A long while later, heavy footsteps sounded in the courtyard.
"Boss, you're back. The lady refuses to eat."
"I'll handle it."
I wiped my tears in a rush, but my swollen, red-rimmed eyes gave me away.
Omero crouched in front of me and reached up to brush his thumb beneath my eyes, his voice aching with tenderness. "Crying and refusing to eat. Who's been bullying my Penny?"
"The little one in my belly, of course."
Omero went still for a fraction of a second, then broke into what looked like stunned delight. "Really? I'm going to be a father?"
"Really."
My heart was a cold cellar, but for the sake of my child, I had no choice but to play along. Somewhere beyond the compound walls, a car engine idled. One of his soldiers making rounds. The sound of the world going on as if nothing in this room mattered at all.
"Omero, what if... I'm just saying what if... you don't want this baby. I'll raise it on my own. I won't be a burden to you. Would that be all right?"
Something guarded flickered behind his eyes, but he forced a smile. His right hand moved to the inside of his left wrist and pressed there, just for a moment. "What are you talking about? How could I not love a child you gave me?"
"Come on, stop overthinking. Let's eat."
I looked at the table laden with dishes and turned my head away. The kitchen staff had prepared everything the way they always did — heavy plates, good silver, cloth napkins folded precisely. The household ran like a legitimate operation. Everything proper. Everything a lie.
Omero picked up a forkful of greens and set it on my plate, his voice soft. "Just a few bites. The baby needs you to eat."
He looked so devoted. How could any of it be an act?
But I knew. All of it was a lie.
"I really can't..."
His patience snapped. "You won't eat, but the baby has to. Stop acting like a child!"
He seized my jaw, fingers digging in, and tried to force the food into my mouth. The grip was the grip of a man accustomed to making people do what he wanted. Not a husband's hand. A capo's.
I wrenched free, but I understood his resolve now.
Despair closed over me like water. I blinked back tears and picked up my fork. "I'll eat."
Once this meal was finished, everything would be over.
In the dead of night, the pain tore through my abdomen. Blood seeped from between my legs, spreading across the sheets in a slow, dark stain.
Omero called out toward the door, and Dr. Pastore walked in at once, as though he had been waiting just outside. He was already rolling his sleeves, wiping his hands on a cloth with a thoroughness that had nothing to do with hygiene.
The agony had blurred my vision, but I still heard Dr. Pastore's careful, measured words: "Boss, the lady's previous miscarriage already damaged her body. If we don't intervene now, she may never conceive again."
Silence. The room held its breath. Then Omero spoke. "It doesn't matter. Do as I told you. When I take a woman someday and she bears children, I'll give one to Penelope to raise in her old age."
"Understood, Boss."
So it was true. He thought I was filthy. He had never wanted a child with me.
The last ember of hope inside me turned to ash.
Dr. Pastore was still working to save me when one of Chloe Volpe's attendants burst through the door. "Boss, the Don's daughter-in-law has been suffering from stomach pains today. She's requesting Dr. Pastore come examine her."
Omero's expression changed instantly, open concern written across every line of his face. Without a moment's hesitation, he grabbed Dr. Pastore by the arm and pulled him toward the door. A man who wouldn't lift a finger to save the child in my womb moved like the compound was on fire for Chloe Volpe's stomachache.
Ruby Ferraro, my attendant, threw herself at Omero's legs and clung on. "Boss, if you take Dr. Pastore now, the lady will die!"
"La Principessa only has a stomachache. Any Family doctor can see to that. But my lady is hanging by a thread..."
"Please, Boss, have mercy on her..."
"Insolent wretch! La Principessa is the Don's daughter-in-law. Who are you, a servant, to decide her care?"
Omero's mind was already gone from this room. He kicked Ruby aside and tossed an order at the household staff without looking back. "Make some broth. Keep her alive."
"The moment La Principessa is fine, I'll bring Dr. Pastore back."
Ruby scrambled to follow, but I stopped her. "Ruby, don't. Let him go."
Her eyes were swollen and red. She pressed her thumbnail hard into the pad of her index finger until the skin went white. She looked at me, heartbroken. "My lady, wait for me. I'll go find a doctor."
