Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 57287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
"Not anymore." Pearl's voice was quiet but carried steel.
Alessandro went quietly. But Vittorio—he fought every step, his mask finally shattered.
"I made you!" he screamed at Pearl. "Everything you are—"
"No." She stood straighter in my arms. "I'm Marco Divino's daughter. And you'll spend the rest of your life knowing you failed to destroy that."
Only when they were gone did I feel her start shaking. My brothers moved closer, surrounding her with protection that came too late but would never waver again.
"It's over," she whispered against my chest. "It's really over."
I gathered her closer, each of my men moving instinctively to surround her.
"Yes, tesoro." I pressed my lips to her hair. "You're free."
She went still in my arms. Too still. When she swayed, my heart stopped beating. I felt her knees buckle before she did, my arms tightening around her on pure instinct.
"Pearl!" Enzo's voice cracked with a fear I'd never heard from him before.
She was so pale, her skin like ice under my fingers. Not like this. Not when we'd finally—
"Get the doctor," I ordered, but my voice didn't sound like my own. Her head lolled against my chest as I lifted her, and something primal ripped through me. "Now!"
We moved as one, seven men who'd kill or die for her, now helpless against whatever was stealing her away. My world narrowed to the too-shallow rise and fall of her chest, to the flutter of her pulse under my fingers.
"Stay with us, tesoro." The whisper escaped before I could stop it. "Stay with us."
33
PEARL
Everything hurt.
The lights were too bright even through closed eyelids, the hospital sheets too rough against my skin. Machines beeped somewhere nearby, their rhythm making my head pound. I tried to move, but my body felt weighted down, disconnected.
Fragments kept sliding in and out of focus. Cool hands on my forehead. The sharp smell of antiseptic. Someone adjusting an IV line. Every time I almost surfaced, the darkness pulled me back under.
"...blood pressure's still low..."
"...needs fluids..."
"...should have seen something was wrong sooner..."
The voices blurred together, except for Giuliano's. His was closer, rougher than I'd ever heard it. I wanted to reach for him but couldn't make my arms work. The effort sent me drifting again.
When I next opened my eyes, the room was dimmer. Nico sat beside me, his massive frame making the hospital chair look like dollhouse furniture. Through the window, I could see Giuliano's silhouette, tension clear in every line of his body.
"You need rest too," Nico murmured to him. "She's stable now."
"I can't." Giuliano's voice cracked. "If we'd lost her..."
"But we didn't." Nico's grip tightened slightly on my hand. "She's stronger than any of us."
My hand drifted to my stomach without thinking. The movement caught their attention, both men going still, the way they did before a fight.
"Doctor's coming to check on her," Nico said quietly. "Should I call the others?"
"Let them sleep. They've been taking shifts all night."
The doctor who came in was older, with kind eyes that crinkled at the corners. He checked the monitors first, then turned to me.
"Good news," he said softly, checking the monitors. "Everything's stabilizing nicely." He turned to me. "Would you like me to tell them?"
My heart pounded as I nodded.
"We're monitoring two heartbeats," he said gently.
"Two?" Giuliano's voice was barely audible.
"Pearl..." Nico's hand tightened on mine. "Are you...?"
The doctor's smile was understanding as he turned the ultrasound screen. "Let me show you something."
The grainy image flickered, and then I saw it, a tiny flutter on the screen, barely there but unmistakable. The secret I'd carried through those last days in the tower, through every careful lie and hidden fear, finally real. Tears spilled down my cheeks as I watched their faces transform.
"That's..." Nico's voice cracked as he leaned forward, his massive hand covering mine where it rested over our child.
"Your baby's heartbeat," the doctor confirmed gently, pointing to the rhythmic pulse on the screen. "Strong and steady, just like we want to see."
When I looked at Giuliano, the raw emotion in his eyes stole my breath. I'd never seen him like this—all his careful control stripped away, replaced by something so vulnerable it made me glow all over.
"A baby," he whispered, his hand finding mine. "Our baby." His voice broke on the word 'our'.
"I wanted to tell you," I managed, tears spilling over. "But in the tower, with Vittorio..."
"Shh." His fingers brushed my hair back with a gentleness that said everything his voice couldn't. After a moment, he pressed his forehead to mine, and I felt his hand trembling where it rested over our child.
A sound at the door made us look up. Angelo stood in the threshold, the others crowding behind him. Word must have spread that I was awake.
"Is it true?" Angelo's voice was barely a whisper.
The doctor turned the screen so they could see. "Right here," he pointed to the tiny flutter. "A baby's heart."