“The Gala Comes First,” Mafia Boss Insisted—His Pregnant Wife Cost Him More Than a Vote

For one second, nobody moved.

Then the smoke alarm began screaming.

Matteo reached Catherine first, pulling her away from the conference table as the trustees rushed toward the doors. Gabriel tried the main exit, but the electronic lock would not release.

"Emergency override!" he shouted.

A security guard ran toward the wall panel.

The smoke thickened.

Catherine covered her mouth with her sleeve.

"Where's Enzo?"

Matteo looked toward the rear exit.

Gone.

Of course.

Enzo had arranged the meeting, controlled the security system, and made sure the evidence would be destroyed along with anyone who could testify about it.

Gabriel smashed the glass covering the emergency release.

The lock clicked.

"Move!"

They escaped into the corridor as sprinklers activated overhead. Water poured across the marble floor. Alarms echoed through the building.

Matteo kept one arm around Catherine while Gabriel led them toward the stairwell.

Halfway down, Catherine stumbled.

Pain tightened low in her abdomen.

She grabbed the railing.

Matteo turned immediately.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. I moved too quickly."

"Don't say that."

"I'm fine."

He looked at her face, and she saw terror replace every other emotion.

"We're going to the hospital."

She nodded.

Outside, fire engines filled the street. Reporters crowded behind police barriers, shouting questions about the missing money and the emergency board meeting.

Matteo ignored them.

At the hospital, Dr. Shaw examined Catherine while Matteo waited outside the room. He did not pace. He did not call his lawyers. He sat with his hands clasped and stared at the floor.

When the doctor finally emerged, he stood so quickly that his chair fell backward.

"Is she all right?"

"The baby is stable. Catherine needs rest and close monitoring. There is no evidence of a miscarriage."

Matteo closed his eyes.

"Thank you."

Dr. Shaw studied him.

"She needs a husband who understands that protecting her is not the same as deciding everything for her."

"I know."

"Do you?"

He accepted the question without protest.

"Not well enough. But I'm learning."

Inside the room, Catherine lay beneath a thin blanket. Matteo approached only after she reached for him.

He sat beside the bed.

"I thought I was going to lose you."

Catherine looked at him.

"That fear is not a punishment I gave you. It's the consequence of the choices you made."

"I know."

"I cannot be responsible for teaching you how to love me."

"I know that too."

He took a breath.

"I will not ask you to forgive me tonight. I will not ask you to come home. I will not promise that I can undo everything."

"What can you promise?"

"That I will tell the truth, even when it destroys what I inherited."

Catherine looked at their joined hands.

"That would matter."

A knock interrupted them.

Agent Lawson entered with a report.

"The fire was deliberately started. We found accelerant near the electrical control room. Enzo's vehicle was captured on a traffic camera leaving the building."

"Where is he now?" Matteo asked.

"Unknown."

The agent placed a second photograph on the bedside table.

It showed Enzo meeting a man outside a private airfield.

Daniel Cross.

Catherine stared.

"That's impossible. Daniel was with the agents."

Agent Lawson looked grim.

"The photograph was taken three days ago. Someone has been impersonating him."

Matteo leaned closer.

The man in the photograph wore Daniel's face, but the scar near his temple was missing.

A look-alike.