Chapter 1
Leda
“Are you okay?”
I looked over at Rory and managed a smile. “I’m fine.”
She returned my smile, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “You look like shit, Leda.”
I choked on my laughter before groaning, feeling every muscle in my body pull with the slightest movement. Now that I was awake, I could feel the trauma that my body had gone through, the numerous bruises that dotted my skin like a patchwork quilt.
But I was alive, and right now, that was something I had to focus on. “Thanks, I think?”
“I mean you look tough,” she corrected, clearing her throat as a faint blush stole across her cheeks. “Hell, Leda, what have you gotten yourself into?”
That I wasn’t sure about. It was bad enough that I had fallen in love with an about-to-be ex-Mafia boss, but now I was carrying his child.
His heir.
Nausea swirled in my stomach, and I swallowed a few times to try to keep it there. I was pregnant. It was still a word I couldn’t explain, one that hadn’t sunk in. Of course, I had imagined myself one day having a child with a guy that had stolen my heart and given me his last name.
Of course, I only had one of the two. Lucas had stolen my heart, but he hadn’t given me any indication that he wanted to give me his last name.
Silently I wished he had before this—well, before this had happened. “I don’t know,” I admitted to Rory, leaning back against the pillow. “I really don’t know.”
“Well, at least you admit it,” Rory sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. “He’s very hot, by the way, your Lucas.”
My Lucas. My heart swelled at the thought. He was mine. Every broken, scarred, dark inch of him was mine.
And I wasn’t even going to think that he was dead. I would know in my very soul if Lucas was dead. “Nico didn’t seem so happy about this,” I said softly, forcing myself to deal with the present situation.
“I mean, you did use protection, right?” Rory asked, eyeing me.
My cheeks heated. “I mean, we did occasionally, and I have an IUD.” It was more to regulate my periods than for any protection, considering I hadn’t been sleeping with anyone until I had met Lucas. The doctor told me that the IUD has been removed when they found out that I was pregnant. Not that it mattered now.
“Well, it occasionally doesn’t work, you know,” Rory said dryly. “I don’t blame you, Leda. Like I have any room to talk.”
Smirking, I looked over at my sister-in-law. Rory had gotten pregnant after a one-night stand with my brother, and when he found out, he married her because of our father.
At least she had the last name now and my brother’s heart. More than I had.
The door opened and my brother walked through, looking no more cooled down than he had when he had stormed out. Rory immediately rose from her chair beside my bed and went to Nico’s side, rubbing his arm. “You good?”
He let out a heavy sigh. “I’m fine.” Looking over in my direction, my brother gave me a weak smile. “You all right, Leda?”
“Not even close,” I told him. “But there’s not much I can do about it now, can I?”
Nico opened his mouth, but a man in a white coat walked in, and he stepped aside. “I’m Dr. Turner,” the man stated, giving me a friendly smile. “I hear that you are expecting a bundle of joy?”
“That’s what they tell me,” I forced out.
“We are going to step out,” Rory said quickly, tugging on her husband’s arm. “We will be right outside.”
I gave them a nod, and Dr. Turner shut the door. “How do you feel, Ms. D’Agostino?”
“I’m emotional and nauseous,” I said as he snapped on a pair of gloves. “How could this happen? I had an IUD in!”
Dr. Turner spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “It’s rare, but it happens. I have to check you now. It will be uncomfortable for a few minutes, but I will be quick.”