Page 58 of The Sins of Saint (The Sins of Saint 3)

Mila

I couldn’t believeour baby girl was already six weeks old. Katarina had been the center of our lives ever since she was born. Her birth didn’t go as planned. I was hellbent on having a normal childbirth, but for some reason, nature was against me that day. In the end, an emergency c-section had to be done before I could hold my baby in my arms.

Saint and I decided to keep the sex of the baby a surprise. It was one of the few surprises life could throw at you which would never leave you disappointed. I was convinced it was a boy, while Saint kept on referring to our unborn baby as his littlePrincipessa—which was weird, as I always imagined Saint to be the kind of man who wanted a boy. A son to carry on the family name.

But, turned out Saint was right.

A week after Saint’s father killed Elena, James returned from his trip with a woman I didn’t recognize. It was only after Saint introduced her that I realized who she was. My mother.

It was hard at first. Hard to look at her and not feel resentment because of her decision to give me up as a baby. But in typical Saint fashion, he managed to get behind the truth of it all, and it turned out my mother had no choice. Giving me up was a choice my father made because he hated the Russos so much. He couldn’t bear the thought of his daughter being married to one.

Good thing he wasn’t alive anymore, since his daughter had not only married one, she fell hopelessly in love with a Russo man and had a child of her own.

I was shocked to hear that Raphael had forced my mother into a clinic against her will so she wouldn’t become a problem in his twisted endeavor of selling the company to buy his way into the sex trade.

We also learned that the anonymous letter written to Saint, informing him of my existence way before our journey began, was written by none other than my own mother. She was also the one alerting Saint’s attorneys of the second will and added clause that almost drove Saint and me apart. She knew the road Raphael was on, and he made it impossible for her to intervene—which, in the end, was what she managed to do. All this time, she was the one who put the past events in motion. Through a simple letter, all our lives had changed.

But that was all in the past, and now, months later, Saint and I were back in Italy, living on his estate, and there were no words to describe the happiness we had found in one another.

I pulled the blanket higher and made sure little Katarina was warm and snug. Saint snaked his arm around my waist. “Our daughter has the most beautiful name.”

I smiled. “Our daughter has the most beautiful eyes, just like her father.”

“Come.” He flicked his wrist and turned me to face him. “I want to show you something.”

“I don’t—” I glanced at Katarina sleeping soundly. “I just want to make sure she’s—”

“She’s asleep, Mila. It will only take a few minutes.”

I huffed and reluctantly followed him to his office. “What do you want to show me?”

“You’ll see.”

We walked into his office, and I crossed my arms as he rounded his desk and turned his laptop so I could see. I narrowed my eyes and looked at what seemed like blueprints. “What am I looking at?”

“Blueprints.”

I rolled my eyes. “I can see that. But blueprints of what?”

He sauntered around the table to stand by my side, lacing his hands around my waist. “That is the blueprint of the Torres Recreational Center, which will open in New York exactly a year from now.”

My heart hiccupped, and my chest swelled. “What…I don’t—”

He turned me to him, resting his hands on my hips. “We had a deal, remember?”

“I do, but I—”

“You thought I forgot?” He seemed slightly offended by the thought.

“No. I didn’t think you forgot. Things were just…after everything that happened, I didn’t think this was a priority.”

“Mila,” he forced me to look at him, “you and that beautiful baby girl of ours are now my first and most important priority. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

I was stunned. “But how did you…I know you said there was a lot of tape to get around when it comes to opening centers like these. How did you get around it?”

The smirk on his face was both handsome and devilish. “Let’s just say I know someone who knows someone.”

I frowned and placed a hand on my hip. “You mean your father knows someone who knows someone.”

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