by Reilly, Cora
He took a step closer, surprised. “You are pregnant?”
“That’s what the pregnancy test said. That’s the reason why Dante let me go.”
Romero’s face tightened with hatred. “Dante knows you are pregnant? Damn,” he said, lips twisting. “You should tell Luca.”
“No,” I said firmly. “Not when he’s angry, not when he doesn’t want anything to do with me. I don’t want him to feel obligated to return to me because of the child. I want him to return to me because he wants to. And he isn’t in the best state of mind at the moment.”
“That’s true,” Romero said slowly. I could tell he was hiding something. “Eventually, you won’t be able to hide it.”
My stomach tightened. “You think he will stay angry with me for months?” His face gave me the answer I had feared. Maybe I’d really lost him.
A man who had never slept in a bed with someone else, who was never around people without a gun, not even his brother, because he had learned from an early age that trust got you killed—he had trusted me, and I had messed it up.
“If you let me take a quick shower, we can head out right away,” Romero said eventually.
It took me a couple of heartbeats to process his words. “Yes, please. I will get ready.”
Forty minutes later Romero and I were on our way to New York. Gianna and Lily had still been asleep when we left, and Sandro and two other guards would keep watch.
I had put on my wig again so people wouldn’t recognize me. Nobody could find out about my pregnancy.
“Will you tell your sisters?” Romero asked.
I hesitated. “I’d prefer if this could stay between us for a while.” Romero slanted me a conflicted look, but then he nodded. I knew he didn’t like keeping things from Lily, but too much had happened in the last few days, and I needed time to figure out things for myself before I involved more people.
Romero waited in the waiting room as I followed Dr. Brightley into the treatment room. She confirmed my pregnancy and told me I was six weeks along. When I emerged afterward and Romero led me into the elevator, I missed Luca so much, I couldn’t hold back tears. He should have been there with me, should have shared this joyful moment with me.
Romero touched my shoulder but I leaned against him, seeking comfort, and after a moment of hesitation, he wrapped his arms around me. “Aria, Luca will come back to you.”
I wanted to believe him, wanted nothing more. Nodding, I pulled back and wiped my eyes, embarrassed about my outburst. Even if Luca’s absence broke my heart, I needed to be strong for our baby.
I was nervous. This was the first time I’d see Luca in three weeks. We hadn’t talked or messaged. I had sent him a couple of messages in the beginning but then given up when he ignored them. If he needed space, I’d give it to him even if it killed me.
“We should celebrate without the men,” Gianna muttered. “They’re only going to ruin everything.” She meant Luca, and I worried she was right. How could this Christmas be anything but a huge mess with the way things were?
I stepped out of the shower and had to grip the marble counter as a wave of dizziness hit me. I was nine weeks along and didn’t have a bump yet, but the pregnancy ruled my life anyway. I’d lost over ten pounds in the last three weeks because I couldn’t keep any food down. Dr. Brightley wasn’t concerned yet since the baby was developing as it should. I put on my underwear and stepped into the bedroom. Would Luca share a bed with me tonight?
“Fuck, Aria,” Gianna said, pursing her lips as she watched me. “You have lost so much weight.”
“You’re exaggerating,” I said lightly. I grabbed the cream-colored wool dress and pulled it on. It used to hug my curves but now it was loose.
Gianna raised her eyebrows. “That doesn’t look like exaggerating to me.”
“It’s nothing,” I said firmly.
Gianna stepped close. “You are so fucking pale. And those shadows under your eyes.” She shook her head. “You know what. We’ll only put on a bare minimum of makeup. Let him see what he does to you.”
I was too tired to protest and let her apply a hint of foundation and mascara.
“I’m going to kill him if he treats you like shit. I swear. I’m going to stick one of Matteo’s knives into his fucking cruel heart.”
“Gianna,” I said in warning. “I am the one who went behind his back.”
