Page 66 of Ruthless King

She’s sitting in bed, looking tired and innocent, and my heart almost breaks for her. “I don’t know why. My aunt lost her mind. That’s all I can say.”

For some reason, I feel as if Aurora is keeping something from me, but I can’t exactly use my usual methods to get her to talk.

“You know what I have to do,” I tell her.

Aurora sighs and grabs my hand, bringing it to her lips. “I know. I know you have to do something about Beatrice. But just … promise me that if you find her, you’ll make it quick. Don’t torture her.”

All I want is to torture Beatrice for stabbing Aurora, but I can tell how much it would mean to Aurora if I show her aunt mercy, so I nod and make my promise. “I won’t torture her. But she can’t live. Not if she’s as unhinged as you say.”

“I understand.”

I cup Aurora’s face and press a gentle kiss to her lips. “I just want you to be safe.” We still haven’t heard the news if Aurora can have children or not. We should be getting the call later today.

But if it’s bad news, then I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I care for Aurora. I don’t want children unless they’re with her, but if she can’t have any …

I push that from my mind. That doesn’t matter right now.

I leave Aurora to rest, then spend the rest of the day trying to track down Beatrice. For someone not within the Mafia, Beatrice is sure good at covering her tracks. It makes me wonder who she is exactly. Aurora has been going to see her for the past few months now. I should have insisted on meeting Beatrice. I should have dug deeper into her.

Of course, I did do a background check on Beatrice Keller, and everything came up clean.

But why would a woman without a record just stab her niece in the stomach randomly?

There’s something I’m missing. I just don’t know what.

My phone rings with a number from the doctor’s office. “Hello?” I ask.

“Is this Mr. Mancini?” Dr. Anderson asks.

“Yes.”

“I have the test results back for your wife. I’d like for you two to come in and see me as soon as you can.”

“Can’t you tell me now?”

“It’s better told in person.”

That tells me everything I need to know—the news isn’t good.

Dr. Anderson can get us in later today, so I help Aurora walk to the car and drive us to her office. All I can think about is how gray the office is. It helps me not think about the news I’m about to hear.

“So, can I have children or not?” Aurora asks, squeezing my hand.

Dr. Anderson sighs. “You can. But the possibility of getting pregnant will be slim. About a five percent chance. So, it’s not impossible, but the odds aren’t great. We can try IVF to help. But nothing is a guarantee. I need you both to understand this. You could possibly get pregnant naturally. My advice, don’t put pressure on it. Aurora, you’re young. You don’t need to worry about getting pregnant right away. We can discuss freezing your eggs as an alternate solution just so you have options later down the road. But for right now, don’t put pressure on getting pregnant.”

There’s still a chance. I married Aurora because I just wanted a woman to give me children.

But now … now I would do anything to protect Aurora. If we can have children, I would be so goddamn happy. But if we can’t …

I look into Aurora’s soft eyes and know I would never leave her. I can’t at this point. I’m in too deep.

Aurora is silent on our drive back home. I don’t push her, knowing she needs time to think it over. Aurora and I never really got the chance to discuss in depth how we felt about having a child and losing it before it even got the chance to grow.

There are no words to describe what either of us feels, so instead of using words, I just take Aurora’s hand in my own and hold it tight.

AURORA

“This place is beautiful,” I say as I look at the flowers all around us. Nico wanted to get me out of the house because I’ve been stuck inside for the past week, healing, so he took me to a botanical garden. We’re inside a large glass house filled with flowers. He paid for us to have the place in private.

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