Seven Years in a Dream, Awake at Last

Three years ago, I saved the life of Alessandro Gambino, New York's most powerful mafia boss.

He fell in love with me, a bartender.

His family was dead set against us, but his love won out. We got married.

After we married, he disappeared every month for "punishment day," claiming his family beat him with sixty-six lashes for breaking their rules by staying with me. Watching him suffer tore me apart.

Actully, I'm Sloane Lucchese, sole heir to the largest arms empire on the East Coast, hiding from a family war. I decided to reclaim my family name as soon as possible, so his family would finally accept me.

Finally, on our fifth wedding anniversary, I found out I was pregnant, and my father called to say they'd announce my return in two weeks.

I was going to tell Alessandro everything that night, both pieces of good news.

But that same day, I stumbled onto a secret—one that would destroy me completely.

...

That day, the Gambinos’ butler, Romano, texted me:

[Mrs. Gambino is asking if you can come out to the estate. It’s about Mr. Gambino’s punishment. Urgent.]

I drove to the Hamptons with the pregnancy test in my purse, my heart racing the whole way. The gates opened without me announcing myself. Romano met me at the door and led me through the hallways without a word.

"Mrs. Gambino is in the east wing," he said. "Mr. Alessandro is in the sunroom."

"Alessandro's here?" My heart jumped. "But I thought..."

"This way, please."

I could hear voices ahead.

Romano pushed open the doors, and I stepped into a sunroom flooded with afternoon light.

Alessandro stood in the center of the room, surrounded by half a dozen men. And in his arms were two babies. Twins. One in each arm, both with thick dark hair and tiny perfect faces. Alessandro was smiling down at them with this soft, tender expression I thought he saved only for me.

"Can't believe Camilla popped out twins on the first try," one of the men was saying, slapping Alessandro on the back. "You lucky bastard."

"Remember the first punishment?" another man laughed. "Your mother had you drugged and locked in a room with the Sullivan girl. 'If you won't choose a proper wife, I'll choose for you.' And look what happened. Instant heirs!"

My hand went to my stomach. To the baby growing inside me that Alessandro didn't know about yet.

Alessandro shifted the baby in his left arm, his expression unreadable. "Camilla is well-suited to be the wife. She understands the life. The obligations."

"And Sloane?" one of them asked, grinning. "What does the bartender understand?"

I watched Alessandro's jaw tighten. "I love Sloane. That hasn't changed."

"But?"

"But Camilla gave me children. Twin children. She's from the Sullivan family. She's..." He looked down at the babies, and something in his face softened in a way that made my chest ache. "She's my wife. In every way that matters to the family."

Wife.

The word stopped my heart. No, I was his wife. We got married in that little courthouse in Manhattan five years ago. He held my hands and promised to love me forever.

"Does Sloane know?" someone asked.

Alessandro's smile was thin, "Sloane is loyal. Even if she found out, she wouldn't leave. Where would she go? Back to slinging drinks?" He pressed a kiss to one baby's forehead. "No. She'll understand."

Punishment days.

All those times he'd told me he had to go back to the estate, that his mother was punishing him for refusing to leave me. All those nights he refused to let me see him, saying he needed to "heal" before coming home.

He wasn't being punished.

He was playing house with his wife and children.

The pregnancy test in my purse suddenly felt like it was burning a hole through the leather. Our baby. The baby he didn't know about.

But he already had babies. With her.

I must have made a sound, a gasp or a choke, something, because Romano appeared at my elbow. "Miss Moore, perhaps you should..."

I ran.

I walked for hours. No destination, no purpose, just moving because stopping meant thinking and thinking meant feeling and I couldn't.

There has to be an explanation. He loves me.

But then I'd see it again. Him holding those babies. That soft look on his face. The way he kissed their foreheads.

My phone buzzed. My brother, Marcus.

[When are you coming home? We'll need time to prepare the announcement dinner.]

My hands shook as I typed back: [Ten days. I need ten days.]

[Done. Two weeks from today, then. The family is excited to have you back.]

I leaned against a brick wall, sliding down until I was sitting on the cold sidewalk.

Alessandro... I didn't know what to do about Alessandro.

Seven years together. Seven years of him making me coffee every morning, the way I liked it. Seven years of him pulling me close in the middle of the night. Seven years of "I love you" and "You're the only one".

Was any of it real?

My phone buzzed again. Alessandro this time.

[Where are you? I have a surprise for our anniversary. I'm at The Violet Room. Should I come get you?]

I stared at the message. Part of me wanted to delete it. Block his number. Disappear.

But another part, needed to see him. Needed to look him in the eye and ask him if this was all a lie.

Maybe he'll tell me the truth. Maybe there's a reason.

I typed: [I'll be there soon.]