Page 18 of Saint Of Envy (Tangled Hearts, Sinful Hands #2)

VALENTINA

B eing kidnapped while pregnant is not what the doctor ordered. In fact, it’s completely contrary to what the doctor recommended when he told me to keep things “low stress,” but it’s not as if I have any control at all over what is going on right now.

“I told you, I’ve already taken a pregnancy test,” I argue with Leonardo as he pushes another test toward me. “I’ve already been seen by the doctor, and my pregnancy has also been confirmed. I don’t need to take another test.”

“Call me overly cautious,” Leonardo sneers. “I want to see it for myself. You’re also going to take a different test just as soon as the doctor I’ve called arrives here.”

“What kind of test?” I ask with creeping anxiety.

“One that will give me a clear and definitive answer regarding whose baby it is that you’re carrying inside your womb—a paternity test.”

The thought of taking these tests under Leonardo’s supervision turns my stomach.

Not only do I not want him knowing anything about me and my child, but I also don’t want him finding out with certainty that the baby is Luc’s.

Obviously, it disturbed me when he sent that note to the hotel suite and hinted at the possibility of it being his, and part of me wants that confirmation of a paternity test that it indeed is not.

But I’m also well aware that if he finds out the child isn’t his, it will put me and my baby in even graver danger.

Despite my concerns, though, there’s really no way out of this.

I just wish Luciano would figure out where I am and come rescue me, just like he did outside the cathedral in Italy.

But that time, he knew exactly where I was.

Thanks to my father’s involvement with Barone and Leonardo Conti, I don’t think anyone other than the confused nurse at the clinic who saw me leave out the back door knows what has happened to me.

She also doesn’t know where they took me.

The situation feels desperate. My short flight of freedom with Luc might be the last time I’m ever allowed to spread my wings again.

I try to hold my emotions together and not despair as I take the pregnancy test, like Leonardo demands of me. While I wait for the expected positive sign in the test window, I stay in the bathroom for a moment of quiet solitude before going out and having to face him again.

“Time to come out,” Leonardo beckons with a sharp knock on the door after not over ten minutes have passed. “The doctor is here.”

I walk out and hand over the positive pregnancy test, eyeing the doctor that Leonardo apparently has on call. The man looks a lot less wise and friendly than the doctor at the medical clinic. This guy looks the part of “mafia doc” and he has the bedside manner to match.

“Open your mouth, please,” he instructs as he pulls a swab out of his black bag.

I do as I’m told because I know better than to defy any of Leonardo’s men. It won’t matter how much I protest. They’ll force me to do as I’m told, regardless. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way before.

After the test, Leonardo will soon receive the results and decide my fate and my unborn child’s fate. Before the doctor leaves, he also insists on a blood draw.

“Why so many tests?” I ask as he raises a brow at the fact that I have the audacity to ask questions at all. “And how long before the results come back?”

“Efficiency and accuracy, my dear,” he smirks as he glances at Leonardo out of the corner of his eyes. “Mr. Conti doesn’t want any mistakes to be made or any false results. I’ll have the results back by tomorrow evening.”

“Tomorrow?” I ask in surprise, having thought that the results would at least take several days, if not more than a week.

“I can usually offer Mr. Conti my same-day service, but some things take a little more time,” the doctor replies as he jabs me with a needle.

As much as I want all of this to be over, I don’t want it to end badly. Tomorrow is too soon. Luc doesn’t have enough time to find and rescue me before Leonardo discovers the baby isn’t his.

Once the blood draw is complete, I take a few steps backward, wanting to put as much space as possible between me and these awful men, even though I’m still stuck inside the same room with them.

But the blood collection, combined with stress and nerves, and the fact that I haven’t eaten, makes me momentarily dizzy and off-balance.

Leonardo reaches out a hand to steady me, and I instantly try to wrench my arm away from him.

But his grip is tight, and he holds fast, pulling me over to a chair that he practically shoves me down into.

He asks one of his men to bring me a glass of juice, and when it’s handed to me, I don’t refuse it because I’m determined to keep my baby safe and nourished throughout this whole ordeal.

Leonardo pulls up a chair and sits beside me as if he’s planning on staying for the duration of this waiting period.

I sip my juice and look away from him, not wanting to look at such a hideous man who can do such terrible things.

I hated Leonardo Conti even before this, but now I truly despise him more than anything else in the world.

While we sit, his phone rings.

“Ah, yes, Angelo, the doctor just left. I’m just waiting here, keeping my pretty pet comfortable for the time being until I get the results.

” Leonardo places the call on speaker so that I can hear Angelo Barone as well, likely only to torment and taunt me, and to remind me it’s these men who will decide my fate, not me.

“Did you decide what you’re going to do if the kid belongs to Luciano Moretti?” Angelo asks, as if intentionally trying to stir the pot.

“If the child is mine, then Valentina and I will marry right away.”

My stomach turns upon hearing that proclamation.

“No wedding ceremony this time, just the legal paperwork drawn up to ensure that she belongs to me and that the child, as soon as she pops it out, will become my property,” Leonardo continues.

“And if it doesn’t belong to you?” Angelo asks. His tone indicates that he’s almost gleeful, already knowing or expecting what the answer will be.

“Then I’ll make her abort the bastard, and we will go about selling Valentina at one of my special auctions so that I can get the money back I loaned out to her pathetic excuse for a father.”

I turn abruptly to look at Leonardo in horror. “You’re going to kill my child?” I ask, feeling a cold terror sweep over me.

“Now, now, dear,” he smirks. “It’s more of a conglomeration of cells, really. It will only become a child if it is mine and allowed to survive inside of you. Otherwise—what’s that saying? Oh yes, we’ll simply flush the baby out with the bathwater.”

