Twenty-three seconds after stepping into my husband's Manhattan penthouse carrying two tiny baby shoes and an ultrasound photo, I caught the most feared mafia boss on the East Coast kissing his secretary while they laughed about how blindly I trusted him. By nightfall, my wedding ring was gone, divorce papers had been filed, and I disappeared without telling him the one secret that would destroy everything he thought he controlled.

I drove straight home, locked every door, pulled the heavy curtains closed, and called the one person who could give me answers.

"Elena," I whispered into the phone, standing in my darkened kitchen. "Moretti is in town."

A sharp gasp came over the line. "What? Emily, how is that possible? Lorenzo swore no one knew where you were!"

"Lorenzo knows I'm here?!" I demanded, terror spiking through my veins.

Silence fell over the line for three long seconds.

"He found out two weeks ago, Emily," Elena confessed softly. "He tracked a bank wire your attorney processed. But... he didn't come to take you back."

"Then why is he here?"

"He's been living in a hotel two towns over for ten days," Elena revealed. "He put a full perimeter of undercover guards around your town to protect you. He promised he wouldn't force himself into your life, Emily... he just wanted to make sure you and the baby were safe from his enemies."

I hung up the phone, my mind spinning in complete chaos.

Lorenzo was here. He knew about the baby. And he was watching me from the shadows, playing guardian angel after destroying my world.

A heavy knock echoed through the silence of the cottage.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I froze. I slowly walked toward the front hallway, picking up a heavy brass candlestick from the side table.

"Emily."

His voice cut through the wooden door—deep, rough, and laced with an agonizing vulnerability I had never heard in him before.

"It's me," Lorenzo said softly. "Please. I'm alone. I just need to see if you're okay."

My hands shook violently. I unlocked the deadbolt and pulled the door open six inches, keeping the safety chain engaged.

Lorenzo stood on the porch in the pouring rain.

He looked ruined. The immaculate, powerful mob king was gone. He had lost weight; dark circles bruised the skin beneath his eyes, and stubble covered his sharp jaw. He wasn't wearing an umbrella or a coat, letting the icy rain soak his black dress shirt.

His eyes immediately drifted down to my stomach.

When he saw the prominent bump beneath my sweater, his breath hitched. Tears mixed with the rain rolling down his face. He reached out a trembling hand toward the doorframe, as if needing to support his weight.

"Emily..." he whispered, his voice completely breaking. "My God... look at you."

"What are you doing here, Lorenzo?" I asked, keeping my voice firm, though my heart was breaking into a thousand pieces.

"Moretti’s men are in town," Lorenzo said urgently, wiping rain from his eyes. "My team intercepted three of his scouts near the harbor ten minutes ago. Emily, you aren't safe here anymore. I have a safehouse in Vermont—"

"I am not going anywhere with you," I said coldly.

Lorenzo flinched as if I had shot him. "Emily, please! Hate me all you want! Punish me for the rest of my life! But let me keep you and our child safe! I can't live if something happens to you!"

"You did this, Lorenzo!" I shouted, the rage I had buried for four months finally exploding. "You brought this violent world into my life! You lied to me, humiliated me, and broke my heart! And now you bring your mob wars to my doorstep!"

"I know!" he yelled back, slamming his hand against his own chest. "I know I'm a monster! I know I ruined the best thing that ever happened to me! I see those tiny white shoes every time I close my eyes, Emily! I haven't slept a full hour since the day you left!"