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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Mya

Where was Dario?

He’d been gone all day.

As I sat in the library overlooking the grounds, part of me was worried that he was off doing something that he would regret, but then again, he didn’t seem like the kind of person to have regrets.

The violence of last night had scared me. The cold look on Dario’s face and the way he calmly sat there while Hortensio bled from a stab wound he’d inflicted was something I couldn’t unsee.

He hadn’t cared about the man’s pain or his wife’s screams. He’d been indifferent, as if a man bleeding all over the floor was just your typical day. In his world, maybe it was.

I wondered yet again why he had let me witness that. I remembered how he had looked at me when I gasped in horror as he stabbed Hortensio.

I sort of felt like it had been a test. I still don’t know if I passed or failed.

A sane person would have probably called the police or run screaming from the restaurant.

Instead, once I calmed down, I realized that the incident was sickening, but I’d been an eyewitness to a crime he committed. He could blackmail me after what I saw him do.

If he threw me under the bus, I could drag him down with me, but for once, it finally felt like he didn’t have the upper hand.

When I found the files on his computer, I thought it would be easy to figure out what was inside them, but given that they were encrypted, all my efforts had proved useless.

I didn’t have an IT background. I didn’t know how to hack into anyone’s personal information.

In fact, I’d been on the verge of sending the files to Luis the other night as a plan B. Just as I was about to press send, I thought about what Dario had done to Hortensio. I thought about how easily and nonchalantly he used violence as a means to an end.

I didn’t want Luis exposed to that, so I deleted the email and went back to bed. Now, after witnessing what Dario was capable of, I knew I couldn’t risk getting Luis involved.

The violence from the other night proved to me that I had been right about Dario and his family. I didn’t want my child raised among killers.

I had to get out of there before I started to show, before he knew that I carried his child.

“Good afternoon, Mya.”

I jumped, startled. Where had he come from?

His eyes studied mine. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“I didn’t know you were here. When did you get back?”

“A few minutes ago.” He sat across from me and reached for an apple, taking a bite but not taking his eyes off me. “I felt you get out of bed last night. Where’d you go?”

I swallowed hard. He knew I left the room last night. Did he know what I was up to?

“What do you mean?”

I figured playing dumb was the best defense. I didn’t have a good poker face, but I hoped, for my sake, I would learn to disguise my true emotions quickly.

“You got out of bed and were gone for a bit.”

I shrugged. “I can’t remember. I probably went to get a drink of water.”

He took another bite of his apple and stared at me. “Really? So that’s it?”

His eyes bore into mine as if daring me to lie. I had to resist the urge to break eye contact. I felt if I did, it would be an admission of guilt.

Hoping I looked innocent enough, I shrugged my shoulders in what I hoped was a carefree manner. “Am I not allowed to go to the kitchen after hours?”

His eyebrows shot up. “Allowed? You act as if this is a prison.”

“Isn’t it?”

I was goading him, hoping he would change the subject or get angry and walk away. He simply sighed and said, “What did you want to do today?”

“Nothing.” I meant it. I was feeling incredibly tired.

It was emotionally draining worrying about the baby, worrying about myself, trying to stay one step ahead of Dario.

I didn’t even recognize my own emotions. Some days, I hated him, and other days, I found myself appreciating this life, appreciating that I didn’t have to work so hard for my survival.

Jason and I hadn’t had a lot of money as a couple, and growing up, I hadn’t either. I always wondered how the other half lived and now I was that other half.

It should have been like a fairytale for me, but I was married to a violent offender and having his baby. There was nothing about my life that was like a fairy tale.

No matter how upset I was, I knew that I had to keep the charade up. There were things he wasn’t telling me.

We were both keeping secrets, but I had a feeling mine would be a gamechanger. I couldn’t have him catching on.

“Well, let me know if you’d like to do something off the island. I don’t have any plans this evening.”

“No people to stab?” I couldn’t help but say. Something about his face changed, and I knew I had pushed too far.

He stood up and excused himself. I felt stupid. Wasn’t I trying not to alienate him? I had to do better. I had to find a way to gain back his trust.

After our brief conversation, he wasn’t around much that day. I didn’t see him in any of his usual places. And he hadn’t joined me for dinner.

Something was wrong.

I should have been happy to have the place to myself, but he was my only company when the rest of the staff left, which was usually right after dinner.

Where was he?

I found him in his office, dozing in a chair. For an unguarded moment, I stared at him. There were glasses next to his computer. I didn’t know he wore reading glasses.

I reached out to touch his shoulder, to wake him up, and his hand grabbed mine before I could, his eyes shooting open. Clearly, he was impossible to sneak up on, even while asleep.

“It’s just me,” I said pulling away.

Instantly, he let me go. He stood up and said, “You caught me off guard. Did I hurt you?” He took my hand in his and looked at it.

He rubbed my hand as he inspected it, sending chills down my spine at his simple touch. I didn’t pull away. In that unguarded moment, his concern seemed genuine.

Feeling manipulative, but knowing it had to be done, I wrapped my hand around his and squeezed it before saying, “I’m fine. I just thought you would be uncomfortable sleeping in that chair.”

It was the first time I’d taken his hand unprompted. I think he noticed, because he seemed to not want to let me go.

He didn’t in fact. He sat down in his office chair, and brought me down into his lap. He wrapped an arm around my waist. I resisted the urge to lean my body against his and inhale his scent.

“Did I miss dinner?”

I nodded. It felt odd to pretend that I was okay with this moment of easy affection between us, but it felt even odder to know it wasn’t fully pretend.

Maybe in a different time, in a different life…if he hadn’t been a Mafia kingpin who had bulldozed me into being his wife…maybe I would have cared about him and he would have truly cared about me.

