Not Your Pet: I'm My Own Queen

When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the hospital room. I tried to move, but I couldn't feel my legs.

The hollow emptiness in my abdomen told me everything I needed to know. My baby was gone.

As soon as he saw me wake up, Lorenzo rushed over, looking heartbroken. "Renee, how are you feeling? I'm sorry I was late.

"But I've already taken care of the perpetrators. They paid the price for hurting my fiancée!"

As he spoke, he placed a gift box in my hands.

Inside lay hundreds of bloodstained crests from the Quintarelli family. They were trophies ripped from the bodies of the men he had killed.

I shut the box without saying a single word. Not because I was scared but because I was sick to my stomach.

I felt sick, not from the sight of blood but from the man standing in front of me.

I reached for his phone when Lorenzo stepped out to call the doctor. Hanging from it was a heart-shaped ruby charm. It was my gift to him.

I had assumed that he'd toss it in a drawer somewhere, but he actually carried it with him.

The infamous mafia boss of the West District was parading around with a heart-shaped charm on his phone like a lovesick fool for the whole world to see.

Back then, the thought had made my heart swell. Now, it only made it ache.

I unlocked his phone. The pinned chat at the top wasn't mine but Kelly's.

I tapped on the latest voice message, and a sweet child's voice floated through the speaker. "Daddy, when are you coming to see Mommy and me? I miss you so much."

It was Mia—his daughter with Kelly.

The word "Daddy" made my hands tremble as I touched my stomach, remembering the child I had lost.

Lorenzo once told me that he didn't like children. Growing up, he had to fight dozens of other kids on the black market just for a piece of bread.

However, when it came to Mia's voice messages, he responded to every single one with patience.

So it wasn't that he didn't like children. He just didn't like me.

Even as I was being wheeled into the operating room, even as the Quintarelli family ambushed me, even as he gave the order to have my Achilles tendons severed—he was still flirting with Kelly.

Just as I was about to put the phone down, a message popped on the screen. "Mr. Gambino, your honeymoon itinerary with Ms. Valente is ready. Please confirm."

I stared at Kelly's name.

My fists clenched as I thought of the already booked chapel, the wedding gown that didn't fit, and the ring with the wrong initials.

From the very beginning, Lorenzo had never been planning our wedding. He had been planning his and Kelly's.

I scrolled through the itinerary and saw the plans involving the beach, sunset, and hot air balloons. Those were every place I once dreamed of visiting with him.

Slowly, I typed a reply from his phone.

"Perfect. Proceed as planned."

They had fought this hard to be together. Thus, I would grant their wish.