Chapter 2

Lucia rested a hand on her stomach. "How do the results look? Is the baby okay?"

"Oh—right." She glanced around. "Your hospital said a top specialist would handle my delivery. Where is she?"

"This is her. Dr. Acca—"

I cut in. "The exam forms need a family signature."

"My husband's in a meeting." Lucia flicked her phone. "He'll call soon. If there's anything you need to tell him, you can—"

Her phone rang. She put it on speaker, slow and deliberate.

Matteo's low voice flowed out. "Lucia, how did the checkup go?"

My nails dug into my palm. This was the same voice that had once coaxed me through fevers. Now it was hers.

"Everything's perfect," Lucia said. "But the doctor says I need to stay happy. For the baby."

Matteo laughed softly. "Alright. My princess. I bought you that rose estate you like. Happy now?"

"So happy. Thank you, honey." She blew a kiss.

I stumbled into the equipment cart. Metal trays clattered.

Lucia lifted a brow. "Doctor? You okay?"

"I'm fine." I grabbed the chart and bolted.

Behind me, her voice sharpened. "What was that doctor's name? Kinda shaky for a 'top specialist.' That title real?"

By the time the rain hit my face, I was already at Lamberti Corp, ready to demand why he cheated.

The glass reflected my ghost of a face—layered over the memory of Matteo on one knee, five years ago, slipping a ring onto my finger.

"Don, Ms. Accardi..." A familiar voice drifted over.

I froze and ducked behind a planter.

Russo stood in front of him, head bowed with that usual respectful tilt—Matteo's consigliere to the core.

"But if Signora Lamberti finds out about her and wants a divorce—"

"She won't." Matteo's steps closed in. "She loves me. She can't leave. And even if she tried, I'd stop her." A beat. "She won't find out. I handled it. In a few days, Lucia's outta Carmoria."

Russo wiped his brow. "But what if—"

"There is no what if." Matteo's voice went cold. "Watch your mouth. Lucia knows the rules. She'll keep quiet."

He dragged on his cigar, then waved him off.

"Understood, Don." Russo backed away.

I bit my wrist hard, metal and blood flooding my mouth.

My phone buzzed. It was Ian, my med school senior from Calidora Medical Center.

"Arianna, are you sure you're joining us?"

Rain hammered the windows, swallowed the sound in my chest. I stared at the elevator where Matteo vanished.

"In three days, I'll be on a flight to Los Rangeles. I need my records wiped in Carmoria. Clean. No trail."

"No problem."

Matteo, I know you'd never let me leave.

So I'll disappear.

'Arianna Accardi' will vanish from this world.

***

Took me four hours to get home instead of one. Cried the whole way.

Letting go of someone you once loved? Brutal.

The second I walked in, Matteo was on me, arms tight.

"Where were you? I was losing it."

His suit was rumpled, his hair a mess, eyes red like he hadn't slept.

I caught a whiff of something I knew too well.

Lucia's perfume. Sickly sweet.

"The car broke down. Phone died. I walked." I slipped out of his hold. "I'm beat."

"My princess, amore mio, you must be drained. I'll give you a massage later. Don't forget—it's our anniversary." He cupped my face. "Look what I got you."

Velvet box. A pair of ruby stud earrings.

I knew that design. Same line as Lucia's ring—the one with the pigeon-blood ruby.

"Your hands need to work, so earrings made more sense," he said, brushing my earlobe. "Had them custom made. One of a kind."

I stared at him.

Lucia got the main stone. I got the scraps.

But the way he looked at me... you'd think I had the whole damn world.

"That ruby looked huge before. How'd it shrink down to this?"

I asked it like it was nothing.

He froze—just for a beat—then bounced back.

"Small? Nah. Maybe the designer skimmed off the top. I'll call and raise hell."

He pulled out his phone, all dramatic. I barely heard him over the twist in my stomach. Shoved past him and sprinted to the bathroom.

"Arianna?" He knocked. "You eat something weird?"

I hit the floor, dry heaving over the toilet. His phone buzzed in the other room.

Through the cracked door, I caught him glance at the screen. Pause. Then pick up.

[Princess Lucia.]

The name lit up like a slap.

"Something came up," he said, already moving. "I'll be back soon. We'll celebrate after."

Door slammed behind him.

Only then did I reach for the pregnancy test I'd left on the sink.

Two pink lines.

That was my gift for him.

My baby—showing up after he'd already wrecked everything, right when I'd finally made up my mind to leave.