Chapter 4

Camilla frowned. "How long are you going to keep pretending? Teresa just proved that Sienna is home. Knowing a few Valenti secrets doesn't make you his wife."

"Give him back the phone. Let me say one more thing. He'll recognize me."

"You've said enough."

She ended the call before Dante could question me again. My phone slipped from my hand, the shattered screen going dark forever.

I had believed hearing my voice would end this. Instead, three years of secrecy had turned my own name into evidence against me.

The monitor screamed. My daughter's heart rate fell from fifty to thirty, then twenty.

"Prepare an emergency C-section," the doctor shouted, shoving past security. "Her baby is about to arrest. Anyone who blocks us now is committing murder."

The director went white. "Without the Don's authorization, the blood bank and operating rooms remain closed."

"By the time you get authorization, the baby will be dead."

The numbers dropped again. Seventeen. Nine. Zero.

A long alarm cut through the room. The fetal tracing became a straight line.

The doctor repositioned the probe again and again. There was nothing.

"Check again," I begged. "The machine must be broken. She moved a few minutes ago."

They brought another monitor. Everyone watched in silence for a heartbeat that never returned.

At last, the doctor closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. Your baby no longer has a heartbeat."

Sound receded from the room. My hand remained on my stomach, but the stillness beneath it was absolute.

Hours earlier, she had kicked through her ultrasound. The technician had laughed because she would not stay still long enough for a clear picture. I had planned to show Dante the image that evening and place her new shoes in the nursery he had decorated.

Now she would never move again.

"Open the operating room," the paramedic told the director. "The baby is gone, but the mother is still bleeding. If we delay, she'll die too."

The director stared at the flat line, then made his decision. "Open the blood bank."

A guard stepped forward. "The Don's order remains in force."

"Then he can kill me afterward. I won't let a second person die here."

They rushed me into surgery. Before the anesthetic mask came down, I caught the doctor's hand.

"Can I see her afterward?"

After a pause, he nodded.

When I woke in recovery, my abdomen ached beneath the numbness. My right leg had been stabilized, blood ran into my arm, and my body felt hollowed out.

A nurse stood beside me holding a tiny bundle wrapped in white.

"Are you sure you want to see her now?"

I nodded.

She placed my daughter in my arms. She had complete, delicate features and tiny fingers folded against her chest. Without the crash, the blocked ambulance, and the sealed operating room, she might have survived in an incubator.

The doctor said she still had a heartbeat when we reached the hospital. An emergency C-section eleven minutes earlier would likely have saved her.

I pressed my face to her cold forehead. "I'm sorry. Mommy promised to protect you."

Footsteps sounded outside. Camilla's heels approached with her irritated voice.

"This hospital reeks of disinfectant. I told you I wasn't hurt. You didn't need to order a full examination."

My body went rigid.

Dante came down the corridor in a black suit, followed by his security chief and several guards. Camilla walked beside him with only a shallow scrape on her knee.

"Your father died for the Valenti Family," Dante told her. His tone held duty, not affection. "I promised him I would keep you safe. After a collision, you get examined."

Camilla pouted. "That woman caused everything. She threw herself in front of my car and had people attack your guards. You can't let her get away with it."

Dante looked toward the secured surgical wing. "Marco still hasn't verified her?"

"The scene was chaotic," his security chief replied. "We're restoring surveillance footage. Hospital staff also defied the lockdown."

Dante's expression chilled. "Who?"

He approached the emergency physician. "Were you the ones who opened the blood bank and OR?"

"If we hadn't, she would be dead too."

"Before identity confirmation, anyone can be bait sent by an enemy."

"A pregnant woman bleeding to death is your enemy?" The doctor's voice shook with anger. "Her baby had a heartbeat when she arrived. Your order sealed the blood bank and kept the surgical team away."

Dante remained controlled. He still believed the patient was a stranger exploiting a pregnancy to breach Valenti security.

"If she is innocent, the family will compensate her. I will not risk more lives before a threat is cleared."

"Compensate her? Can money restart a dead child's heart?"

Dante glanced into recovery. "Remove everyone connected to the accident. Marco can decide what happens after his investigation."

Then his gaze passed over my bed, and he stopped.

I sat against the pillows, bloodless, my hospital gown still stained, our silent daughter in my arms.

His gaze fell on the wedding ring hanging against my bloodstained gown—the ring he had hidden there with his own hands.

Then he looked at the silent baby in my arms.

For the first time in his life, Dante Valenti looked afraid.

“Sienna?”