Page 16 of Banished and Pregnant by Her Sicilian Billionaire Husband

“You haven’t changed at all, cara.”

The way Ana sighs these words out makes me look at her in surprise.

“It is the worst thing about you,” she says with another sigh while stroking her terrier. “And it was always the best.”

Then she straightens, and when she speaks again, her earlier old-woman-tone has been replaced by the tough bark of a matriarch who’s seen it all.

“Stop overthinking. Not just about Marcello, but about your past here. Whatever you think of this house, you’ll let it look after you tonight. After today. For the little one’s sake, if not your own.”

“Yes, A—I mean, Mama.” I mean it when I say this, but when she leaves, and I find myself wandering around the house...

Oh no.

Every room just makes me want to cry. There are too many memories, and they were all good memories...except for that one night.

“Signora...”

My eyes tear up as soon as I hear Curzio’s familiar voice. He’s standing at the other end of the hallway, but when I walk forward to give him a hug—

He shakes his head. “I need to tell you something first.”

I can’t help but jerk. That...that sounds painfully familiar, too. Don’t tell me he’s kicking me out again—

Curzio seems to understand where my thoughts have spiraled to, and he says hastily, “No, signora, it’s not that. You and the bambina are not going anywhere until this threat is addressed.”

I manage a smile...even as I hate myself for feeling so relieved.

“But I’m afraid what I have to say...”

Curzio’s voice is full of remorse as he tells me about how the security that was supposed to look after Rica and me were his men, and how he considers it completely his fault that they had failed to realize the danger my daughter was in until it was too late.

“Oh, Curzio...” This is so like him. Eight years ago, he was like this, too. He kept apologizing to me like it was his fault that my marriage ended. “You need to stop blaming yourself like this.”

“But it is my fault—”

“Do you think I’m not aware of all those times you joined your men to watch over Rica and me, even if it means having to stand out in the rain for two hours?” He cares for Rica and me like family, and so there’s no way I could ever blame him for what happened.

“It was half a second, Chisa...”

I look at him in confusion. “What is?”

“The men who tried to abduct Rica,” he says grimly. “It was almost like they knew exactly where my men would be posted, and so they knew the exact perfect moment to strike.”

THE REST OF THE DAY moves painfully slowly. Rica is with her grandmother, Curzio has left, and I’m all alone with my thoughts. If my mind isn’t tormenting me with memories of Rica nearly being abducted, it insists on bringing up other memories that are equally bad, like how happy Marcello and I used to be...until we weren’t.

In the end, I find myself taking a walk through the landscaped gardens at the back, and that’s how I end up bumping into Marcello’s brothers.

“Chisa, welcome back.”

Daniele comes through the gap in the hedge first, in his shirtsleeves with a pair of ear defenders hooked round his neck. Marcello’s younger brother is charming like always as he pulls me into his arms with a warm smile.

“I’m glad my fool of a brother has regained his senses.”

“Um, actually...”

“Stop putting her on the spot, Daniele.” Camillo’s tone is exasperated, and he’s still fitting a pistol into the case under his arm as he says it. But when he turns to face me, his normally austere expression softens. He’s the firstborn heir, and even more serious than Marcello. “We missed you, little sister.”

And just like that, I’m fighting back tears.