Chapter 26 Calli
CALLI
"I'm pregnant."
The words hang between us, suspended in sunlight like those tiny particles you see floating in a room.
I wait for Niko's face to change. For shock, anger, or fear to replace the warm smile he's given me.
But his smile only grows wider and his dark eyes light up from within.
"You're serious? A baby?" he says, his voice filled with wonder. "Our baby?"
I nod, tears of relief spilling down my cheeks. "I wanted to tell you in Rome, but then—"
Niko's hands are warm when they cup my cheeks, the rough brush of his thumbs catching a stray tear before it can fall.
"I love you," he says, pulling me into his arms. "Both of you," he says, kissing the top of my head.
I can barely breathe, barely believe that it's happening, that I'm finally telling him.
But this is how it should be. This perfect moment, this perfect man. No war between families, no brothers plotting revenge, no father to avenge. Just us, creating something new from all this love.
He pulls back and looks at me. "God, Calli, you've just given me everything." His hand slides down over my stomach. "We're going to be a family."
Then the sound rips through the air.
A single gunshot.
The warmth drains from his body in an instant.
"Niko?" My voice cracks.
His arms loosen their hold as he stumbles backward. I reach for him, confused, and my hands come away wet with blood. It spreads across his white shirt.
Niko falls to his knees, his face a mask of pain and confusion. I drop beside him, pressing my hands against the wound, but the blood seeps between my fingers, hot and unstoppable.
"No, no, no," I beg, my voice breaking. "Please, stay with me!"
His mouth moves, trying to form words, but only blood comes out. His eyes, those beautiful eyes that have looked at me with such hunger and tenderness, begin to dim.
My head jerks up, searching desperately for help, and I freeze.
I see Ares standing there. My brother's face is expressionless, the gun still raised.
"Ares, please," I sob. "Help him. He didn't do anything. I love him. I'm pregnant and you just—"
My brother's eyes flicker, but his arm doesn't lower. Instead, he shifts his aim slightly.
The gun is pointing at me now.
"You betrayed the family," he says, his voice hollow.
I close my eyes as his finger tightens on the trigger.
The shot explodes into blackness.
I bolt upright in bed, a scream dying in my throat. My heart hammers in my chest like it's trying to escape. Sweat soaks through my shirt, plastering it to my skin. For a moment, I'm completely disoriented, still feeling Niko's warm blood on my hands.
The room is still dark, morning light barely bleeding through the curtains. It takes a few seconds to realize it was a dream.
Just a dream, I tell myself. A stupid vivid pregnancy dream.
Actually, a nightmare. And the terror feels real. The grief feels real.
I push the covers off and swing my legs over the side of the bed, waiting for the room to stop spinning. Morning sickness crashes over me in a nauseating wave. I breathe through it.
In through the nose, one, two, three. Out through the mouth, one, two, three.
When the nausea subsides enough, I stand on shaky legs and make my way to the bathroom. The cold water I splash on my face helps ground me in reality. I'm home. I'm safe. For now.
But Niko isn't.
I walk barefoot out into the living room and sit on the couch, pulling my knees to my chest. My hands automatically wrap around me as if I'm trying to hold it all together.
The meeting last night still comes flooding back into my mind.
For the first time ever, my brothers included me in family business. Real business. Not the sanitized version they usually share, but the raw, ugly truth of what they do. What they are planning to do.
I hold myself tighter, trying to push away the memory of sitting at that table, watching their faces as they calmly discussed killing the father of my child.
All I could think about was that there was no way he knew about this. That he even remotely had anything to do with it. I was so confident in that, I didn't even need to second guess myself. There's just no way.
So as I sat at that table, listening to them talk about him like a threat that had to be neutralized, I felt like I was floating outside my own body during that meeting, watching this strange version of myself sit there silent while they planned violence.
A stranger who nodded at the right moments, who didn't stand up and scream the truth, who didn't beg them to stop.