“You went to visit our little brother. Luca cheated on you with Grace only because you didn’t want to put out, and he didn’t tell you when Matteo asked our father for permission to marry me. And I bet he’s lied to you about more things we don’t know about, but only because you don’t obey him like a well-behaved dog, he feels betrayed. Stupid pride of Made Men.”
I wished it were only pride holding Luca back, but I knew it was more—it was darker and more powerful.
Lily knocked and poked her head in. “Dinner is done. Marianna says we can sit down.”
“Is he here?” I asked, hating how my voice broke.
Lily’s expression softened. “Yes, he and Matteo arrived fifteen minutes ago. They are downstairs with Romero.”
Gianna checked her reflection in my mirror. She, too, had barely seen Matteo because she preferred to stay with me, still mad at him, while he was with Luca in New York.
I straightened, hoping I could hold it together. My pregnancy was turning me into an emotional mess.
Gianna squeezed my hand and didn’t let go. “Come on, Aria. You have us. Nothing will ever change that. They have their Famiglia and their blood oath, but we are sisters, we are blood, and we will be at your side till the end of all days.”
Lily took my other hand with a resolute smile. “If you can’t stand his presence, then we’ll leave. We can have dinner in the kitchen. Just the three of us.”
I fought tears.
“Don’t cry,” Gianna ordered. “He’ll think it’s because of him. Don’t give him that power.”
But he had that power over my heart, and there was nothing I could do about it. I resisted the urge to touch my belly, proof of a love lost.
I swallowed, and nodded. “Let’s go.”
We stepped out of the room, into the corridor and toward the staircase. Then I heard his deep voice, and only my sisters’ hold kept me moving. Gianna’s grip on my hand became crushing as we descended the staircase, closer to his voice. As one we stepped into the dining room and my eyes zeroed in on Luca, standing tall next to Matteo and Romero, looking calm. No sign that the last three weeks had affected him. Could he move on like that? Could he switch off his love as easily as that?
Lily squeezed my hand and Gianna stiffened at my side. “Fuck him, Aria. Fuck them all,” she whispered.
And I was determined to follow her advice—but then Luca turned his head and looked straight at me, and my world crumpled. There had been brief moments of hope in these weeks of despair, either because I’d tried to talk myself into believing I could live without Luca, or because I managed to convince myself he would come around.
Now as his hard gray eyes regarded me as they did anyone else, with cold scrutiny and not a hint of warmth, both hopes turned to dust.
LUCA
“You won’t ruin this Christmas for all of us, will you?” Matteo asked. As if his relationship with Gianna had been going well these last few weeks. He’d been my shadow in New York and Gianna had refused to come with him. They were barely civil around each other.
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t worry. Aria is my wife on paper, but that’s all.” I had closed off my fucking emotions in the last three weeks, and I had absolutely no intention of changing that. I had more important things to worry about—like bringing down Dante and the Outfit with him. It wasn’t something I could manage in a few weeks or months, and certainly not as long as my actions were still fueled by fury. I needed to make a plan that would guarantee our success once and for all.
Movement near the door attracted my attention and I turned my head toward it, and a sledgehammer of
emotions smashed into me.
Aria, all slender grace and long blonde hair, stood between her sisters. My eyes lingered on the dark shadows under her eyes, on the way her cheekbones had sharpened, on the way her dress hung from her body. Guilt crashed down on me but I squashed it. I had no reason to be guilty. She was the one who had betrayed me.
“Only on paper, that’s all, my ass,” Matteo muttered.
I tore my gaze away from Aria, steeling myself. I went over to the dining room table and took my usual seat. Matteo took his seat across from me, regarding me like I was about to lose my shit. If he didn’t stop the constant hovering soon, I would lose my shit on him.
After a moment of hesitation, Aria sank down beside me, and her sweet flowery scent flooded my nose.
She didn’t touch me, and I didn’t reach for her either.
