Page 101 of Thorns of Desire

She laughed, the sound bitter and angry. “And be left at the Triads’ mercy? No, thank you. As long as you were with me, their protection touched me too. Besides, they both recognized that if you went to live with them, the Triads would learn that you survived. Cutting off all connections with you was safer for you.”

My head understood everything she was telling me, but my heart struggled to keep up. I didn’t know how she could be so indifferent and use me in this way. My baby wasn’t even born yet and I already knew I’d rather die than do anything that could even remotely cause her or him harm.

“Why would you be at your lover’s whims?” A lot of things still made no sense and my mind was revolting trying to comprehend the depth of my mother’s schemes. “Why tell me it was thanks to them that you could support me? Or that you needed their protection?”

“You can be so naive,” she scoffed, her voice chilling me even through the phone. “I knew Danil and Lykos would cut me off from you and take away their protection at the first opportune moment. And now they have. So I’ll do what I must to survive.”

Then the line went dead, and for several heartbeats, I stared at my phone, my mother’s name staring back at me as the last call, and her long gone.

FORTY-ONE

ATHENA

The local Ob/Gyn on the island that Manuel and I selected was a female with a local office only twenty minutes from our home. Doctor Ferrari was in her late twenties and beautiful, but it was her bedside manner that had me thrilled with her. Not that Dr. Alleghri’s bedside manner was bad, but Manuel made it clear no male doctor would be delivering our baby.

It was a small compromise I gave in—partly because I didn’t want a male doctor staring at my muff on a regular basis because when my stomach got round and big, there was no doubt there would be a forest dominating my coochie.

Yeah, a female doctor was so much better.

“Could I get a recording of it, please?” I asked Dr. Ferrari as I pulled my dress back over my head. My heart was still heavy, but seeing my baby on the sonogram and hearing the strong heartbeat eased some of that weight. “Manuel was so grumpy he couldn’t make it today.”

“Certamente. I was surprised to seeSignoreMarchetti wasn’t at your side.”

I smiled as I turned around to face the young female doctor. We clicked from our first visit, and I was so grateful she’d be delivering my baby when the time came.

“He got pulled in for a meeting at the last minute,” I explained, smiling. “I tried to tell him not much would change from last week.”

She chuckled. “It’s good he’s so invested.”

I nodded. “He’s been amazing so far, but sometimes it’s nice to go out alone.”

“You’re independent. Italian men aren’t used to that.”

I smiled softly, smoothing a hand down my still-flat stomach. “I actually don’t mind it as much as I thought I would.”

“Because you love him,” she said gently, drawing my eyes to her in surprise. “It’s easy to see. And he loves you. You’ll have a beautiful family.”

My heartbeat skipped, then fluttered in my chest. Did I love Manuel? I’d always subscribed to my mother’s views on love, but ever since discovering the truth about my upbringing, I’d started to see things differently.

So maybe that meant?—

A loud thud startled me out of my thoughts and Umbrio busted through the door, looking dangerous and frazzled in a dark suit, his earpiece visible. The guy was at least six and a half feet tall and had the muscle mass of a mountain.

“Hey, I could have been naked,” I protested.

“Never mind that,” he said, flicking a glance at the doctor. “Is there another way out of here?”

Two more guards entered before one slumped to the ground. He was spread eagle, blood pooling all around him with a large slash across his back.

“What’s happening?” I asked, my eyes darting between my guards. “Umbrio?”

He barked orders in Italian that I couldn’t follow.

“Cazzo,” Dr. Ferrari muttered, her demeanor calmer than mine. “The emergency exit is down the hallway. It’ll make you an open target.”

The sound of a gunshot pierced the air and the men sprung into action, surrounding me and the doctor.

“Shit, I’m so sorry,” I said, taking the woman’s hand in mine, although I wasn’t sure whether it was to comfort her or myself.