Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
NICO
I need to get to the bottom of Aurora and her aunt’s relationship. Why did her aunt stab her?
I ask Andrew to keep an eye out for her aunt, so whenever she shows back up, I’ll kill her. I know Aurora won’t want that to happen—Beatrice is her aunt after all—but I won’t stand by and let anyone hurt my wife.
I don’t press the issue with Aurora until she’s back home and starting to feel better. “I need you to explain to me why this happened.”
She’s sitting in bed, looking tired and innocent, and my heart almost breaks for her. “I don’t know why. My aunt lost her mind. That’s all I can say.”
For some reason, I feel as if Aurora is keeping something from me, but I can’t exactly use my usual methods to get her to talk.
“You know what I have to do,” I tell her.
Aurora sighs and grabs my hand, bringing it to her lips. “I know. I know you have to do something about Beatrice. But just … promise me that if you find her, you’ll make it quick. Don’t torture her.”
All I want is to torture Beatrice for stabbing Aurora, but I can tell how much it would mean to Aurora if I show her aunt mercy, so I nod and make my promise. “I won’t torture her. But she can’t live. Not if she’s as unhinged as you say.”
“I understand.”
I cup Aurora’s face and press a gentle kiss to her lips. “I just want you to be safe.” We still haven’t heard the news if Aurora can have children or not. We should be getting the call later today.
But if it’s bad news, then I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I care for Aurora. I don’t want children unless they’re with her, but if she can’t have any …
I push that from my mind. That doesn’t matter right now.
I leave Aurora to rest, then spend the rest of the day trying to track down Beatrice. For someone not within the Mafia, Beatrice is sure good at covering her tracks. It makes me wonder who she is exactly. Aurora has been going to see her for the past few months now. I should have insisted on meeting Beatrice. I should have dug deeper into her.
Of course, I did do a background check on Beatrice Keller, and everything came up clean.
But why would a woman without a record just stab her niece in the stomach randomly?
There’s something I’m missing. I just don’t know what.
My phone rings with a number from the doctor’s office. “Hello?” I ask.
“Is this Mr. Mancini?” Dr. Anderson asks.
“Yes.”
“I have the test results back for your wife. I’d like for you two to come in and see me as soon as you can.”
“Can’t you tell me now?”
“It’s better told in person.”
That tells me everything I need to know—the news isn’t good.
Dr. Anderson can get us in later today, so I help Aurora walk to the car and drive us to her office. All I can think about is how gray the office is. It helps me not think about the news I’m about to hear.
“So, can I have children or not?” Aurora asks, squeezing my hand.
Dr. Anderson sighs. “You can. But the possibility of getting pregnant will be slim. About a five percent chance. So, it’s not impossible, but the odds aren’t great. We can try IVF to help. But nothing is a guarantee. I need you both to understand this. You could possibly get pregnant naturally. My advice, don’t put pressure on it. Aurora, you’re young. You don’t need to worry about getting pregnant right away. We can discuss freezing your eggs as an alternate solution just so you have options later down the road. But for right now, don’t put pressure on getting pregnant.”
There’s still a chance. I married Aurora because I just wanted a woman to give me children.
But now … now I would do anything to protect Aurora. If we can have children, I would be so goddamn happy. But if we can’t …
I look into Aurora’s soft eyes and know I would never leave her. I can’t at this point. I’m in too deep.
Aurora is silent on our drive back home. I don’t push her, knowing she needs time to think it over. Aurora and I never really got the chance to discuss in depth how we felt about having a child and losing it before it even got the chance to grow.
There are no words to describe what either of us feels, so instead of using words, I just take Aurora’s hand in my own and hold it tight.
AURORA
“This place is beautiful,” I say as I look at the flowers all around us. Nico wanted to get me out of the house because I’ve been stuck inside for the past week, healing, so he took me to a botanical garden. We’re inside a large glass house filled with flowers. He paid for us to have the place in private.
“I wanted to take you somewhere nice. After what you’ve been through …”
I rest my head against his chest and let him hold me in his arms. “After what we’ve been through. Are we going to talk about it?”
“If you want to.”
“We lost our child, Nico.”
“I know. It fucking hurts. But we can always try again.”
“Our chances aren’t good. What if I can never have children?”
“Adoptions an option.”
I glance up at him. “You really think an adoption agency would let a man like you adopt a child? You have a reputation, Nico. Even if it’s not who you really are, you still have it.”
