Page 170 of The Devil's Fire

“You’re working right now, so I’m going to treat you like the rest.” I told her sharply.

“Exactly! I’m working. Let me do my work!”

“Do your work, but you can’t get Althaia drunk.”

“And why not?” Arianna huffed in frustration. I rubbed my jaw, feeling the anger rise for being a pain in my fucking ass right now.

“She’s pregnant.” I finally said. I couldn’t risk her spiking Althaia’s drinks behind my back. This was the only way I could make sure she wouldn’t do anything reckless and cause Althaia and our baby any harm.

Arianna went completely silent in shock, even Lorenzo gave me a look.

“She’s pregnant?” She asked carefully, both of them not sure how to react. But when a smile formed on my lips, it was enough to let them know it was great news.

Arianna’s face transformed into a picture of pure joy, her lips curling into a bright smile.

“A baby!” She screamed and immediately wrapped her arms around me. “Oh my God, I can’t believe it! This is going to be so great! Lorenzo, did you hear that? I’m going to be an aunt, and you, an uncle!” She kept exclaiming in excitement.

With a smile on his face, Lorenzo walked up to me and playfully slapped my back a few times.

“Congratulations, brother.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m so happy for you. You’re going to have a little one!” Arianna sniffed and went to hug me again.

I put an arm around her, offering a gentle squeeze to let her know I understood why she was feeling emotional. She had been there during my darkest moments, and she had witnessed the light that Althaia brought into my world.

“I was wondering why you kept rubbing her stomach. By the way, you were not doing a good job being discreet about it.” She smiled while wiping away her tears.

“I wasn’t trying to.” I shrugged. “But Althaia told me she wanted to keep it on the down low for now. So, keep your mouth shut about it.” I glared at Arianna. I knew Lorenzo would say nothing because he knew how to mind his own business.

Unlike our dear baby sister.

“Okay, relax! No need to kill me with your glare.” She rolled her eyes at me and then resumed beaming in happiness at her becoming an aunt.

I stepped away when my phone buzzed in my pocket.

“Antonio.”

“Jacinta went to several banks and also made phone calls. I had Raffaele look into the calls she made, but as usual, they are untraceable.” He reported, making me furrow my brows. Whoever she was making calls to was doing everything in their power to cover any trace. Even someone like Raffaele hasn’t been able to crack the code yet.

“Did she go anywhere else besides the banks?”

“No. Straight back to the boutique.” He reported.

“I will look into it. Keep your eyes on her at all times.”

“Copy.”

I hung up and faced Lorenzo.

“Let’s go. We have some digging to do.”

The sun was already set low on the horizon when we arrived at the boutique. To avoid drawing attention, we discreetly went behind the shop towards the back door. I went straight to the keypad and punched in the code I had watched Althaia do several times. Except this time, it denied me access and remained locked.

“She fucking changed it.” I scoffed and pulled out the decryptor.

Placing it on the keypad, I watched as the screen of the device shifted through a series of numbers before disclosing the six-digit code that Jacinta had updated it to.

---