But something else stuck with me too. Something that made my blood run cold.
It was when Theo said, "Stavros is the most powerful and dangerous man we've ever gone after. We should plan to lose men."
I remember looking at him and asking what that meant, and he hesitated. Theo never hesitates with business.
And then Ares, looking right at me, said, "There's a chance one of us doesn't make it."
Those words gutted me more than anything. The idea of losing one of my brothers, of losing any of them, is unthinkable. They are frustrating and overprotective and maddening, but they are mine. My family. And I am theirs.
I don't even realize I've boiled water until I'm standing at the counter and the electric kettle clicks off. I make some chamomile to calm me down and my phone lights up.
Keira. FaceTime.
I swipe to answer, and her face fills the screen. She's in her kitchen, her red hair piled in a bun, coffee mug in hand.
"Hey," I say, forcing a small smile. "Don't you look beautiful this morning."
"Ha," Keira says, "Nice to get some of the old Calli."
I force a smile. "I'm trying."
She takes a sip from her mug. "So what happened at the meeting?"
I sink back onto the couch with my tea. "It was terrible. I'm not used to it. The way they talk. I've heard bits and pieces over the years, but it's different when you're sitting there. Especially when it's about someone I—" I cut myself off, but Keira knows.
Her expression softens. "Yeah, I get it," she says. "You know, my dad always treats me like one of the sons, probably because he wished he had all sons, so I've been in those many a times, but it's brutal the first time you hear them planning something like this."
"Exactly." I curl my fingers tighter around my mug. "But there's something else. Something I didn't even know to be afraid of."
Her brows pull together. "With Niko?"
I shake my head. "No. My brothers. Theo said Stavros is really dangerous and Ares said one of them may die."
Her eyes flash and Keira goes quiet for a moment.
"Right when I think I've got enough on my plate, the universe adds more," I continue, not wanting there to be silence.
"Okay," she says finally. "My main focus was protecting you and Niko, but we can't let anything happen to your brothers either."
"Of course. Family first," I agree instantly. It's true. It's always been true.
Keira exhales, frustrated, and leans closer to the screen. "This is going to get messy before it's over. And honestly? You might need to fight like your brothers do. Whether you want to or not."
The words strike a chord in me. "If there's anything I can do to make sure they're safe, I will. They've done it for me my whole life."
"Then let's fight," she says firmly. "But I think it's time your brothers know the truth."
"No." The word is sharp, immediate.
"Calli—"
"They'll think I betrayed them. They'll see me as a traitor."
"Bullshit," Keira snaps. "You didn't know any of this when you met him. And any man you chose for yourself, they'd hate just as much. You're a grown fucking woman, Cal. They need to get over it."
"You don't understand," I argue. "This isn't about them being overprotective. This is about revenge for our father."
"And you think they'd choose revenge over you? Over their niece or nephew?" Keira challenges. "Maybe give them some credit."
I don't answer. Instead, I bite my lip and look away, unconvinced.
"Look," Keira says, softening slightly. "I'll talk to my brothers, at least Declan. See if we can get some help. You stall your brothers as long as possible."
I nod, not trusting my voice.
"Like I said, we'll figure this out," she promises. "I love you. You're not alone in this, and if the universe gives you anything else, we'll take that on, too."
"I love you too," I say.
We hang up, and I'm left in the silence of my living room again. I stare out the window at the manicured grounds of the estate, thinking of my brothers, of Niko, of the tiny life growing inside me.
I sit there for who knows how long, but when I take a sip of my tea next, it's cold.
I'm just so terrified of losing any of them. Of having to choose.
But maybe Keira is right. Maybe I've been underestimating my brothers all along. Maybe they'd choose me, choose us, over their need for vengeance.
Or maybe I'm just being naive.
Either way, I can't sit by and watch the people I love destroy each other. Not when I have the power to stop it.
It's time to fight, really this time. Not lose the gusto, even if it means standing in the line of fire myself.