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“Thank you for telling me, Liesel,” I say.
She nods. “I couldn’t keep the secret anymore. You deserve to know. And I trust you with his life.”
22
KAI
LIESEL IS either the strongest woman I know, or she’s a bitch who is trying to steal my man and make me feel bad for keeping my secret while spilling her own.
But when she looks at me with tears in her eyes, I know she’s on my side.
All she did was open the door for me. Give me insight into how Enzo my react to me telling him I’m pregnant. He would protect the child. No matter if the child is his or my rapist’s. No matter if this child is the only way to get power, he won’t use my child that way unless I beg him to. And even then, he probably wouldn’t.
I can trust him with my secret.
But as soon as I speak the words, my secret is out there. It's like when I loved him but couldn’t say it. The truth spoken is one that can never be taken back.
And I’m scared.
Not that Enzo wouldn’t hide my secret from the world. Not that this baby wouldn’t be safe with him protecting him or her. But scared that by admitting I’m pregnant out loud, I will be saying I have to leave Enzo.
Enzo doesn’t just deserve to be the leader of Black. Liesel is right; the world needs him to be. Before Enzo, the Black organization was just a group of thieves in the night. They stole from the rich and the poor. They sold drugs. They sold people. They sold weapons to the highest bidder, not caring if that bidder was evil and would use them to kill people. They dabbled in everything and killed everyone and everything that opposed them. But since Enzo has taken over, he has steered them into a more honorable way of getting money. They aren’t saints, but the evil they do doesn’t destroy innocent lives.
They only take from their enemies. They only steal from those who deserve to be stolen from. They don’t sell people. And they only sell weapons to those who won’t turn around and try to take out entire countries.
Enzo has to stay in this world.
And I have to leave—for my child’s sake.
I feel my eyes watering, but I have to be strong, like Liesel. Except Liesel gets to stay. I can’t give my child up for adoption. My child would be far more valuable than Liesel’s. Because if an enemy kidnapped my child, they could get Enzo to do anything to get that child back.
“Enzo…” I start, then stop.
I’m not sure I should have this conversation in front of Langston and Liesel, but they both know my secret. Liesel gets up and walks over to Langston, giving me a quick nod that it’s time. Langston gives me a tight smile, and I know he approves as well. It’s now or never.
My eyes flutter to meet Enzo’s heavy gaze. I should be sitting right next to him, holding his hand as I deliver my news. But I can’t. I’m frozen. Too scared to lose him.
I don’t know how to live without Enzo Black.
But if I keep him, he will no longer be Enzo Black. He will return to being Enzo Rinaldi. A man who never existed. He wouldn’t be the man I fell in love with. He has to stay Enzo Black.
We gaze into each other’s eyes. Frozen in time. Enzo’s eyes still carry tears from hearing he has a younger brother. I still wasn’t sure until Liesel spoke that her child wasn’t also Enzo’s. And I’m grateful her child isn’t, even though that’s selfish of me. Even though having a child caused her pain. My eyes are filling with my own lonely tears. But I will not cry when I tell him my news. So I suck the tears in and let my lips fall into something like a smile.
“Enzo, I—”
He presses a finger to my lips, stopping me from speaking.
His eyes change to a darker shade of brown as he looks over my body, taking in all the clues he missed before: my swollen breasts, my growing belly, my morning sickness.
Our worlds stop, and we have the most private moment we’ve ever had. It doesn’t matter that Langston and Liesel are there, because we don’t need words.
You’re pregnant, his eyes say.
Yes.
A tiny smile.
Bright eyes.
