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I draw her into my arms, kissing the crown of her head.
“It’s going to be okay, Mia,” I tell her softly, murmuring it into her hair.
She sniffles. “Do you have to go to work today?” she asks.
I nod slowly. I’ve got to oversee the cleanup crew at the dry-cleaning joint, make sure they don’t have sticky fingers. Vincenzo had been too stupid to check in the dryers, where I keep a lot of the pre-laundered cash.
I guess he’d had other things on his mind, like kidnapping my wife.
I draw in a breath. “I wish I could stay with you, pretty girl, but Nico’s taking the night off and Alberto needs to stay here with you,” I explain. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Mia clutches at me, looking up at me. “I could go with you,” she suggests.
I frown. “No, baby. You can’t.”
“Dante, please,” she pleads. “Don’t go.”
I look down at her, concerned. “What’s going on with you?”
She shakes her head. “Nothing, I’m just...the nightmare,” she mumbles. “It was really scary.”
“I’m going to take care of that,” I promise her, and Mia looks up at me, searching my face with wild eyes.
“Dante…” She hesitates, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Something is definitely up.
“Pretty girl, please talk to me.”
“I… I need you to be safe, please. I need you with me because…” her voice fades for a few seconds.
“It’s okay baby, just say it, whatever it is. I’ll do my best to give you anything you need.”
“You can’t give me anything this time, Dante. This is all me.” Another deep breath, eyes closed tightly shut and then a whisper. “I’m pregnant.”
She might have breathed the words, but the strength of the message makes me stumble backwards from the shock, standing naked again out on the balcony. Mia follows me, having slipped on her nightie.
She’swhat?
“What are you talking about?” I ask, all the blood draining from my face. It’s one thing to almost be in love with Luca Lorenzo’s daughter, but to have his grandchild? That’s a slap in my father’s face.
“I didn’t plan this,” she starts, babbling quickly. “I didn’t know until yesterday. I don’t know what to do. I don’t even know if you want kids.Doyou want kids?”
I look down at her, swallowing hard, my head spinning.
I’ve never thought about kids. It was never my priority. Taking over my father’s business is my priority. Avenging my parents’ deaths is my priority.
But lately, my priorities have shifted, and hearing about the pregnancy just seems to make things worse, prove how far I’ve strayed.
I can’t answer her, something stuck in my throat, and so I move past her, grabbing the first pair of pants I find in the closet and pulling them on. I don’t even know if the shirt matches, and usually I’m pretty fashionable, but today I don’t care.
I just need to get out of here.
“Dante, what are you doing? Where are you going?” Mia asks, coming inside without even shutting the balcony door.
“I have to work,” I mumble.
“We need to talk about this,” she says firmly, but I won’t even look at her. I can’t look at her. I grab yesterday’s jacket, and head to my car.
She runs after me all the way down the stairs, standing in front of my car when I get inside.
