Page 128 of Bellini Bound

Hollow. That was the only way to describe how I felt. Like all my insides had been scooped out. Which, considering I’d recently had several internal organs removed, wasn’t that far off the mark.

For days, I stared blankly at the wall of the ICU room, completely unresponsive when doctors and nurses came in to check on my recovery. I was too busy wallowing in my misery to even acknowledge Enzo anytime he tried speaking to me.

The pregnancy had been a complete surprise, but a welcome one. My dreams of motherhood were finally being realized, and even though it would take Enzo some time to get used to the idea of fatherhood, I knew eventually he’d come around and be happy about our unexpected bundle of joy.

But now there was no baby, and those dreams were dead and buried.

How did anyone who’d suffered this kind of unimaginable loss find the strength to get out of bed when it hurt to even breathe?

After a week, the staples were removed from my incision site, and I was transferred to a room on the surgical rehab floor, where I would receive inpatient physical therapy before being discharged.

The morning I was scheduled to be sent home, Enzo sat down on the chair beside my bed with a sigh. “You don’t have to talk, but I need you to listen, Allie.”

I kept my eyes trained on my favorite spot on the wall.

“Your father’s been asking to see you.”

That sure as hell snapped me out of my near-catatonic state. Head whipping around to stare at Enzo—whose appearance looked as rough as I felt—I let out a bark of disbelieving laughter before I uttered a single-word answer. “No.”

My husband nodded. “I don’t blame you for never wanting to lay eyes on that sorry excuse for a man again. And I know I have no right to evenput this on you, but he claims to have information about the person who has been working against us for the past year, possibly longer. It’s an enemy we’ve struggled to identify ourselves, and he’s willing to give us their name if he can see you.”

I silently absorbed that information before speaking. “Does this person pose a threat to our family’s safety?”

“To this point, they’ve killed anyone who helped them undermine our organization from the shadows, so I’d say yes.”

The Bellinis had become my family, and the thought of anyone hurting one of them, or worse, meant I needed to put my personal feelings aside and do my part to help unmask the man—or woman—responsible for putting their lives in danger.

“I’ll do it.”

Enzo did a double-take. “What?”

Firming my resolve, my voice came out stronger when I repeated myself. “I said I’ll do it.”

“Allie, if it’s too much—”

“Oh, it’sdefinitelytoo much, but I refuse to be the reason anyone else I care about ends up in a hospital bed or loses a loved one.”

Shaking his head, he muttered, “Selfless to a fault.”

I had no desire to dissect how painfully accurate that statement was. Because if I hadn’t thrown myself in front of my husband when that gun went off, I would still be pregnant. But who knew if Enzo would be alive if I’d let him take that shot?

There had been no winning scenario that night. Either way, someone I loved more than myself was going to wind up dead.

“Where is he?” I asked, steering the conversation back on track.

“The basement. Been there the whole time.”

Of course. That was Enzo’s favorite place to torture and kill, so it made sense that it would be the location where my father was being held.

“Then we’ll go straight there once I’m discharged,” I declared.

Enzo took my hand. It was the first time I’d allowed him to touch me since learning I’d lost our baby. “You really don’t have to do this.”

“I’m not the naïve girl you married anymore, Enzo. I know he would already be dead if you didn’t believe the information he claims to have is valuable. Just like I know you’ve exhausted every effort to pry it out of him yourself before coming to me. So, yes, I do have to do this because it sounds like there isn’t any choice when it comes to protecting this family.”

“Okay, you’re right,” he agreed, ceasing his efforts to talk me out of granting his request. “I just hate that I even have to put you in this position. It’s not fair.”

Humorless laughter fell from my lips. “Nothing about any of this is fair.”