When I opened my eyes, the sharp scent of antiseptic and rubbing alcohol filled the air.
"You are finally awake." A man sat beside my bed, his posture untouched by exhaustion. He wore a dark suit, jacket unbuttoned, his sleeves rolled to the forearm as though he'd been sitting there for hours without once shifting his weight. "If there had been even a minute of delay last night, the baby would have suffocated."
I sucked in a cold breath as panic tore through me. My shaking hands flew to my stomach, pressing down, trying to feel my child.
"Don't worry," he said immediately, seeing my swollen eyes. "You gave me the moonflower's cure. I saved both you and your baby."
Instant relief washed over me, but the very next second, the man beside me reached forward to check my temperature. It was then a jolt of electrifying sparks burst across my skin, igniting my nerves. My fingers rose shakily towards the warmth blooming at my neck, and I froze. A ring. A heavy signet ring pressed into the hollow of my throat, its imprint still warm against my pulse. No ordinary Boss could place his claim on another man's wife and make it hold. Only the most powerful man in the Cosa Nostra could do that.
"This," I whispered, choking bitterly. "What does the Don of Dons, Dominic Valente, want from me? You claimed me. Why?"
My breathing slowed as his gaze held mine, careful, as if I might fracture.
"Nico Graystone murdered someone under my protection. By that act alone, the Graystone Family became my enemy."
His gaze sharpened. "You are their Lady. You know their borders, their alliances, their weaknesses. And now you share my enemy. We are perfect as partners, Bianca."
My throat tightened. "So you mark me, turn my life upside down, and call it strategy?"
He didn't deny it.
"I call it necessity, Bianca. Saving your dignity last night was my duty, but claiming you was a choice."
I looked away, my hand instinctively covering my stomach, grounding myself in the one thing that still belonged to me.
"I need time," I said quietly. "I can't give you an answer like this."
Dominic looked at me gently. "Rest assured. I will not cage you with a decision made in blood and shock."
He rose from the chair and turned away, then paused at the door. The light from the hallway cut across his shoulders, and for a moment the room felt like a confessional.
"When you are ready, when you choose not to fight alone, call my name once."
His voice was steady. Absolute.
"I will come."
After Dominic's departure, the silence inside me became unbearable. It pressed against my ribs, heavier than the antiseptic air, heavier than the bruises I could feel blooming across my body. It was until a notification lit the screen.
Serafina Blackwood sent you a video.
A decorated room came into view, walls lined with baby toys and pastel posters. Then the large rose bouquet in Nico's arms lowered. And the world narrowed to one impossible detail: Serafina's belly. Round and heavily swollen. Pregnant.
Serafina laughed softly. "You're worrying too much. The ultrasound report shows both our sons are strong."
Nico laughed in joy, lifting Serafina off the bed without effort, spinning her once as joy tore out of him.
"Two heirs, Serafina? You have given me what I have always dreamed of! In a week I will organize the biggest wedding our Family has ever seen and welcome you like a princess."
Serafina's eyes glimmered with tears as she tightened her fingers around the bouquet. She glanced at the camera, spoke gently.
"Nico, if you take me as your wife now, won't sister grow jealous? She loves you so deeply. Won't she resist?"
Nico didn't even look concerned.
"Jealousy only matters when a woman is allowed to speak," he replied calmly.
Serafina looked up, pretending to be confused.
"I have already prepared everything," Nico continued. "Bianca's biological father and brothers know her lies well. They cannot see you being bullied by her anymore and were almost relieved to sign the documents: medical records and evaluations from Family physicians. Every piece of evidence needed to prove Bianca is mentally unstable."
"Her family already believes she caused her mother's death," Nico added indifferently, making my entire body tremble. "Who do you think will defend her when she screams?"
Serafina's lips wobbled in worry.
"On paper, she is unfit to make decisions for herself, let alone carry a baby. So when I abort her child and sign her up for a surgery to make sure she never bears another, in front of the Family, I will already be doing her a kindness by keeping her as a secondary wife instead of discarding her completely."
The phone felt too heavy to hold. The world blurred, as if I had been shoved underwater, and a sense of rage coiled in my heart like a serpent.
Serafina's voice came out soft, almost fearful. "And if sister bullies me at home then?"
Nico's gaze turned cold.
"Once the Southern Shipping Route deal takes effect, Bianca will be useless to me," Nico said calmly. "If she mistreats you, I will send her to an institution until she learns where the fault lies."
A loud ringing filled my ears as Serafina looked at the camera with a mocking smile.
"Nico, we both would be your wives. I... I don't want to fight sister Bianca."
Her voice cut in gently. "I want to make sister feel less lonely after you terminate her pregnancy. She can help me raise our child. In the future, it will be as if she never lost anything."
"Also one day," she added with a shy smile, "when I give you a daughter you have always dreamt of, we can make sister her handmaid, so she won't feel useless."
A moment of silence followed before Nico pulled her into his arms and kissed her without hesitation, his fingers already undoing her clothes.
"It's your innocence I can't get enough of," he murmured. "Look at you caring about my lifelong dreams. If Bianca were half as devoted, she wouldn't be here now. I am happy to have my heirs, but if you can give birth to a daughter for me, I will give you everything."
A sharp pain sliced through my heart as Nico's past words echoed in my head.
"Bianca, a son is for the Family, but a daughter would be my own. The child whom I can spoil endlessly. A daughter like you is my lifelong dream. Please accept my love, Bianca. I promise to keep you happy."
I closed my eyes. A single tear slipping free before I could stop it.
Nico. The one thing you dreamed of is already here. But you... you don't deserve her.
The phone felt heavier than my hands could manage. I didn't throw it. I didn't cry. I just sat there, listening to the sound of my blood moving through my ears.
Nico was trying to destroy me, and I wouldn't let him succeed.
I dialed a number then.
"Mrs. Graystone? The Southern Shipping Route documents are ready. We await your confirmation."
"The contract is void. Effective immediately," I cut in.
A sharp inhale answered me.
"Void? Mrs. Graystone, you negotiated this for half a year. The Graystone Boss will have control over the most profitable smuggling corridor on the Eastern Seaboard with this!"
"I am no longer the Lady of the Graystone house. My work is no longer theirs to claim," I said calmly. "I once saved your life, and today I am asking you for a favor. Seven days. Get me all the classified border maps, underground passages, all the dirty treaties done under the table."
"...If this leaks, the Graystone Family won't survive the winter, Mrs. Graystone," the voice said hoarsely.
"That's why I need you to keep it a secret," I replied. "Conceal the cancellation for seven days."
There was a heavy pause on the other side. The voice finally said, "Understood, Mrs. Graystone. The agreement will be nullified quietly. As you once saved my life, this will remain between us."
The phone disconnected, and my palm rubbed small circles on my belly.
Three years ago, when you were captured by the rival Family, Nico, it was I who surrendered in exchange for your freedom. I remembered the chains. The cold. How I told myself it was worth it. How naive I had been to give my heart to a monster like you.
It's time I collect my debts one by one, Nico.
