Page 43 of Thin Lines (Donati Bloodlines 2)

What had she done to deserve this?

Hot, wet tears slid down Emma’s cheeks as she sobbedagain. The guilt and shame compounded in her chest. Something was wrong withher. That was the problem. She wasn’t good enough, or she had done somethingterrible to deserve this.

The fear crippled Emma even more than her otherfeelings. She was scared to touch the blood staining her leg, but she couldhear the drip-drip-drip of more falling into the toilet bowl. A chill ran downher spine, and her hands trembled.

It hurt.

In her heart, she hurt.

“Calisto,” Emma rasped.

She wanted to yell, but her voice was too weak.Holding the side of her small swell, Emma tilted her head to the side until itrested against the stall wall. For a moment, she closed her eyes and breathedlike this wasn’t happening.

“Calisto!”

Her second call of his name was much louder. Her throatprotested, and she let loose another fresh round of cries and tears.

Leather shoes smacked hard against tile. The soft tapof knuckles hit the outside of the stall.

“Emmy?” Calisto asked.

A brief bite of relief washed through her, but it onlylasted until another stab of pain made her hunch over the toilet, and grab herstomach.

“Open the door, Emmy,” he demanded.

She blindly waved at the latch, luckily hitting it.The door swung open almost immediately, and Calisto didn’t bother to standthere and stare. He was down on his knees in front of her in a flash.

“Something is wrong,” she told him. “Help me.”

Calisto sucked in a ragged breath, his gaze snappingbetween the blood in her panties, the smear on her leg, and the tears streakingdown her face. “Cazzo Cristo.”

She sobbed at his cursing. “I’m sorry.”

For what, she didn’t know.

Calisto’s hands found her cheeks, and his thumbs sweptover her skin with tender, knowing swipes. “God, no. Don’t be sorry. It’s notyour fault. It’ll ... it’ll be all right, Emmy.”

She shook her head.

It wouldn’t be.

“I’m past the first trimester. They said this wouldn’thappen again. Why is this happening to me, Cal?”

His fingers trembled against her cheeks. “I don’tknow.”

Agony rippled through Emma’s midsection again, sendingher forward. Calisto wrapped her tight in his embrace, let her hide her tearsand cries in his suit jacket, and rubbed her back as he shushed her.

“I don’t want to lose this baby,” Emma mumbled.

God had already taken one from her.

Wasn’t that enough?

Why take another?

She shattered.

In that moment, she knew there was nothing that couldbe done.