Chapter 4

Bianca's raised hand froze in midair, shock congealed on her face.

The exact same astonishment was written all over Rossi's face.

My steady voice cut clearly across the banquet hall, and gaze after gaze stabbed into me.

Rossi's face turned iron-gray. He turned his head and gave a low, harsh order to the servant beside him.

"Get Dr. Ettore Greco. Now. Have him examine her right here."

My fingers laced tightly together on their own, nails digging into my palms.

The servant hurried off. A few minutes later, the man he brought back was not Dr. Greco, the family's resident physician.

Rossi's gaze went cold, and his brow twisted hard, his tone openly wary.

"Why are you here? Where's Dr. Greco?"

The doctor inclined his head respectfully, his expression even.

"Don Rossi, Dr. Greco developed severe stomach pain this morning and is confined to bed. He couldn't take his post. I've been the doctor on call for the gala all evening."

When I recognized the doctor's face, the tension inside me abruptly released.

He stepped forward and, in front of all the guests, performed a basic pregnancy examination, methodical and unruffled.

A moment later he straightened up. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to the circle around us.

"Don Rossi, the examination is conclusive. All of Miss Hale's physical signs are consistent with a three-month pregnancy."

The interest in Luca's eyes drained away, leaving only profound disappointment.

He gave a low laugh, made a bit of polite small talk, found some excuse, and left.

Watching Luca's figure recede, I felt my rigid back slowly ease.

I knew his appetites well. He tired of women quickly, obsessed over torturing beautiful ones, and had no interest at all in pregnant women.

Rossi's frown had only deepened at the result. His gaze swung back and forth between the doctor and my belly, clearly still full of doubt.

But with this many people watching, he couldn't challenge it on the spot.

After a few silent seconds, he pressed down the suspicion churning in his eyes and let the doctor's verdict stand.

The crowd fell briefly silent, then snapped to life.

The dignitaries and Family elders came forward one after another to congratulate us.

"Congratulations, Don Rossi! Congratulations, Miss Hale!"

"An heir for the Family! What a blessing!"

Rossi's expression gradually smoothed over, and I quietly let out a breath.

I had scraped through this round.

Not long after we returned to the estate, I found a note that had been slipped under my door.

The rough paper held only a few words: The pregnancy report is flawless. Rossi believes you're pregnant.

I had just tucked the note away when my door burst open.

Rossi strode to the bed and seized my wrist in a crushing grip, the report pinched in his other hand.

Fortunately, I had known Rossi would have my pregnancy checked again. I had prepared the report in advance, and it was convincing enough to survive his scrutiny for a while.

Blood began seeping through the fresh bandages on my palm, dot by dot.

Pain crawled up my arm and through my whole body. I fought it down and looked him in the eye.

"You dared to get pregnant."

His voice was low and tightly controlled, fury boiling in his eyes.

"I was only following your orders."

My voice stayed level.

Rossi paused, then a cold sneer pulled at his mouth.

"When did I ever order you to do this?"

"I know I've been Bianca's decoy all these years," I said bluntly. "Everyone knows she's carrying your child and will probably become your wife. You can post guards day and night, but once the wrong people hear the news, they'll still find a way to get to her.

"By declaring in public that I'm your girlfriend and pregnant, I take on part of her risk. If something happens to me, you'll have time to patch the holes in your defenses, and Bianca stays safe."

In my previous life, during one of our endless fights, I had been pushed past my limit. I pressed a gun to his head and forced him to tell me how he truly felt.

He hadn't flinched. Calmly, flatly, he told me the only woman he had ever loved was Bianca.

All his indulgence, all his tenderness toward me, had been a performance staged for other people's eyes.

Back then his position wasn't secure, and he couldn't keep Bianca safe.

So he had gone to great lengths to send Bianca out of the country, away from danger. The more publicly he displayed me, the safer she was.

The truth broke me completely. I tore at my clothes like a madwoman and stood bare in front of him, forcing him to look at the scars scored across my skin, every knife and bullet I had taken for him.

And he just let me rave, watching me the way a man watches an object.

I had softened and compromised again and again because I loved him. If I ever had another chance to point a gun at him, I would pull the trigger without hesitation.

Rossi slowly released my wrist, turned away, took out a handkerchief, and unhurriedly wiped the hand that had touched me.

After a long silence, he turned back, an amused smile surfacing on his face.

"And what if I've already decided to give you to Luca? Trading you for an alliance between two Families is an excellent bargain.

"Besides, even without you, as long as Bianca sits tight in the estate until the child is born and takes her place as the Donna, she won't be in any danger at all."

He leaned in, closing the distance.

"You've always been such a good girl, and you keep saying you love me. You could never bear to disappoint me. Isn't that right?"

Those words jolted me.

After everything I had done, was I still doomed to die the same miserable death as before?