Chapter 2

"The day I found her, I had my doctor examine her." He was struggling to keep his temper. "She got pregnant before she disappeared. It has to be yours! You know Victoria never betrayed you!"

Vincent said calmly, "The dates prove it to us. They don't prove it to all of New York. She was gone for three months and came back wearing your coat. The minute that baby was born, people would call him a Moretti bastard."

"Then get a paternity test!"

Vincent sneered. "And have Sophia spend every day until her engagement hearing people ask whether her fiancé is back with his childhood sweetheart?"

His voice turned icy. "I won't let this baby ruin my sister's happiness."

I stood frozen outside the door. The blood in my veins went cold.

Luca slammed his fist on the table. "Victoria is your wife! You're the one who outbid the whole room for her and said you'd fallen for her at first sight."

Vincent scoffed.

"You were there that night, and you wouldn't raise your paddle. You knew Sophia wanted to marry you, and you kept hiding behind the excuse that you grew up with Victoria and owed the Bellini family. If I hadn't bought those cufflinks, would you ever have committed to Sophia?

"For Sophia, a marriage is a small price to pay."

A fire roared in the fireplace, but I was so cold I couldn't feel my fingers.

Every word crushed the love I'd so carefully cherished for two years.

I clamped my hand over my mouth and didn't make a sound.

Sophia Russo was Vincent's adopted sister. Her father had been one of the family's capos, and after he died, she was brought to live at the DeLuca estate, where she grew up under Vincent's protection. She'd been away at school the past few years, so I'd rarely seen her.

So that was why Luca had kept his paddle down that night and left me humiliated in front of everyone. It was for her.

And Vincent hadn't paid a hundred million dollars for those cufflinks because he loved me either.

My marriage was just a gift the two of them had given Sophia.

I braced myself against the wall, but I couldn't take a single step.

The pain ran too deep for tears. All I felt was a raw ache in my chest.

Luca was quiet for a long time before he asked, "The doctor says she can't get pregnant again. How are you going to make it up to her?"

"I'll take care of her for the rest of her life."

Every bit of fight drained out of me.

I just slipped back to my room without a sound.

Vincent came back with a mug of warm milk, as patient as he'd always been whenever I was sick. "You're awake? I sat with you for most of the day."

He brought the milk to my lips. I turned my head away.

Vincent paused, set the mug on the nightstand, and pulled me into his arms. His voice went soft.

"I know you're upset. It's not that I don't believe you. Even if that baby really was Luca's, as long as you were his mother, I could have claimed him as my own.

"But we had to think about the baby. He couldn't come into the world with all of New York calling him a Moretti bastard."

He stroked my hair, his voice so tender you'd never guess he was the one who'd ordered the procedure the day before.

"My mother lost her temper, that's all. I thought it was early enough that the procedure wouldn't hurt you much. You're young. We'll have more."

Vincent took my hand, his voice low and coaxing. "I promise you'll be pregnant again with a healthy baby this year, okay?"

I looked up at him, my face calm.

"Okay."

Vincent was taken aback.

Before, I would have thrown myself into his arms with tears streaming down my face. I would have sobbed that it hurt so much, begged him never to leave my side, and made him promise to spend the rest of his life making it up to me.

But I just sat there quietly.

He frowned and was about to ask again when his assistant's voice came through the door.

"Don, Ms. Russo is back. She says she's feeling down and wants to take a walk by the lake."

Vincent was on his feet at once. "Tell her to wait for me. I'll go with her!"

Then he seemed to remember I was still lying in bed recovering, and he turned to look at me.

Before he could say anything, I cut him off softly. "Go. I'm fine."

When I used to say "I'm fine," I was fishing for comfort, hoping he'd hear how hurt I was and stay.

Now I just wanted him gone.

Vincent hesitated for a moment, then left anyway.

Once the door closed, I pressed the call button by the bed for my personal maid, Anna Marino, who was waiting outside. She was the only person in that house who was truly loyal to me.

"Get a car ready for me."

Anna blinked. "Donna, where are you going?"

"To the Five Families Commission. I want a copy of my marriage record with Vincent."

I wanted a divorce.