Six
Ava
A few days before
Aurora’s wearing a cute yellow dress, her bouncy orange curls spilling over her face as she tries to fit animal-shaped puzzle pieces into the right spots.
Luca’s helping her, and they’re both completely absorbed in it.
Over in the corner, Gabriel’s taken charge of the Lego construction crew, barking orders at Riccardo, Daniel, Simone, and Emanuele as they build a giant Lego castle.
I’m setting the table for lunch when a dull ache starts pulsing low in my pelvis. It’s been building all morning, but I figure it’s just pre-period cramps.
The sound of the kids bickering pulls me away from the table. Before I can get there, Luca snatches Aurora’s giraffe puzzle piece like a little bully and snaps, “This is mine.” Then he bops her on the head with it.
Aurora turns to me, eyes brimming with tears, and reaches out her little arms. Most days, I wish Emily’s bodyguards had at least one daughter to be Aurora’s playmate. I’ve figured out by now that my girl’s naturally shy and her only playmates are four wild boys.
I kneel beside her and let her curl into my arms. Luca sneaks a glance at me, and now that he knows he’s in trouble, he puts on his best puppy-dog eyes.
“Luca, we talked about bullying and hitting, didn’t we?” I gently say.
He pouts and gives me a small nod. Right then, Gabriel abandons his post as Lego crew chief and marches over to his brother.
“Let me handle this, Ms. Wilson,” he declares after giving me a confident look.
He looks so sure of himself that I decide to see where this goes.
He reaches out to his brother. “Luca, don’t you remember what Dad said? We’re not supposed to boss girls around. A Bruni never hurts girls.”
Luca, clearly not fully grasping Gabriel’s words, shrugs and hands over the giraffe.
Gabriel turns to Aurora and offers it to her, “Here, Aurora. Luca’s sorry, right?”
After Aurora takes the giraffe, Gabriel turns to Luca and points at the Lego-building boys. “If you really want to hit someone, go after Riccardo. He keeps wrecking everything anyway.”
Given the green light, Luca takes off running.
I can’t help but laugh at Gabriel’s way of handling things, but I keep a straight face and turn to him. “Gabriel, you shouldn’t hit anybody, girl or boy.”
“But my dad said—”
“I’m sure you didn’t quite catch what your dad meant, sweetie.”
Truth is, I’m not even convinced of my own words. Carlo Bruni, my boss, is one of the strangest, and scariest, men I’ve ever met. A wealthy man who, by his own admission, has a lot of enemies. Now paranoid I might somehow use his sons against him, he’s kept me locked in this hotel for a year.
His two boys come to the hotel with their mom, Emily, every morning and stay until evening.
The only other children Carlo allows near his sons are the sons of Emily’s bodyguards.
Emily and April were both part of the same charity group, and it was April who introduced me to Emily before she decided to move abroad for good.
When Luca barrels into the Lego structure the boys worked so hard to build, chaos erupts again. I jump to my feet to head toward them, but a pain sharp as a knife shoots between my legs and down my thighs.
I let out a short scream and collapse to the floor. The pain’s so intense, I can barely breathe. The boys all freeze in place, their fight forgotten, and Aurora throws herself onto my chest, sobbing.
Through gritted teeth, I turn to Gabriel, who’s standing there, stunned like the others.
“Go get your mom,” I manage to say.
He bolts for the door without hesitation, and moments later, Emily rushes in, already panicking.
The pain’s so bad tears keep spilling down my face. Seconds later, Diego and Nicholas, Emily’s bodyguards and the fathers of the other boys, burst into the room. When they realize they can’t move me an inch without triggering another scream, they call an ambulance.
Aurora’s in Emily’s arms the whole time, crying and flailing. Before the paramedics take me away, I cast a trembling glance at Emily, but she seems to know what I’m trying to say.
She takes my hand and squeezes it, her voice soft and reassuring. “Don’t worry about Aurora. I’ve got her.”
***
I’ve changed into the blue hospital gown, waiting for the nurse to take me to the operating room.
My stomach’s in knots. What if I don’t make it out of there alive?
The doctor reassured me it’s a low-risk procedure, but how can I be sure?
All I can think about is my sweet, shy little girl. What would happen to her?
My phone buzzes, and I wipe away the annoying tears to answer. When I see my daughter’s face, a real smile pulls at my lips. “Hey, sweetie.”
She’s wearing a cream-colored dress, her hair neatly combed, looking like a little angel. The moment she sees me, she bursts into tears, and it breaks my heart. “Mama, where are you?”
