I thought you'd be safe in a bulletproof car. That was the only reason I made you wait a little longer. I headed straight back as soon as I got her out of there, but the road was completely blocked. There was no way through."

I looked down at his hand.

"The guard was already at my car. Why did you call him away?"

Leonardo hesitated.

"Isabella was terrified. She refused to go with anyone who came for her. I couldn't just leave her there."

I met his gaze.

"So you could leave me there instead?"

His grip on my hand tightened.

"I'll have my most trusted men guard you, and I'll rearrange the cars. There won't be another accident."

He kept repeating his promises, but he never once said he would save me first the next time.

Eventually, I stopped listening.

The radio crackled again.

A guard reported that Isabella wanted to see him.

Leonardo refused immediately and handed the radio to the man outside the door.

"Whatever it is can wait until tomorrow. Don't bother me while I'm with my wife."

He sat back down.

"I'm staying here with you."

Seven years earlier, he had also stayed with me through an entire night.

Back then, his bid for power had failed.

The getaway car had already been running, but when I did not make it in time, he turned back for me.

After he found me, he put his bulletproof vest on me and guarded the entrance to our hideout until dawn.

By then, he had hardly anyone left at his side.

Now the entire family answered to him, yet he had called away the man who had been saving me.

There was a knock at the door.

His Underboss, Rocco Bellini, appeared in the doorway.

"Signorina Greco won't get in the car. She says she isn't going anywhere until she sees you."

"Have the guards take her. Elena just got out of surgery. I need to stay with her."

"She's crying hard and keeps bringing up the night her father was attacked. Maybe you could take the call first?"

Rocco held out the radio, and Isabella's sobs came through.

"Leonardo, I'm scared to go alone. Will you come with me, please?"

Leonardo did not answer right away.

He looked at me, then at the monitor beside the bed.

"The doctor is right outside. I'll take her over and come straight back to you."

I pulled my hand from his.

"Go. I'll rest on my own for a while."

He tucked the blanket around me and bent down to press a light kiss against my forehead.

"I'll have someone bring your things. If you need anything, just tell them."

I closed my eyes and listened as he got up and left, gently easing the door shut behind him.

After Leonardo left, I called in the guard outside the door and sent him back to the estate to retrieve the old travel bag from the very back of my walk-in closet.

Inside was the contact book I had kept from the years we spent on the run.

Several people owed me their lives.

Vittorio was one of them.

I dialed his number.

"Thank you for last night. I need another favor. Don't tell Leonardo."

"You want to leave the hospital? I can find somewhere for you to recover."

I looked down at my stomach, now flat once again.

"As long as I'm alive, he'll find me and bring me back."

The line fell silent.

"Vittorio, help me fake my death."