Page 40 of Deadly Don's Baby Contract

He looks at me as if I have kicked him. I’m not stupid. Now that people know it’s an even bigger risk to stay here.

“Come home, Aria,” Franco insists. He is almost begging. “Please.”

I’m not ready to go home with him. “Franco, this is the right thing to do.” He can’t win every fight. “You and I both know how dangerous things could get. Vito is still out there. Let me take some security and go to the lake.”

“Aria!”

I’m not a pushover, and he hates it. “Franco, you have business to take care of. I have a baby to protect. Stop being so short-sighted.” This is best. I know it is. We need space, and he has to get both Vito and Marco under control.

“You take my security, and you keep your phone with you and turned on.” He finally gives in and realizes I am going whether he likes it or not. “No visitors, no matter who it is. You trust no one.”

I don’t even trust him. Why would I think I could trust anyone else? “I do love you, Aria.”

I know he does.

***

The lake house is isolated, and in the heat of the summer weather, it’s gorgeous to be away from the city. At first, I welcomed the quiet and the stillness of nature—now I’m missing Franco and his chaos.

I miss sleeping next to my husband, feeling safe and protected in his arms. I wanted space, but now I just want him back. His daily calls only make me miss him more, but the war between families has escalated, and even Franco wants me far away from it all.

I’m lying out the back of the house by the pool, enjoying the sunshine, when a shadow blocks it.

“You have a visitor.” One of the guards from the front of the house has come to find me. I’m not expecting anyone. No one is supposed to know that I am here. “He says he’s your brother.” I feel sick, and it’s not the morning sickness. It’s worse. I get up and pull on a sundress over my bathing suit.

“Let me see who it is first. Franco said no one was to come in.” I follow him through the house to the security room, where I see my brother, like a ghost from the past, standing at the gate. Franco knows who I am now, so it was only a matter of time before he would find out more—more like my brother, and what I did for my family before I walked away. “You can let him in. Make sure he’s alone.”

“Mrs—” He starts to protest. “Franco said no one in.”

“Is Franco here?” I ask. “Or am I here?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says, and I watch on the cameras as the guards search my brother, make sure he’s alone and then escort him up to the house. He shouldn’t be here. The man shouldn’t be anywhere he can get found. He’s neck-deep in bad debt and made a few questionable business alliances that left him ousted.

He has balls showing up here—and if anyone does find him, he’ll be dead.

The front door opens, and before I can stop myself, I say, “What is fucking wrong with you? Why are you here?”

“Hello to you too, sis,” he snarks, clearly expecting a warmer welcome than that. “Nice place you have here. I see you punched above your weight when picking a husband.”

“Careful,” I threaten, and one of the guards steps closer. “What do you want?” He must want something.

“I came to congratulate you on ripping another family apart and on your wedding, which I wasn’t invited to.”

“No one was invited, you idiot.” I was dragged down the aisle under duress. “What do you want?” I ask again, already uncomfortable having let him in.

“Come in, brother, have a coffee, let’s catch up.” His voice drips with sarcasm and envy.

I’m not responsible for his bad choices, and I have paid for enough of them in my life.

“I came to see you, Aria, to make sure you’re all right.”

“I can take care of myself, thank you.” I remind him subtly. “This is not the best time for a catch-up. Things are up in the air right now.”

“Is that so? Are you having marriage trouble? Is that why you’re not living with Franco anymore?”

It must look that way to outsiders. That Franco and I are having trouble.

“I’m going to make you a coffee, you’re going to tell me what you want, and then you are going to disappear again before whoever is after you shows up on my doorstep.” Trouble follows my brother like a bad smell. “And before you ask, I do not have the kind of money to fix your problems, so that’s a no.” Franco hasn’t given me access to his money. I get an allowance.

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