Gianna sat across from me with a look of complete hatred. I stared back at her, giving her the full force of my Capo scowl, and eventually she looked away. I was done being tolerant. I was Capo, and I’d fucking act like one.
When Romero and Lily had taken their seats as well, Marianna came in with our food. She pursed her lips at me but didn’t say anything. We ate in silence for a while. Aria had barely touched her food, nor drunk any of her wine. Her hands shook as she held her fork.
I wouldn’t let her manipulate me into feeling guilty.
ARIA
Shortly after dinner, I had to excuse myself and stumbled into one of the guest bathrooms to throw up. Romero joined me a few minutes later. I was kneeling on the floor, arms propped up on the closed toilet lid and cheek resting on them.
Romero crouched beside me, voice soft. “Tell him, Aria.”
“He will think I want to use the pregnancy as a way to guilt him back to me. I won’t do that. I want him to return to me out of love, Romero.” My voice broke and tears sprang into my eyes.
Romero regarded me silently. This time he didn’t tell me Luca would come around. He straightened and held out his hand. I let him pull me to my feet and washed my hands and rinsed my mouth.
Holding my head high, I returned to the living and dining area but only found Lily and Gianna, huddling close together on the sofa.
“They went into the lounge to drink Scotch,” Gianna muttered.
“Oh,” I said quietly.
Despite my tiredness I stayed in the living room for as long as possible, hoping Luca would join us, but he didn’t and eventually I walked up to our bedroom and lay down. I wasn’t sure how much later it was when I heard the creak of the door. Turning around, my eyes found Luca’s tall form, and hope swelled in my chest.
“Luca?” I whispered.
He didn’t say anything, and I turned on the light. He was rummaging in the drawers and pulled out sweatpants before he turned to leave.
“Aren’t you going to stay?” I asked, hating how my voice shook.
His shoulders tensed under his shirt. He didn’t turn around as he spoke in a hard voice. “No. But I can fuck you if that’s what you want?”
I sucked in a shaky breath. “Don’t do this.”
Without another word, he left and after a moment, I turned off the lights with trembling fingers.
The next time he spoke to me was during breakfast the next morning, to inform me that we would be required to attend Senator Parker’s Sylvester party together. He returned to New York after that.
chapter 20
ARIA
“Do me a favor and don’t go,” Gianna pleaded. We’d been looking for new dresses for the party for close to two hours, and my nausea was becoming increasingly worse. I knew Gianna and Lily worried, but I couldn’t tell them. Luca was supposed to find out first, but how was that ever going to happen?
I browsed through the display of dresses. “It would raise questions if Luca went alone.”
“Aria, please.”
I glanced over my shoulder at my sister. Something in her voice worried me. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Gianna moved closer to me. “Matteo mentioned that Grace will be there.”
My fingers on the dress tightened. “I thought she was in England.”
“She was. She’s married to some rich English businessman but she will attend the party.”
I swallowed. “I can handle her.”
Gianna gripped my arm. “Aria this will get ugly. Don’t go. Please.”
I forced a smile. “Don’t worry about me.” I pulled out an elegant cream-colored floor-length dress, moved into the changing room and put it on. It was form-fitting with a low back. I scanned my stomach. Was it obvious that I was pregnant? Gianna poked her head in and I stiffened, but she only whistled. “Take that. You look breathtaking. Let Luca see what he is losing.”
No revealing dress would convince Luca to love me again. It didn’t work like that.
Sandro picked Gianna and me up in the mansion and took us to New York, where we met with Luca and Matteo in the garage of our apartment. Luca was dressed in a sleek black suit, accentuating his broad shoulders and narrow waist.
He didn’t bat an eye when he saw me in my dress. His face was stone, and his eyes froze my insides with their coldness. Without a word, I got into the passenger seat of his car. We drove in silence toward the Parker town house.
Before we got out, Luca turned to me but his eyes held no warmth. “We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, so we will act civil.” He raised his eyebrows in silent question and I gave a nod.