“I’m at the hospital, sweetheart. Auntie Emily told you, right? Mama just needs to stay with the doctors for a little while so she can feel all better.”
Suddenly, a dog barks somewhere in the background, and Aurora instantly forgets she was crying.
Emily peeks into the frame, a playful glint in her eye. “Don’t worry about your girl. I’ve got this dog to keep the boys in line. Yours is the easy one.”
I give her a grateful smile. “I don’t know how to thank you, Mrs. Bruni.”
“With a quick recovery. And by saving me from my own kids.”
The way she says it makes me laugh under my breath.
Aurora looks back at the camera, this time practically bouncing with excitement. “I love you, Mama!”
Before I can respond, she’s off, chasing after the little white dog.
I watch her with love for a few moments before turning my attention to Emily.
Swallowing hard, I voice the thought weighing on my mind.
“Mrs. Bruni, I need to ask one more favor. If anything happens to me, please make sure Sister Maria takes Aurora. Her address and number are in the little notebook on my room’s desk. ”
Emily gives me a reassuring look, tucks her thick black hair behind her ear, and tries to comfort me. “It’s a minor surgery to remove an ovarian cyst, Ava. You don’t need to start writing your will.”
“I just wanted to say it… just in case.”
“For your peace of mind, I promise I’ll do what you asked,” she says. “But I’m sure, and you should be too, that it won’t come to that.”
“Thank you,” I murmur, praying to God that it’s true.
She gives me a gentle nod. “You’ll need a few days of recovery after the surgery.
I was going to hire a nurse to look after you at the hotel, but by the time Carlo runs a background check on them, your recovery will be over.
So I worked it out with your doctor for you to stay at the hospital instead. ”
She’s right. Carlo Bruni vets everyone personally. I was stuck on a month-long waiting list myself until he was convinced my past was clean and I had no ties to any criminals.
***
I’m pouring boiling water into a mug when the door opens and Emily walks in with a small bouquet of flowers. “Ava, I’m so glad to see you’re doing okay.”
I take the flowers, thank her, and set them on the table by the bed. “Would you like some tea?”
She settles into the chair beside the bed and smiles. “That would be lovely, thank you.”
I pour two cups and sit down on the armchair beside her. “How’s Aurora?” I ask eagerly.
“Totally fine and full of energy. She’s become a semi-active member of the chaos club, my boys being the core founding members.”
I can’t help but laugh.
She takes a sip of her tea. “I spoke to your doctor. They got the results from your cyst biopsy. He said everything looks good, no malignancy at all.”
I wrap my hands around the warm mug. “Yes. He said he wasn’t too worried.”
I chuckle softly as I recall my conversation with the doctor. “He said I’ve probably had this cyst for years. He also said most women with a cyst that size struggle to get pregnant at all.”
Emily grins, her tone playful. “Damn, girl. If he knew you got pregnant not just naturally, but from a one-night stand with a guy wearing a condom, he’d probably call you a miracle from God.”
I’d already told Emily before about how I got pregnant with Aurora. My mind drifts back to that wild night years ago.
“Guess Aurora really did come from Heaven after all,” I murmur.
“What do you mean?” she asks with a laugh.
“Heaven was the name of the club I went to that night. Though it turned out it wasn’t heaven at all, more like hell. I found out later it was actually a brothel.”
The smile freezes on her lips, and her hand, holding the teacup, stalls in front of her mouth. She stares at me for a few seconds before bringing the cup to her lips. She must think I was an idiot for walking into a brothel alone.
“So, you ended up with one of the clients?” she asks without looking at me.
A pair of black eyes flashes in my mind, and I take a deep breath. “No. I ended up with the owner.”
She sets her cup down on the table and stays silent for a moment. She looks distracted, as if there’s a lot on her mind.
“Oh. So you crossed paths with the Big Bad Wolf himself,” she finally manages to say.
“Right, but here’s the crazy part: I had a cyst the size of an apple, he used a condom, and I still got pregnant.”
Emily raises a brow. “Sounds like either you’ve got a supernatural uterus or that guy had Olympic-level sperm.”
I shrug with a smile. “Whatever it was, I thank God every day for Aurora.”
She blinks in agreement, her expression softening. “That girl is an angel. You should also be thankful she got all her genes from you. From what I’ve heard, brothel owners aren’t exactly known for being attractive men.”
“Oh, completely the opposite. Maxim looked like he belonged on the cover of a dirty magazine.”
The name makes her go still for a split second, and I curse myself for letting it slip. It’s hard to imagine Emily having any connection to a brothel owner, or her husband casually mentioning one in conversation. Still… rich people always seem to know each other.