Page 281 of Ricardo

“They know enough.”

“No.” I stop walking, and he stops with me. “They know Harrison sent men after me. They know Dante was shot. But if you are all making decisions today, if Mario is making decisions, if you are asking for help from people who may change everything, then they need to know all of it.”

“You’re sure?”

“No.” My voice shakes. “But it has to be done.”

His thumb moves over my knuckles.

“All right.”

The family is gathered in the private waiting room near Dante’s recovery room.

Victoria sees us first and stands.

Mario’s gaze moves from me to Ricardo and back again. Lorenzo, Diego, Matteo, Tomasso, Edoardo, and Alessio are all there, worn down by the night.

Ricardo keeps my hand in his.

He brings me beside him, close enough that his arm brushes mine, close enough that I can feel the steady warmth of him while my heart beats too fast.

“We have something to tell you,” he says.

The room quiets.

Victoria’s eyes soften because she already knows, and somehow that helps.

Ricardo looks down at me.

Letting it be mine if I want it.

My throat tightens, but I manage the words.

“I’m pregnant.”

For one suspended second, no one moves.

Then Victoria covers her mouth, tears filling her eyes.

“Oh, Julia.”

The softness in her voice nearly undoes me.

Mario closes his eyes briefly, and when he opens them again, his gaze is on Ricardo. Something passes between the brothers that I do not fully understand, but I feel the weight of it.

Grief is still very much in the room, and so is fear. It still sits with us, as Dante is still unconscious a few doors away.

But for a moment, there is something else too.

Mario steps forward first.

“Congratulations,” he says quietly.

The word is simple.

It does not erase anything that has happened, but it's something else entirely.

Ricardo’s hand tightens around mine.