The familiar cramping seized my stomach.
I opened my phone. On Serafina's social media, Dante was pictured keeping vigil beside the incubator day and night. The haggard face in those photos wore an expression I'd never once seen him wear for me.
I hired a consigliere from outside the Family to draft the separation papers, then went to the front office on Mulberry to submit my resignation from the legitimate operations.
The woman behind the desk stared at me, stunned. "Mrs. Vitale, does Don Dante know you're stepping away?"
I gave her a thin smile. "He doesn't have time for things like this right now." I saw the pity flash through her eyes. I knew exactly what she was thinking.
I went back to the villa. The Westhill compound. We'd stayed there a handful of times after the alliance was sealed.
While packing, I found a yellowed note tucked between our things. "Rowan, I don't know when you'll find this. I imagine by then we'll have a few kids running around. I love you so much. No matter what happens, don't ever leave me."
Tears hit the paper. A bolt of pain ripped through my stomach. My vision went black, and I collapsed.
When I came to, my phone was ringing, shrill and relentless.
"Rowan Bellandi!" Dante's voice roared through the receiver. He almost never used my full name. "What the hell do you want?!"
"Serafina's been walking on eggshells around you! How many times do I have to say it? She's not a threat to your position! Why would you send those vile messages? Why would you curse my children?!"
I let out a bitter laugh.
He didn't even ask whether I'd done it. He'd already convicted me.
"Are you finished?" I asked, my voice level.
He went silent for a few seconds. "The christening feast is next Sunday. You will be there. Stop being difficult, alright?"
"Fine."
I hung up and stared out at the night.
On the day of the christening, I showed up bare-faced.
Pitying glances followed me everywhere. Soldiers by the doors, capos' wives at the tables, even the servers. At the center of the room, Serafina stood in a red dress, leaning into Dante's side like the donna of the house.
Carmela urged me forward. "Go hold the baby."
Dante placed one of the children in my arms and lowered his voice. "Rowan, I'm willing to let the messages go. After today, I'll send Serafina abroad. Both children will be registered under your name. You can't have children of your own. Isn't this the best of both worlds?"
His voice was thick with pleading, and the pain in my chest cut deep. Years ago, the ambush in the mountains. I'd shielded him with my body, and the blast destroyed my uterus. He'd fought his parents over it, swore before the whole Family he'd never sire heirs in this lifetime.
Now, everything had changed.
Without warning, the baby in my arms convulsed, coughing violently, foam spilling from its mouth.
"What's wrong with the baby?!" someone screamed.
Serafina lunged at me, her voice piercing. "Mrs. Vitale! If you want to hurt someone, hurt me! Don't take it out on the baby!"
Crack. Salvatore's palm struck my face so hard my vision went black. I hit the ground. My cheek burned white-hot, and the taste of blood filled my mouth. The room went absolutely still. Not one soldier moved. Not one wife breathed.
Dante reached for me on instinct.
Then the baby let out a wail and vomited a mouthful of blood. The room erupted into chaos.
"Dante!" Serafina shrieked, throwing herself between us, forcing her way into the space where his hand held mine. "The baby's dying! Save our child!"
Dante's hand trembled.
I watched the concern in his eyes drain away, replaced by something else entirely. Slowly, so slowly, his fingers loosened around mine. He let go. He turned and gathered the bleeding child into his arms.
The corridor of the private clinic was bone-cold. I stood there like a ghost. The separation papers I'd been carrying slipped from my pocket and fell to the tile floor.
Carmela spotted them instantly. She bent down, snatched them up, and threw them back at me.
Disgust twisted her well-preserved face. "What has this Family ever denied you? Hm? Dante went against us for years because of you, and we put up with it! Now you're trying to hurt the children too?"
