Chapter 1

The line went silent for one second. Camilla's expression shifted, and she ended the call.

"What are you shouting for?" She looked down at me. "You hear Dante's name and think you can impersonate Mrs. Valenti? Everyone in Greyhaven knows Don Valenti has never announced a marriage. You should have done better research."

"I'm not impersonating anyone. Dante is my husband, and this is his daughter."

Camilla laughed. "If you're really his wife, where are your guards? Where is your wedding ring? Why doesn't a single Valenti man recognize you?"

I had no answer she would believe.

Dante had married me in secret three years earlier. He prohibited family media from photographing me, and after I became pregnant, he placed me in a safe house with no public connection to the Valentis. Only a handful of trusted people knew I existed. He said secrecy would protect us from rival families.

Now that protection made it impossible to prove who I was.

Elsewhere, Dante had begun to question what he had heard. A random extortionist should not know about his secret marriage or unborn child. He called Teresa Gallo, the housekeeper at the safe house.

"Where is Sienna?"

Teresa was not at the house. Instead of accompanying me to my appointment, she had slipped away to an underground casino. Afraid that Dante would discover she had abandoned her post, she lied without hesitation.

"Mrs. Valenti came home after her appointment. She's resting upstairs, and the baby is fine."

"You saw her yourself?"

Teresa glanced at the card game in front of her. "Of course. I brought her dinner half an hour ago."

Dante's doubts eased. If Sienna was safely at home, the woman claiming to be his wife had to be lying. Worse, she knew closely guarded family secrets. This could be a probe arranged by an enemy.

"Keep Camilla secure," he ordered his security chief. "No one leaves until Marco arrives and verifies every identity."

He did not know that Teresa's lie had just begun closing the last path to our daughter's survival.

I tore free long enough to reach my fallen phone. Blood kept flowing, and a tearing pain bent me double.

"My baby isn't moving." I clutched the lead guard's trouser leg. "Please let the paramedics through. Keep the scene locked down. Send men with me. Just let a doctor check her."

For a moment, uncertainty entered his eyes.

Camilla cut in. "The Don's order was clear. She just impersonated Sienna. If this is a rival family's trap, will you take responsibility for letting her through?"

His hesitation vanished. "I'm sorry. The order stands."

I pointed at the ambulance trapped behind the SUVs. "I don't even have to leave. Let them listen for a heartbeat."

A paramedic called from beyond the guards, "She may have a placental abruption. Her bleeding is getting worse. She needs a hospital now."

Bystanders began protesting. Several men demanded that the guards open a path. The security team tightened into a line, hands moving inside their jackets.

"The Valenti Family is handling a security threat," the leader warned. "Everyone step back."

The family name silenced the crowd. Few ordinary people in Greyhaven openly challenged the Valentis.

Camilla examined her manicure. "You were all brave a moment ago. What happened?" She approached and nudged the bloodied baby shoe with one heel. "A pregnant woman, blood, baby clothes, and a story about a secret wife. Very thorough. Who sent you?"

I retrieved the shoe and pressed it to my chest. "No one. I don't want money. Let the doctors in. I'll cooperate with any investigation and stay under guard. Just save my child."

"You'll do anything?"

I nodded.

Camilla opened the camera on a guard's phone. "Kneel and admit you threw yourself in front of my car. Then say you pretended to be Dante's wife to extort the Valenti Family. If you make it convincing, I'll let the ambulance through."

Angry shouts rose around us, but Camilla ignored them.

"No? Then your baby can't be that important."

Dante had hidden our marriage to protect me. Denying it on camera would erase the last three years and my daughter's place in his family. But she had not moved for so long. Beside her life, my name, marriage, and dignity meant nothing.

I bent my knees and knelt on the cold pavement.