Page 32 of Under His Embrace

Nina held on to the rail as she eased in, aiming for a chair in the shallow end. This was no ordinary pool, but a custom madeone. “Yes. Heated enough to mimic a hot tub but not so hot that I can’t enjoy it.” She grinned, leaning down onto the chaise.

“Dante insisted on starting Olivia with swim lessons as early as possible,” Nina said. “But I don’t think any of us could have realized how quickly she’d be obsessed with it.”

I saw how she loved the water, swimming out independently without Eva holding her, but within reach. Caleb would have loved to have a place like this to swim when he was younger, but I only could take him to public pools when they were open and I had time off work.

Seeing Olivia reminded me so much of Caleb, and my heart panged with sadness. I missed him. He was the light of my life, but in the context of the last few days, I was so damn grateful that he was away on spring break.

But if I am stuck here after the end of his break…I wasn’t sure what I could do. If I asked Franco about how I could leave this so-called witness protection program, I’d need to explain why. And telling Franco about the son I never shared with him…

I cringed slightly, not liking this chain of thoughts.

“He can’t wait to be a daddy again,” Nina said, rubbing her stomach.

She looked ready to pop. “How far along are you?”

“Thirty-six weeks.”

“Almost there,” I said, smiling. Being with these women and Olivia wasn’t something I would’ve imagined with the ideas and preconceptions I had of what the Mafia lifestyle was like. My parents spent so many years trying to brainwash me into thinking that Franco and his family were thugs. Gangsters. Lowlife criminals who only wanted to take drugs, party, and kill.

This family scene before me was cozy. Surrounded by wealth, yes, but these women weren’t awful. Nina and Tessa were engaged and happily settled. Eva had adopted this adorable little girl who seemed so happy and carefree. They weren’t oppressedand forced to be slaves or servants to their men. They weren’t stuck in bedrooms as concubines and told what to do.

They were just… members of a family, hanging out and splashing around.

“Chloe?” Eva said as she swam closer to me and sat on the ledge under the surface. Tessa played with Olivia on the other edge of the pool. “Can I ask you something?”

I nodded. I was guarded, but she had been nice enough so far.

“Did you run from the deli and not call the cops because you worried it could’ve been Wes who ordered the attack?”

I sighed and nodded. “Yes. I didn’t think to grab my purse when I ran out of there. I just wanted to escape and live. But even when I stopped at that motel, it didn’t cross my mind to call for help. Because it could lead him to me.”

The other women swam up close. Olivia floated on a kiddie raft as she poured cups of water into a funnel toy with spinners.

“Hey, no gossiping without us,” Tessa said.

“We’re not gossiping,” Eva said and rolled her eyes. She glanced at me. “No secrets among us. I told them what you said about your a-hole of an ex.” She covered her mouth to whisper the almost-bad word.

“I figured as much.”

“That we’d talk?” Nina said.

“You all do seem very close,” I commented. Oddly, I wasn’t mad that they knew about my situation.

“If we’re not close already, we will be once we start getting married. Nina will be my stepmother-in-law,” Tessa said, which earned a laugh out of Nina. “And Eva will be my cousin-in-law.”

I raised my brows. “That’s a layered connection. How’d that happen?”

One by one, they shared how they’d come into the Constella Family. Nina was rescued by Dante when she was lost in a betto a biker leader. Tessa was also saved by Romeo when she was raped. And Liam entered the family, bringing Olivia with him, when he joined as a soldier and fell in love with Eva.

All their stories punched out more bricks in the wall that I was supposed to keep up in assuming this Mafia family was all bad. Deep down, I knew the Constellas couldn’t be criminals. I always knew that Franco was in the family, and it hadn’t stopped me from falling in love with him. Had I not gotten pregnant when I was supposed to come to New York with Franco, I would have toughed through the garbage my parents told me and come to be a Constella Mafia wife ten years ago.

Now I saw what I was missing out on. The Constellas were a Mafia Family, but still afamily. Dante, Romeo, and Liam hadn’t hesitated to protect their relatives and their women. That didn’t make them evil. It made them heroes.

“I can’t believe you knew Franco when he was younger,” Tessa joked. “I imagine he was just as much of an exercise-junkie hard-ass then as he is now.”

I smiled. “He was always working out,” I said.

Eva and Tessa asked me a few more questions abouthowI knew Franco back when we were younger, but I didn’t have to suffer the pressure to speak much for long. Olivia, bless her sweet, little heart, saved me. She started to fuss because it was time for a snack. One of the house staff came by, and the lure of her offer for apples and crackers beat staying in the pool.

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