Chapter 2

The private box at the Falcone social club had been reserved that weekend for a performance Lorenzo had secured seats to.

I finished with the ledgers at the front office and waited outside the building for forty minutes, and still he never came to bring me.

When I finally called, he seemed to remember only then. "Adriana, sorry, something came up on my end. Go on ahead, I'll be a little late."

So I had one of the Family's drivers take me there alone.

By the time the third act was underway, Lorenzo finally slipped in through the side of the box, quiet as a man who did this for a living.

I was about to reach for his hand when I caught, at the edge of my vision, someone trailing behind him.

Serafina was wearing a dress in the same color family as mine, and she smiled sweetly at me. "Hey, I love this act too. I mentioned it to Lorenzo once, and I didn't think he'd actually get me a seat. And it turned out to be right beside you both. What a coincidence."

Lorenzo wiped her chair clean with his handkerchief as if it were the most natural thing in the world, then reached over and lifted the bag from her shoulder and set it down by her feet. "You can sit now. Cleaned it for you."

Only after that did he turn to look at me. "Serafina's zipper broke right as she was heading out. I tried for ages and couldn't get it, so we got held up a bit."

I turned my head and looked at Serafina's waist.

Her dress was cut open at the waist, and against her fair skin the fingerprints stood out clearly.

For those three hours, Lorenzo held up his phone recording the solos of the performer Serafina favored.

Every so often she leaned in to watch the playback, her head nearly resting on his shoulder.

When it ended she said she was thirsty, so Lorenzo edged past half a row of the Family's men to fetch her water.

I sat there beside them, the program crushed damp in my fist.

Not until the final bow and the house lights rose did I realize I hadn't taken in a single note.

When we walked out of the club, the sky suddenly opened into a downpour.

The doors were choked with people sheltering from the rain and waiting on their cars.

Lorenzo ran for the cover of the eaves, shielding the top of Serafina's head, and turned back to call at me: "Adriana, Serafina's been weak since she was a girl and can't be out in the cold wind. I'll see her home first. Get yourself a car."

I stood on the steps and watched him circle an arm around her shoulders, tucking her completely under him.

Under my breath I pressed my thumb hard against the thin gold band on my finger and said nothing.

With that whole crowd letting out into the street, it took me near thirty minutes to get a car.

By the time I got home, my hem and my hair were still dripping.

I'd caught a chill after all, and by the middle of the night a fever set in.

I dragged myself up and swallowed what fever medicine we kept in the house. The heat dropped, then climbed again, over and over, until I couldn't hold out and went to the Family's physician the next day anyway.

After the tests, the doctor looked up from the report and glanced at me. "Congratulations. You're carrying."

"The fever's serious, so you can't just take any medicine now."

My heart lurched. Carrying?