Page 69 of The Last Vendetta

Knowing she could be knocked up still didn’t prevent me from wanting her again. Being this close to her sleeping in one of my spare shirts, I was tempted to wake her up with my cock or mouth.

I would never stop wanting her.

And that wasn’t fair to either of us. I intended to keep her—forever, and if we were to have a child together sooner than later, I would rather have done it properly, with the protection of her being a Bernardi.

I huffed a quiet laugh as I got out of bed without waking her. It was still early, just after dawn, and I wanted to entertain my thoughts apart from her and let her sleep in.

An Acardi becoming a Bernardi.

It sounded ludicrous because of what we’d been told all our lives. Both of us were trained to loathe each other, but now that we were together, it seemed so stupid, a waste of energy and anger.

I left her sleeping and retrieved my phone. My call to Dean ended four hours ago, before I woke Giulia from her nap. Since then, we’d fucked, showered, eaten, and fucked again. It might have been more like five hours when I considered it, and I had no doubts that Dean would have some information for me.

I’d instructed him to let me contact him, versus the other way around. I figured it would take him a while to have any answers for me.

I stood on the porch outside, looking over the railing to watch the moonlight reflect on the waves at sea.

Dean answered quickly, and he confirmed that he had news.

“It wasn’t terribly difficult to get some intel,” he explained, “because the tests were already requested.”

I had no doubts about his ability to secure a hacker to find any electronic medical tests. This capo, this right-hand man, was invaluable and damned skilled at anything I asked of him.

“Requested by whom?” I asked.

“Marcus Romano.”

I raised my brows. Huh. That at least proved that the old man knew his daughter was pregnant. “So he was aware that he was giving Luka a bride who wasn’t virginal.”

We weren’t often so archaic to have brides prove their virginity. Some Families still had a doctor or other delegate to perform a manual check that the women were virgins. Others had the habitual showing of the bloody sheets. More often, it was implied. A hymen could break from other means, and I bet many cases of virginity were lost when the woman pleasured herself. It was only when infidelity was rumored, when women were caught in the act of having sex before marriage, that it became such a big deal.

Or, like in Cecilia’s case, when she was confirmed to be carrying a baby before her wedding.

“Not only that,” Dean added, “but Marcus Romano paid to have these medical results hidden.”

“Damn.” That made me more suspicious. The Romanos were already shady as hell, but this was not a mere omission of truth. It was a deliberate coverup.

“So, yes, Marcus wanted to hide the fact that Cecilia was pregnant when she married Luka. His motivation for that is yet to be uncovered.”

I bet he won’t tell why, either. However, this could’ve been a bargaining chip Giovanni could have used against Marcus. I wouldn’t be marrying Cecelia. No one would. She was a corpse now. But if Giovanni knew about this baby, maybe he wouldn’t have entertained even the possibility of my marrying her.

“The test results also confirm that the baby is a boy.”

A son. It was a boy. I hadn’t told Dean yet that I’d found Cecilia dying at the place. Word would spread soon enough, and even though I trusted Dean, I didn’t need to complicate what the man focused on.

“And the father?” I asked.

He cleared his throat. “I don’t have that information yet. The paternity testing has been ordered,” he confirmed. “But it’s not conclusive yet.”

“Dammit.”

“And I imagine that when that test is concluded, Marcus may want to erase evidence of it. I will keep my eyes open for it. The IT specialist I have tracking these documents and lab work orders will watch it closely, but in the meantime, no identity has been provided for the father.”

Hmm… I agreed with him. If Marcus wanted the father’s identity to remain a mystery, he had to have a damned good reason for it.

Maybe… I cringed at the first thought that entered my mind.

Maybe it’s his. It seemed so ridiculous, so far-fetched and out there, but once the thought hit me, I couldn’t ignore it.

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