“Your family is exactly why this happened.”
The SUV fell silent.
Vanessa watched us carefully.
Luca leaned back slowly despite the blood on his shoulder.
“You think leaving protected the baby?”
“Yes.”
“You were alone.”
“I was hidden.”
“You were vulnerable.”
“I was free.”
That hit him.
I saw it clearly.
Because despite everything… Luca understood that life beside him had often felt like a beautiful prison.
He rubbed a hand across his jaw.
“When did you find out?”
I hesitated.
Then answered honestly.
“After the Russo shooting.”
Luca closed his eyes briefly.
He remembered.
Everyone in New York remembered.
A meeting between mafia families ended in bloodshed after betrayal inside the Russo organization. Three men died. The newspapers called it a suspected gang incident.
I remembered standing barefoot in our penthouse afterward while cleaners scrubbed blood from Luca’s white marble floors.
