The Forbidden Secret (Forbidden #2)

Chapter Sixteen

Evelina Bianchi

Zeke looked pissed.

I wondered if it was because of another day without any relevant information, but as he tossed his phone at me, not tearing his gaze from mine, I looked down at it and raised a brow.

“I’m sorry, why am I holding your phone?” I asked with a small chuckle.

“There was a voicemail left for you.”

My heart sank into my stomach as I considered the only person who had his number—the only one who I had called with his phone.

My trembling fingers lifted it to my ear, and Maggie’s voice filled the line. It was the last nail in the coffin. The world pressed down on me as I listened to her voice. “Hi… I don’t even know if you’re going to get this message, Evelina. But I don’t know where else to reach you, so I thought I would try. I know I said that I would give you another week, but I’m going tomorrow morning to get induced. I don’t have anyone who can stay with Beatrice, and there’s only one option. I’m so sorry. I’ll wait as long as possible. I don’t want your sweet girl to be separated from you because of all of this. God, I’m so sorry.” She paused as if realizing she was rambling. “I hope you get this soon. Anyways, you know my number.”

The words ended, and I raised my eyes to meet Zeke’s gaze.

“I wasn’t the only one hiding things.”

His words sounded harsh and distant. He had no idea that I planned on telling him about this today. I planned on telling him everything, but this voicemail had revealed so much. Too much.

“I—I…” What could I even say?

“How does this woman have my number?”

“I called her.”

His eyes blazed. “You called somebody? Did you do it from here?” I shook my head, and his shoulders tensed. “Was that how they put a trace on my number? Is that how they found us the first time?”

“I didn’t know her phone was being watched. I had no idea they could find us that way.”

I expected him to explode. To combust. But he only stared at me. He just waited.

“Beatrice?” he asked.

I could lie. It would be so easy to backtrack and tell him that Beatrice was my dog or cat. There was nothing incriminating in the message that would have indicated otherwise, but I wanted to tell him the truth. I needed him to know the truth for Beatrice’s sake, even if it had the potential to ruin what we had together, especially now. Especially since I didn’t have the chance to broach the topic myself.

“My daughter,” I whispered.

His eyes widened slightly as he considered my words. “Daughter?”

I nodded, crossing my arms over my chest and standing in front of him. I couldn’t push out the words that would damn me… not yet.

“My best friend and manager has been keeping her for the past few months to keep her hidden from my father. I had planned on leaving with Beatrice before this happened.”

“Daughter,” he said, turning the word over in his mouth. “How old is she?”

“Almost four months,” I told him.

I watched closely as his eyes softened. He didn’t seem to make the connection. Not yet. “Who knows about her?”

“Nobody. I only told my manager because I needed someone to keep her hidden.”

How would I break the news to him? “You didn’t think to tell me this? If Clide Newton learned of this, your daughter could be used as leverage. She could be hurt or killed because of this fucking situation, and I can’t keep her safe if I don’t know she exists.”

“That’s the point. Nobody knows about her, Zeke.”

His scowl deepened. “I told you everything about myself.”

That was what this was all about? He was pissed that he had opened up to me, and I had kept something integral—something life-changing—from him. It was only going to get worse. I knew it would get worse when I admitted the truth, and it had me questioning whether or not I should lie. Maybe it was the best option…

But when he inevitably saw her, there would be no question of her parentage.

I hadn’t lied to him up until this point, and I knew that lying about this would be unforgivable. Withholding a truth was entirely different.

“Zeke…”

“You have three sisters. Do you have any idea what strings your oldest sister pulled to keep you safe? She was ready to give her life for you, and you wouldn’t even tell her that she has a niece?”

Aria .

Aria may not have been the best option. She was married to the heir of a mafia empire, and if she miraculously had a four-month-old, the odds of Clide Newton drawing connections was possible, but it wasn’t likely.

“She’s in this life as much as anyone else, and I need Beatrice to be safe. At any cost.”

I took a deep breath and opened my mouth, but he cut me off again.

“Call your sister, and she’ll keep Beatrice safe. You know she will.”

I finally blurted it out. “I was a virgin before I met you.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. The damning words that had the potential to ruin everything. But he seemed to quickly draw parallels as he stared at me. He blinked, no expression on his face. He blinked again, the silence between us becoming a deafening roar in my ears.

“She’s mine?”

I could only bring myself to nod.

What did he see in my expression? What was going through his mind? Did he blame me?

“Zeke, I wanted to tell you, but you were so adamant about wanting no commitment or connection, and if you knew… if you knew, you’d feel obligated to be in her life. I didn’t want to tie you down when you weren’t interested in this.”

I left out the bitterness I had felt for him leaving me to do this alone. After hearing his story and his reasons, it would be easy to forgive him for that. The heaviness no longer settled in my chest.

He pulled out his phone and extended it to me. “Call Aria and ask her to get Beatrice from your friend.”

He turned his back and walked toward the door.

“Zeke,” I called after him, but he continued walking.

He didn’t even turn back as he closed the door behind him. It would have been easier if he had slammed it or showed some sign of emotion. But he gave me nothing. He didn’t say a word or tell me how he felt about any of this, and I wondered if I should have told him sooner.

But for now, I needed to put this on the back burner.

I needed to push aside the crack in my heart that would shatter me if he said the wrong thing.

I shouldn’t have expected excitement, but this? This nothingness? Walking out when I had finally revealed the most important part of my life?

I shook my head and searched through his contacts, finding Aria’s name quickly. I hit call without allowing myself to dwell on it.

“Yeah, Coleman?”

“Aria,” I said, biting my lip at the unexpected emotions that oozed from me as I heard her voice. My sister. The one who had always been there for us. She deserved the world, and what was I going to give her aside from more stress?

“Oh, Evelina,” she said, emotion filling her tone the same way as it had mine. “Are you okay? I… I was trying to get you out sooner, but there was only so much I could do. God, I’m so sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. You saved me, and I’m only calling because—” The words choked me up. A tear fell down my cheek. “Did you find a way to take down Clide Newton yet?”

She sighed. “I’ve been doing everything. Checking every loophole in contracts and every legal reason he could be taken down. It would be hard under normal circumstances, but our hands are tied in so many different ways. I promise that I will find something. I will work 24/7 until I do.”

“No, no. Don’t do that. You need rest. But Aria, there’s so much you don’t know about me. I was a shitty sister, and I disconnected from all of you. I was never half as good to you as you were to me. I disconnected because you and Noemi treated me like a child, and Livia always treated me like I was incapable of any success. So I played into it and let you believe it. And now I’m going to ask you for the biggest favor a person could ask.”

“God, I’m so sorry. We didn’t have a mother, and I guess I tried to take that role at the expense of our relationship. I will do anything, Evelina.”

“I have a baby, and her name is Beatrice.”

Silence.

“A baby?”

“I had her four months ago, and she has been living with my art manager ever since. I kept her hidden from our father and everyone else to keep her safe, and it worked. But now, she needs somewhere else to go, and you always played the role of mother so well. I would trust you with my entire world, Aria. I know you’re pregnant and have a lot on your plate—”

“I—” she cut herself off. “I didn’t know you had an art manager. Or… I didn’t know any of this. Evelina, I would be honored. For as long as you need me to keep her, I would be honored . I will love her like my own until it’s safe enough for her to come home to you. You have my word.”

Sobs wracked me as I realized that she would be the first of my family to know the truth. “I love you, Ari.”

“I’ve always loved you more than you realize.”

For the first time in my life, I realized that she had always loved me, and treating me as a child had been because of that love. Her fierce protectiveness would extend to my own daughter, and I didn’t doubt that for a moment.