“That fucking assistant,” he grumbles as we head out the front door in record time, Bastian getting into the driver’s seat as Amadeo sits in the back with me. I hold onto him as Bastian drives like a madman to the hospital.

“It’s too soon,” I say, feeling the moisture between my legs as I wait for the next painful wave.

“It’ll be fine,” Amadeo says but I see the worry on his face.

Everything is a blur as, once we arrive, I’m taken into a room and hooked up to machines. I can hear Bastian telling the doctor’s assistant off just outside my door. The nurse pretends she doesn’t hear a thing as Amadeo and Bastian enter the room, Amadeo with his arm around Bastian clearly to pull him away.

Bastian looks at me but all I can do is squeeze my eyes shut as the next contraction overwhelms me.

“Can’t you give her something?” he snaps at the nurse.

“Doctor’s on her way. She’s just—”

Before she finishes, the door is pushed open, and Dr. Sandra enters. “I hear this little one is anxious to meet Mom!” she says with a wide smile for my benefit. She settles on a stool to check my progress.

“Give her something for the pain,” Bastian tells her urgently.

Dr. Sandra looks up at him and shakes her head. “Too late. Baby’s coming. Nurse.”

Within minutes, the room is abuzz with men and women in scrubs. Before I know it, I’m being told to push, and fuck, the pain is so fucking bad all I see is black as I dig my nails into Amadeo and Bastian’s hands and push until finally, what feels like a lifetime later, I hear her. I hear her little cry.

We all stop, and the doctor holds up a little pink human and smiles as the baby begins to wail, and I think she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

“It’s a girl,” Dr. Sandra says.

And I look at her when they lay her on my chest and watch the awe on Amadeo and Bastian’s faces as they take her in.

“Hannah,” I whisper as Hannah wriggles and turns her face up to mine, and for the briefest of moments, her eyes meet mine before she closes them, and I know that I can’t be happier than I am in this instant. This beautiful moment that marks the beginning of the rest of our lives.

WHAT TO READ NEXT

DEVIL’S PAWN

Isabelle

A masquerade ball. What can be more beautiful? More perfect? Especially one put on by The Society.

Bouquets of flowers spill over tables set with the best china. Waiters serve champagne in crystal flutes and an eight-piece orchestra plays a waltz beneath the dazzling glow of a dozen chandeliers.

It’s every girl’s fantasy.

Every girl but me.