The Madre Strikes Back

Domenico slammed the phone down and spun toward me. "Valentina! You're the Madre of this famiglia. Jealousy is one thing, but how could you actually send someone after Lorita? How dare you harm an innocent woman!"

I let out a bitter laugh. "So you've decided I'm guilty without even knowing the whole story?"

Silence stretched between us.

Domenico finally let go of my wrist, which was aching and bruised from his grip, and turned toward the door. "We'll settle this when I return," he said.

He walked away, leaving me alone in the villa to silently tend to my wounds.

I stood frozen for a long moment before dragging myself to the wardrobe to finish packing. My eyes fell on the bottle-cap ring. The sweetness it once held had turned into bitter mockery.

Without a second thought, I tossed the ring and every gift Domenico had ever given me into the trash can.

As I snapped the suitcase shut, my phone buzzed. Lorita had sent me a video. I grabbed both my suitcase and my phone, tapping on the video to play it.

Carefree laughter spilled from the video, mingling with the innocent chatter of a child.

I froze. There was Domenico, holding a boy who seemed no older than five years old. Lorita clung close to him, smiling sweetly.

A bandage was wrapped around the boy's forehead. There was no blood seeping through it, and his pale face suggested he was only slightly injured.

In a small, hesitant voice, he asked Lorita, "Mamma, is he my Papa?"

Lorita didn't answer the boy. She looked at Domenico with tear-filled eyes, as if she were silently asking him to be the boy's father.

Domenico hesitated for a moment, then gently looked at the boy and whispered, "Sure."

The boy's face lit up with pure joy. He threw his arms around Domenico's neck and shouted, "Papa! I finally have a Papa!"

Lorita took advantage of the moment. While Domenico's attention was on the boy, she looked straight at the camera—at me—with a triumphant, mocking smile.

My mind went blank. Waves of dizziness hit me, and a sharp pain flared in my lower abdomen.

I staggered to the door, barely able to keep my balance, and ordered the Underboss, Gio Rocco, to take me to the nearest hospital.