Luca got out and opened my door. I braced myself for what would happen but the moment Luca’s palm touched my naked back, every muscle in my body sprang to life with need and longing.
Luca’s fingers tensed against my skin, and I looked up but found his face completely blank. He led me toward the house without a word or glance.
Gianna and Matteo were already there, drinking champagne and talking. They seemed to be getting along better again, or perhaps they were being civil in public like Luca and me.
Luca led me toward them and dropped his hand the moment we arrived. “I will get us something to drink.” He didn’t wait for my reply and left.
Gianna scowled at his back before she gave me an encouraging smile. I tried to give her a smile in return, but her brows drew together. She stepped closer and gripped my arm. “Aria, don’t let him win. Don’t give him that power over you,” she whispered harshly.
I nodded and put on my public mask, head held high. Luca didn’t return and when I scanned the room, I found him in conversation with Senator Parker. That’s when I saw her. Grace Parker. Tall, gorgeous and dressed in a tight jumpsuit that left little to the imagination. She was alone, no English husband in sight. I remembered when I’d caught him with her, remembered the feeling of disappointment and sorrow, and I hadn’t even loved him back then.
Luca spotted her about the same time as I did, and his eyes didn’t move on from her. Was that how he wanted to punish me?
“He wouldn’t dare,” Gianna hissed.
Matteo’s reply came through the fog in my ears. “He won’t.”
Grace stepped up to Luca with a sexy smile, and Luca smirked. I remembered that look from the photos I’d seen of him in his bachelor days—like a man who knew what he had to offer and who took what women offered him.
My stomach constricted so hard, sickness washed over me. I turned on my heel and hurried into the bathroom at the end of the corridor. I barely managed to close the door and reach the toilet before I threw up, retching violently until nothing was left in my stomach. Beads of sweat coated my forehead. I reached for the flush with trembling fingers.
Gianna’s soft knock sounded a few moments later. “Aria, let me in.”
I faced the mirror and touched my stomach.
“Aria, please let me help you.”
She couldn’t help me. This was a battle I had to fight alone because it was a fight against my heart.
Luca’s words from weeks ago flashed in my mind: We are done.
Yes, we were.
LUCA
Grace circled me like a vulture. She’d married some old fucker with millions in his bank account, but now she eye-fucked me like she’d done in the past.
“Have you gotten bored of your wife already? I told you she couldn’t satisfy you.”
“Don’t talk about her,” I said in warning. She seemed to have forgotten my warning from last time.
Matteo raised his eyebrows at me from across the room. I didn’t see Aria or Gianna anywhere, and I was fucking glad. Aria in that almost white dress, like a fucking apparition, a fucking angel.
A weakness.
“I’m not here to talk, don’t worry,” she purred. My eyes were drawn to her cleavage.
“What are you here for then?” I asked with a curl of my lip.
“To fuck.” She smiled. “Come on, Luca.”
I followed a few steps behind her, my eyes on her ass in that joke of a jumpsuit. She led me into her old bedroom, a room I had good memories of.
Grace closed the door and turned to me, licking her red lips. “Oh, I missed having your cock in me, Luca,” she crooned as she stepped up to me and leaned in to kiss me.
“No kissing,” I growled, glaring down at her. She pouted but didn’t try again. I had never liked kissing her, now less than ever.
Her long nails raked down my chest, then lower. I had to fight the urge to shove her hand away. I wasn’t hard yet, not even close. Her touch actually fucking disgusted me.
Confusion flickered on her face, then a daring smile. “Playing hard to get?”
“One of us has to,” I muttered, hating her and hating myself.
She flushed but didn’t let my harshness deter her. She got on her knees, making an innocent face. It looked fucking fake. And it had the opposite effect on me than she intended. I remembered Aria’s innocent smiles, her innocent touches as I’d made her mine.
