Chapter 3

Lucan did not answer me in the car.

He kept his eyes on the road while I watched the city pass outside the window. When we reached the house, he asked the driver to leave us alone.

"Maeve," he said, closing the door. "You've been distant since yesterday."

"I want to ask you something."

His face tightened. "Then ask."

"Are you the father of Violetta's twins?"

He stopped.

That was enough.

"How long have you known?" I asked.

"Maeve—"

"How long?"

"A year."

I nodded. "And you never thought I should know?"

"It wasn't simple."

"You paid their doctors. You visit them. Your family presents them as the future. What part is complicated?"

"The family needed heirs."

"So you gave them heirs."

"I never promised Violetta anything."

"That isn't what I asked."

He looked away. I had seen that expression before, when he was deciding how to deal with an enemy. Now he was deciding how much truth I could take.

"I might be pregnant," I said.

His head came up. "Might be?"

"I had a test."

"Where is it?"

"Would you tell your family if it were positive?"

He didn't answer. I waited.

"Not yet," he said. "There are too many problems with the succession. Your health has to come first."

"My health?"

"You've been through a lot. We don't know if the pregnancy is stable."

"You don't know because you didn't ask."

His voice hardened. "This is not the time to start a fight."

"No. You chose the time when you decided another woman's children mattered more than mine."

He stepped toward me. I moved away before he could touch me.

That night, I went to his study for the files I needed. The door was almost closed. Bianca was inside, speaking on the phone.

"Maeve can't know about the child until Violetta's position is secure," she said. "If Maeve is pregnant, the family will split."

Lucan answered in a low voice. "I know."

"She has to be kept calm."

"I said I know."

I stood outside the door, one hand over my mouth.

He knew.

He had allowed me to sit beside Violetta at dinner while his family planned her place in the future.

I returned to our bedroom and opened the drawer containing my pregnancy report. I scanned it with the account records, the clinic photographs, and the files Ines had sent.

Ines arrived through the service entrance before midnight. She carried a thin folder.

"I found the agreement Violetta's lawyer prepared," she said.

The first page stated that if I died by accident or enemy retaliation, Violetta would receive residence rights at the Ferretti estate and control of the foundation. The twins would be recognized as the family's official heirs.

My name appeared once, under personal property.

I photographed every page.

"Can you send all of this if I miss a scheduled check-in?" I asked.

"To Lucan, the family lawyer, and the police contact?"

"Yes."

Ines studied me. "You're really doing this."

"I'm leaving."

"Tonight?"

"The day before the anniversary."

The plan was already waiting for me. Violetta had chosen the harbor, the timing, and the story. I only had to step into it and disappear.

The next morning, I told Lucan I would collect his anniversary gift from the old harbor warehouse. The anniversary was tomorrow. I wanted everything ready before then.

"I'll send security," he said.

"No. It's a surprise."

"The harbor is not safe."

"You said the Ferretti enemies were gone."

"Most of them."

"Then let me go."

He watched me carefully. "I'm coming with you."

I kissed his cheek. "If you come, you'll ruin your own gift."

His phone rang before he could argue. While he took the call, I sent Ines the final details.

She had arranged new documents, a small fishing boat, and a blood sample that would leave no doubt at the scene.

I placed the last ultrasound photograph inside Lucan's anniversary box.

On the lid, I wrote: Open this after you lose me.

By afternoon, I was at the harbor. I walked into the warehouse alone. A gunshot struck the metal door beside my head.

I ran through the rear passage as another bullet hit the wall. Someone shouted my name.

At the loading platform, I cut my palm over the blood packet and dropped my coat and ring beside it. Then I climbed into the boat waiting below.

Ines started the engine. The warehouse lights receded behind us.

I held my hand over my stomach and watched the shoreline vanish.

"Hold on," I whispered.

My phone began sending the first message. I looked back at the dark harbor.

"Say goodbye to the child you never knew was yours, Lucan."

Then I threw the phone into the water.