Remembering that, I moved to stand up, but he stopped me. The look was back in his eyes, cold and calculating.

I didn’t like it when he was like this. I didn’t like it when he looked at me as if I were an object he possessed.

The look drove me crazy and made my skin crawl. It was as if he weren’t seeing me. He was just seeing something he wanted to control. I wanted to be more than that.

I pushed against him, and this time when I pulled away, he let me go. His face masked his anger at my need for space away from him.

Sometimes it felt like we were playing a game of cat and mouse. Our dynamic was toxic. He was keeping me here and isolating me on purpose.

I had been attracted to him from the start, but his family’s crimes against mine and the wall he put up around himself meant there would never be anything between us. At least, that’s what I told myself when I found myself missing his touch and those unguarded moments where he actually made me feel seen.

I went to walk away when suddenly the room felt like it was spinning. I clutched at the desk, missing the edge with my shaky fingers, and my heart beat hard as I almost went crashing to the floor before Dario caught me.

“Mya? Are you all right?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know what came over me. I just felt dizzy all of a sudden.”

I pushed away from his hands and tried to take another step, but the vertigo hit me again, this time more intensely.

He reached out and caught me again. This time he picked me up. I tried to protest, but I couldn’t trust my own voice, let alone my own feet at that moment.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you,” he said.

And for that moment, I had no other choice but to let him take care of me. He carried me over to the couch and set me down gently. He sat next to me and stretched my legs across his lap as he reached for his phone.

“Who are you calling?”

He ignored me but I heard the conversation. A doctor. He was calling a doctor. Panic overwhelmed me.

“I’m fine, there’s no need to call a doctor.” I prayed that the doctor he called didn’t make house calls.

My prayer went unanswered. With a stubborn tilt of his chin, he said, “You’re not feeling well. He’s on his way.”

“No!”

“Now isn’t the time to be willful, Mya. Clearly, something is wrong. And Dr. Kali has been our family doctor for eons. You have nothing to worry about. I trust him completely. He’ll take care of you. He’s the best doctor in the city.”

That’s exactly what I was worried about. I couldn’t have him take one look at me and discover my secret.

I was pretty sure that a doctor associated with the Mafia wasn’t exactly the type to obey HIPAA.

I wanted to run away from my situation but I couldn’t. It was too late now.

Despondent, I watched as the doctor was welcomed into the house. He was a silver-haired older gentleman. He was wearing wire-rimmed glasses and dressed impeccably in a three-piece suit.

I was surprised that he smiled so easily and there was an unspoken ease and camaraderie between him and Dario.

Some of his mannerisms reminded me of Dario’s. Not to mention, they both had flawless style and eyes that were so hard to read. This was being done against my wishes, but I did not bother to protest because I knew it would be useless.

I made my way to Dario’s office so that the doctor could look me over. As he examined me, he scribbled notes in a leather-bound journal.

I stayed silent, only answering his questions in a yes or no format.

“So, how’s married life treating you?” he asked as he listened to my heart.

“Fine. Perfect,” I replied. My first answer that wasn’t a yes or a no.

He pulled the stethoscope from his ears and folded his hands in front of him. His eyes looked deeply into mine.

“Dario’s family has been under my care for the past forty years.”

“So, you must have seen a lot.”

I didn’t know what else to say. I was already feeling defeated.

Tonight, Dario would find out my secret. What would that mean for me and for my child? I held back tears as every possibility I thought of ended badly.

“Yes, my dear. More than you can imagine.” His voice sounded regretful. What had he seen? What did he know?

“I think I’m feeling better now. I’m sorry Dario made you come out this way.” I knew that the exam wasn’t over, but I wanted him gone.

“I don’t live far from the island. And a boat ride in the early evening can be quite invigorating.”

His smile was wry and I liked the way his eyes crinkled with humor. “Either way, I think I’m done here. Don’t you?”

That was fast. What kind of doctor was he?

We exchanged a look, and I realized that he suspected. He suspected, but he could tell that I wasn’t ready to tell anyone about my condition.

Gratefully, I stood up, the vertigo gone.

“Again, I’m sorry that you had to come all this way for nothing. You can tell Dario that I’m completely fine.”

He smiled just a little bit and said sadly, “We both know that’s not true.”

And then he directed his gaze toward my stomach. Instinctively, I crossed my arms over it and then forced myself to drop my hands away.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re pregnant, Mya. I don’t need a urine or a blood test to tell me that. Do you know how I met Dario’s father? It was while I was doing rotations at a home for unwed mothers. I’m not an OB, but all your symptoms scream pregnancy.”

I turned pale. I had thought we were going to be of one mind about this. Was he going to tell Dario after all?

I felt dizzy again, and he reached out and ushered me to a seat.

“Do you think he knows?”

He shook his head. “Doubtful. But you won’t be able to hide this from him for much longer. He’s an astute, observant young man.”

Tears began to fall down my face, “I don’t know what to do.” The words came out as a whisper.

“For now, you just need to keep the baby safe. No matter what.”

“I’m trying…I just…I don’t know how to do that,” I wiped away my tears and turned to look at the doctor, taking his hand. “Please don’t tell him. I just need time to figure this all out.”

The doctor was silent for a long moment and then gently patted my hand. He stood up, reached for his coat, and shrugged it on.

Then he reached for his journal, looking down at his fancy shoes as he absently traced the edges of the leather-bound book. He appeared deep in thought.

Finally, he looked up, reached for his bag, took out a package of pills, and pressed them into my hands.

“This will help with the nausea and dizziness. I’ll keep your secret, Mya.” Awkwardly, he patted my shoulder. “No matter the cost.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, but he was already gone.

Could I trust him? I wondered. It didn’t matter. The truth was that I couldn’t hide my secret for much longer.

I needed to get out.