Chapter 2

By the time I descended the main staircase, the foyer was already a tableau of domestic bliss.

Agatha sat in the wingback chair by the fireplace, Nico perched on her knee while she cooed over him like he was the second coming. "Oh, look at you, tesoro. Come to Nonna. Such a handsome boy—Marco's very image."

Serena was arranged on the adjacent settee.

She wore a cream cashmere wrap draped artfully over her shoulders, her dark hair swept into a loose chignon that emphasized the porcelain pallor of her face. She looked fragile. Breakable.

"Please, Agatha, you're too kind." Her voice was a murmur, soft as crushed velvet. "My health has been so unreliable—but Dominic took such good care of us. I'm much stronger now, truly."

And there he was. My husband. Standing at Serena's shoulder with his hand resting on the back of her settee, his body angled toward her. When he spoke, his voice held a gentleness I had never once heard directed at me in five years of marriage.

"Marco would have wanted me to look after them. It's the least I could do."

Agatha beamed. "You two grew up together—no need for such formality. Behind closed doors, we're all family here."

Family. Yes. What a perfect little family they made.

I stepped into the room.

The laughter died instantly. Agatha's smile flattened. Dominic straightened, and for one unguarded second I caught it—the flicker of irritation, there and gone before he rearranged his features into something appropriately husbandly.

"Elena." Agatha's voice cooled by several degrees. "Your husband and his sister-in-law arrived twenty minutes ago. Where have you been?"

"My apologies." I kept my expression pleasant. Neutral. "The guest suite needed final preparations—I wanted to make sure everything was perfect for Serena and Nico."

Serena rose on cue, one hand pressed to her collarbone. "Oh, Elena, please don't trouble yourself on my account. We've imposed so suddenly—I told Dominic we shouldn't have come without more notice. You've been unwell, haven't you? You shouldn't be exerting yourself."

Her eyes glistened. She was extraordinary at this—the trembling lip, the self-deprecating concern that somehow made me look neglectful by comparison.

Dominic's hand found Serena's elbow to steady her. "Don't rush to worry about others. Elena's all aright. Instead, you're the one having chest pains. The room needs to be warm, properly set up. Is it ready, Elena?"

"Everything's arranged." I smiled. "Heated floors, humidifier, blackout curtains. If anything isn't to your liking, Serena, just let me know."

Agatha nodded, slightly mollified.

Eventually they settled Serena and Nico into the guest wing—the second-largest suite, after the master suite.

Dominic walked her there himself, his hand hovering at the small of her back. I watched them disappear down the corridor and felt nothing.

Later that night, in our bedroom, Dominic loosened his tie and looked at me with an expression I once would have called tender.

"These past few years apart—I know it hasn't been easy for you, managing things here alone." He crossed the room, cupped my face in his hands. "I'm back now. Staying. We'll make this work, Elena."

A pause. Then, softer: "Serena and Nico—I promised Marco. They need extra attention right now, but don't read into it."

He kissed my forehead. "Maybe it's time we thought about starting a family of our own."

Before I could respond, his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and his jaw tightened.

"Serena's having chest pains again. I need to—" He was already moving toward the door. "Don't wait up."

He didn't come back.

By morning, every member of staff in the estate knew that Dominic Caruso had spent his first night home not with his wife, but sitting vigil at his brother's widow's bedside.

And I knew what none of them did: Serena's so-called heart condition was a fiction. She was two months pregnant with Dominic's child.

Last time, she'd swallowed pills to abort it, then wept to Dominic that I had poisoned her—driven her to miscarry through cruelty and neglect.

Not this time.

This time, I would keep that baby alive. I would guard Serena's pregnancy like a hawk guarding its nest. And when the truth could no longer be hidden, I would drag it into the light in front of everyone who mattered.

Let them explain that away.