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A baby.

Matteo’s baby.

The man I just watched kill my brother.

A broken sigh escapes me as I stumble back against the counter, my stomach twisting into knots. My mind is a tangled mess of thoughts, none of them making sense, none of them offering relief.

Five minutes and thirty-four seconds. That’s how long the video was. That’s how long it took for my husband to shoot down my brother.

What the hell am I going to do?

I shake my head, whispering to myself, “No. No, this isn’t real.”

My brother is dead, and the man I love—the man whose child I am carrying—pulled the trigger. For weeks, I have mourned the death of my brother—my father’s sole heir. The entire reason I had to get married in the first place.

Now it all makes sense. Giacomo’s words to me the gala ring loudly in my head like a resounding gong. They clang against my skull with no remorse.

A sob claws up my throat, but I swallow it down, pressing my hand over my mouth. I can’t afford to break. Not yet. I don’t know how long I stand there, staring at nothing, lost in my own storm. Eventually, a soft knock at the door startles me back to reality.

“Signora?” One of Matteo’s men speaks from behind my door. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

A pause. Then, “Do you need anything?”

I shake my head even though he can’t see me. “No. I just need a moment.”

Another hesitation. “Very well, Signora. I can send for a doctor if you need it.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Okay, you can just call if you need anything.” I hear the footsteps retreat from the door.

I release a slow, shaky breath, forcing my body to move. I can’t stay here.

With trembling hands, I walk back into the bathroom, and I wrap the pregnancy test in tissue and tuck it deep into the trash bin, as if hiding it could make it less real. As if pretending it doesn’t exist will stop the reality from closing in on me.

I move on autopilot, walking back to the bedroom. The laptop is still on the bed, the flash drive plugged in, the black screen like a gaping void, pulling me back into the nightmare.I force myself to shut it, tucking the drive away where Matteo won’t find it. Not yet.

Not until I know what to do.

Because right now, I don’t.

I have no answers. No plan. No idea how to move past the crushing weight of knowing that my child’s father is also my brother’s killer.

All I have is this secret growing inside me. And a truth that could destroy everything—that has destroyed everything.

What the hell am I supposed to do…

Carry his child while burying my brother?

Love a man I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forgive?

And the worst part?

I don’t even know if I want to.

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