“You’re a monster!” I hiss at him.

“Perhaps, but I’m an obscenely wealthy one, and you’d better hope you fetch me a good price at auction if it comes to that.

Because if I can’t recoup my financial loss over your father’s loan by selling you for a hearty price, then my only other option is to sell you for slaughter, much like a prized pig who has outlived its time in the barn.

I know at least one buyer who would like to see you killed. ”

His eyes dart down toward the phone, implying that Angelo Barone would pay at least a small sum for the pleasure of killing me.

“I’ve done nothing to cross the Barones,” I say, confused over why Angelo would hate me enough to want me dead.

“True,” Angelo says over the phone. “But the Moretti family has done plenty to vex me and make my life difficult. I owe Vincent and Luciano a debt of pain that I intend to repay in full. Killing you would inflict pain on Luciano Moretti, and that would bring me a lot of satisfaction. And don’t worry, we’ll be coming to get Isla as well.

By the end of this, both Moretti men will regret ever crossing me—and ever doubting the power and reach of the Barone family.

They will pay for what they have done to me, and you and your pretty ballerina friend will pay for their actions too. ”

The waiting feels like forever. Leonardo comes and goes, leaving me in this room alone to ponder my fate and drive me crazy with worry over the life of my unborn baby.

And when the next day rolls around, I’ve barely slept more than a few minutes at a time in this cold room as I slouch against the uncomfortable chair.

I can already tell by the look on Leonardo’s face as he enters that the test results are contrary to what he would have liked to have been told.

This time, he's not alone as he walks in—Angelo Barone is beside him.

Angelo looks like a rabid dog, eager to sink its teeth into his pound of flesh.

Leonardo strides toward me with narrowed eyes and a grim expression. Even the perfectly pressed suit that he’s wearing can’t hide the chaos of anger within him. He doesn’t say a single word to me. Instead, he grabs me by the arm, pulls me up from my seat, and snaps me around.

“Careful!” Angelo calls out to my surprise. “Don’t damage the merchandise. The auction is too close for that.”

That settles it then—the paternity test came back so the baby I’m carrying is Luc’s. I know I should feel nothing more than fear over what is about to happen to me, but I can’t help feeling a moment of relieved joy because, just like I thought, the unborn child within me is Luc’s.

That brief moment is fleeting when Leonardo pulls a pill out of his pocket and shoves a bottle of water into my hand.

“Take it!” he shouts as he glares at me. “Take the pill.”

“What is it?” I ask, knowing full well that it’s meant to terminate my pregnancy.

“It’s your last chance at staying alive and being sold for a good price,” he growls. “Swallow it, Valentina.”

“No.”

My defiance only serves to enrage Leonardo even further.

He waves for one of his men to come into the room and pin my arms behind my back.

Angelo watches from the other side of the room, taking sick pleasure because the woman his enemy cares about is being subjected to such treatment.

Leonardo pinches my nose with one hand and forces my mouth open with the other.

I do all that I can to free myself. And when I can’t, I do all that I can not to swallow that pill.

But Leonardo shoves the tiny pill inside my mouth and presses it against the back of my cheek where it quickly dissolves.

There’s nothing I can do to stop it, and nothing that I can do to save the tiny little life inside of me from the effects of that drug.

Tears roll down my cheeks, and when Leonardo and his goons let me go, I crumble into a sobbing heap on the floor. I may not have expected this baby, but I wanted it. How will I ever face Luc after this? Will I even survive what’s about to happen to me and ever find freedom again?

“Stop your blathering,” Leonardo scolds as he walks out of the room. “You need to get cleaned up and beautified so that you present well tomorrow at the auction.”

Angelo and the other man follow him out, and before the door closes, the same old woman who fitted me for my wedding dress inside the cathedral in Italy steps inside.

“Oh dear,” she says as she comes to take my hands and lift me up to my feet. “See? If you had only listened to me back in Italy, then none of this would have ever happened. When will girls like you learn?”

“Learn what?” I snap angrily at her as tears continue to roll down my cheeks. “That we are nothing more than things to be owned by terrible men?”

For a moment, I think I see a glimpse of sympathy in her old eyes. But a dutiful, emotionless stare quickly replaces it.

“No, that if you don’t embrace the fact that you are nothing more than the property of a powerful, very dangerous mafia king, this will be your fate.

I tried to warn you, but you didn’t listen.

And now, instead of that lovely wedding dress inside that lovely church on the Mediterranean, they will guise you up and sell you like a whore at auction.

There is no fight left in you, girl—or at least there shouldn’t be.

Because you cannot win against Leonardo Conti, and neither can that Romeo Moretti man of yours—he’s no knight in shining armor that is going to swoop in and save you this time, and he’s no Saint. None of them are.”

She’s right, and Leonardo Conti wins. He broke me, and he stole my child from me, and now there is no more fight left in me.

I stand there, staring vacantly at the mirror the old woman has brought in as she ties my hair back into a tight ponytail behind my head, and she dresses me to be sold.

She chatters just as she did in the dressing room at the church, but I don’t hear her words.

I’m simply swimming inside my head right now, thinking of nothing other than the beautiful future and family with Luciano I almost had.

It isn’t until she’s almost finished dressing me up that something she says slips through the fog. I don’t know what she was talking about mere moments before, but I catch the tail end of her sentiment.

“Besides, sometimes those things don’t even work. Modern medicine can’t defeat miracles.”

“What?” I ask as I break out of my stupor. “What are you talking about?”

“The abortion pill,” she frowns as she repeats herself. “Sometimes, those pills don’t even work. Medicine is not the same as a miracle.”

“That’s what I need right now,” I whisper under my breath. “A miracle.”

“What did you say?” she asks.

“Nothing.”