Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 76222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
I lowered my head and, with shaky fingers, flipped it over and stared at the results. The two lines that showed were bright pink.
Like bright fucking pink.
No denying it at all.
I was good and knocked up by Gio.
No shock filled me. There wasn’t even any nervousness.
I felt… nothing for long seconds as I just stared at those twin lines.
And that feeling of nothingness terrified me more than anything else.
More than the baby growing inside me whose father was not only family by marriage but Head of the West Coast Italian Mafia.
God… Gio.
A fighter, a brutal and savage beast of a man who rivaled my brothers’ aggression and power, had gotten me pregnant.
I set the test back down and braced my hands on the edge of the vanity. My head automatically hung forward as if I didn’t have the strength to keep it up.
At that moment, all I could think of was the ramifications that would happen over this.
My worry and fear grew at the thought of what my brothers would do to Gio once they found out. And they would. No matter how long I kept his identity hidden, the truth would come out eventually.
I looked at my flat stomach and placed a hand over it, gripping my shirt and pulling it up. The pale expanse of my abdomen showed no sign that life was growing within it. I wondered what I’d look like big and swollen.
I felt myself choke up. The fear I felt for the unknown terrified me.
I loved him. And because of those feelings and my actions, there would be drastic repercussions.
I was in love with him.
God, I thought to myself. I royally fucked up this time.
There were always options, but that very thought twisted my stomach painfully.
That wasn’t an option for me.
Gio and I had never talked about anything serious. He said things in the heat of the moment, but I didn’t let myself cling to them. I didn't want to hope there was more than there was.
Our encounters had been wild, animalistic, and sexually deviant. I was his little Russian doll.
The way he spoke to me, touched my body… fucked me, all confirmed how physical our relationship was.
And maybe that’s all there was between us.
Right?
Not anymore.
Could he want this baby? Would he be upset or maybe leave?
How badly would this tear up the family and drive a wedge between us?
How long can I hide this?
The sound of my cell phone vibrating with an incoming text drew me from my thoughts, and I picked it up, staring at the screen.
Unknown Number
Be ready for when I return, cara. You’ll be gagging on my cock before I fill you up.
My insides clenched painfully—pleasurably—at his text. It was so crude, so obscene, and all I could do was accept it all because there was no other option for me.
Gio was it, and there was no going back.
24
TATIANA
Ididn’t know how much time had passed since I’d stared down at that pregnancy test and saw how my future would go.
Days, maybe a week. Time just seemed to mesh together, if I was being honest.
I hadn’t seen Gio since then, not because I'd been keeping my distance but because he’d gone back to the West Coast for work. But the texts I got from him were daily, and although raunchy, I sensed a lighter, softer note in each one.
Like when he’d ask how I was and wanted me to elaborate.
Or when he’d send me a random text saying he was thinking about me.
But would he still feel that way when I finally told him about the baby?
I placed a hand on my belly but quickly removed it, as the last thing I needed was for someone to see and jump to conclusions.
I took a deep breath and exhaled, steadying myself, because at this particular moment, I had to focus on the here and now.
And that was because Dmitry had gone and gotten himself married.
Not just married to someone he ran into or even an arranged marriage to another family. No… to Claudia Bianchi.
Dmitry had wed Gio and Amara’s sister.
I guess we really were keeping it in the damn family.
They’d had a low-key ceremony just an hour before, and having everyone close to us gathered for the nuptials made my thoughts clear for the first time in forever.
Seeing Gio after a week felt like an eternity had passed.
God, I had it bad for him.
And pretending to have no feelings for him, acting like he was just my sisters-in-law’s brother, was a hell of a lot harder than anyone could guess.
The door to one of my favorite little French restaurants was held open for us. I stepped inside, behind everyone else except Gio, who was right behind me. I felt his towering frame so close, sensed his body heat seeping into me. I swore I felt his breath tease the tendrils of my hair and heard him inhale deeply.