Page 70 of Dangerous Deception

“I’m pregnant. And I know that sounds crazy because it’s Raffaele and everyone thinks he’s a terrible man, but deep down, he really isn’t. He’s treating me better than I’ve ever been treated, and I know you see him as a rival and I know I hated him because he killed Carlos, but I don’t think I hate him anymore. Honestly, I don’t even think I loved Carlos. I just liked him out of obligation, but Papà, things with Raffaele are so different and I just needed to tell someone because Marie is gone, so please don’t be mad at me.”

It pours out of me in a rush, a daughter desperately seeking the comfort and advice of her father.

His silence drags on, and in the absence of his words, my mind fills the gap. Anger and disappointment. Maybe even disgust that I could allow the enemy to impregnate me.

“Adeline,” he begins, speaking slowly. “That is…fantasticnews!”

“Wait.” My heart stalls in my chest. “Really?”

“Yes! That is utterly fantastic. I’m so happy for you!”

And he sounds it. I definitely didn’t expect my father to be over the moon while I’m still processing the shock myself.

“You really think this is a good thing?”

“Yes!” he replied quickly. “It’s the best thing that could have happened, Adelina. This is amazing!”

“I haven’t told Raffaele,” I admit. “I’m still in the bathroom, I only found out?—”

“Don’t tell him yet,” my father interrupts.

“What? Why not?”

“You know him better than I,” he replies. “But do you really think he would take this kind of news well? Especially with everything else going on? It might make him angry to have one more thing to worry about. One thing that might not even come to fruition because it’s so early.”

“You think I should wait?”

“I’d advise it,” he says gently. “Maybe three months or so, until it’s safe and you can deliver the good news with confidence.”

He makes a good point. It will give me time to process and decide whether I even want to keep the baby before I get Raffaele’s hopes up. And by then, I will be confident in my decision regardless of how he feels.

“Okay, Papà. That makes a lot of sense.”

As he hangs up, I realize he never actually asked me how I felt. Placing my phone down on the counter, I regard myself in the mirror.

My life has changed so much in six months and now there’s a baby inside me. Do I even have what it takes to be a mother?

Can I raise a family with a man like Raffaele?

He’s sweet and caring and adoring for now, yes, because we’re fucking. But does it go beyond that?

Will he actually commit to raising a family with me?

28

RAFFAELE

“We captured three, killed the rest,” Vito explains as he hurries to keep pace with me through the garden. “Anyone of importance had been removed from the manor within the hour after you called, so the only people who were here were security.”

“Any casualties on our side?”

“One. Francis took a shotgun blast to the face.”

“Francis?”

“Tall guy, skinny, with the tight blond curls?” Vito mimics the style with his fingers. “Beat that guy to death with a golf club for running his daughter over a few years ago?”

“Oh, hit and run Francis. I remember. His family?—”

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