“I know. But as the doctor said, we shouldn’t put pressure on trying for another baby right away. We can let things happen naturally for the time being.”
“You won’t leave me?” I ask. That’s my real insecurity—losing everyone I’ve ever cared for.
“I won’t leave you.”
I believe him when he says it, and that’s more terrifying than anything else because Nico has the power to break my heart.
We wander around the garden for a while, content to just be together. I’m tired of thinking about having a baby. I’m tired of thinking about Beatrice out there, waiting to pounce. I just want to be with Nico and feel happy for once.
Of course, nothing can ever go that smoothly.
I don’t see her until she’s practically next to us.
“Nico!” I shout.
He spins and catches Beatrice’s arm right as she aims a gun at him. He forces her arm up, and the gun fires into the sky. The bullet goes through the glass ceiling, raining glass down on us.
Beatrice growls and tries to shoot Nico again, but he grabs the gun and turns it around on her.
“How did you find us?” I ask.
“You know I have my resources,” she says.
“How did you get past our guards?” Nico demands to know.
“A sniper. Shot them all dead. You have no one protecting you. I’m here to finish the job my niece couldn’t.”
Nico frowns. “What are you talking about?”
Beatrice flashes me a smug smile. At this moment, I know she’s going to tell Nico everything.
And I can’t let that happen.
I grab the gun from Nico and shoot her in the head. She jerks, then falls to the ground. She can join my father in the afterlife.
Nico stares at me for a long moment before gently taking the gun from me. “Why did you shoot her? You didn’t want her dead.”
“She was trying to kill you. And she made us lose our baby. She had to die.” And I had to kill her before she ratted me out to Nico.
“Aurora,” he says carefully. “You just killed your own aunt.”
“I know.” And the truth? I don’t feel any remorse.
Beatrice forced me into my marriage with Nico. She hit me. She stabbed me. She made me bury my father. She made me lose my baby.
I have no love lost for her.
And I couldn’t let her ruin everything I’ve built with Nico.
“I’ll call Andrew,” Nico says. “He’ll get rid of her body. Are you all right with that?”
“I am.” I’m telling the complete truth this time.
Nico watches me for the rest of the evening as we get ready for bed. I know he wasn’t expecting me to kill my aunt. I didn’t expect it either.
But I couldn’t risk her killing Nico. Not when I love him. And I couldn’t risk her making me lose him.
I turn to Nico once we’re in bed together. “I need to tell you something.” I can’t hide everything about how I’m feeling. “I love you, Nico.” The moment I say the words, a weight lifts from my shoulders.
His eyes soften. “I love you, too.”
I inhale sharply as I digest his words. “You do?”
“Of course. Why do you ask?”
“I just wasn’t sure …”
“Now, you can be.” He kisses me gently and lowers me to my back. I’m still healing, so we can’t have sex. Instead, we take this moment just to be together.
To be in love.
Until Andrew barges into our bedroom and rips the covers off our bed.
“What the fuck?” Nico growls.
“I buried the body,” Andrew says. “And that’s when I realized I knew that woman.”
“Who? Aurora’s aunt? Andrew, we’re in the middle of something.”
My heart is pounding, and my body is ready to sprint at any moment even though I’m still technically too weak to do so.
“I recognized her, Nico. You never met her because you never did business with Giovanni Costa in person, but I did. Aurora’s aunt is Giovanni’s sister.”
My entire world ends at this very second. I shot Beatrice, trying to safe Nico, but it didn’t save me.
No, it was my doom.
It didn’t cross my mind that Andrew might know Beatrice. It should have, and now, I’m paying the consequences for that blunder.
“Aurora is Giovanni Costa’s daughter.”
Nico scoffs. “That’s not true. We looked into her. She’s not related to anyone in the Mafia.”
I can feel my body inching out of the bed.
“Oh, but she is,” Andrew says darkly. “I knew something wasn’t adding up. And now, I know why. Beatrice is Giovanni’s sister. I met her once at a meeting with Giovanni. He introduced us. I never met his daughter. Never knew what she looked like. But it’s obvious, Nico. You’re married to Giovanni Costa’s daughter.”
Nico turns to me. “Is this true?”
I could deny it. I try to deny it, but the words don’t come. Slowly, betrayal shifts into Nico’s eyes.
And then Enzo enters the room.
“Grab her,” Andrew says.
Enzo rips me off the bed and drag me from the room.
“Nico, help!” I shout.
But he doesn’t help. He only lets me get taken away.