He bowed his head, submitting to me. Within seconds, he was gone.

I closed the door to the private room and stared at my wife. The men who’d been shooting at her were gone. All but one, who waited for me back at the warehouse. I should be there rather than here. I had men waiting to guard her. Gus was supposed to protect her. Not that I blamed him. He’d done his best.

I sat down. This wasn’t what I was supposed to do. My wife would be taken care of.

So, the first lunch date my wife went on, she was attacked.

I ran fingers through my hair as I watched her.

Pregnant. Aurora was pregnant with my child.

I didn’t know if she was ready to accept that news or if she’d scream at the unfairness of it. Now wasn’t the time to be bringing a child into the world.

I tapped my fingers on my thigh, waiting. The doctor had said she’d wake up soon and she’d be a bit groggy. I shouldn’t care about how she woke up, but I did.

Her hand lay by her side.

Flat.

Lifeless.

I never felt anything but anger in all my life. My rage had helped me to fuel my need to win, to fight. To be the best I could be. To be the monster who took lives and made others afraid.

Arriving at the restaurant and seeing Aurora passed out cold on the ground, I’d known real fear. My wife was becoming a problem because I refused to have feelings. They were a weakness, but my wife, she made me feel so many fucking things, and it wasn’t good.

She was only a piece of property. My wife to cement Ivan’s place. He wanted the treaty in the hope of one day taking over the Italian mafia. Their hold on their turf was sliding. We knew it, they knew it. Binding to us gave them the added power to scare off attacks, but it also meant in time, we’d own them. They would work for us.

This was always a careful balancing act of power, and Ivan was the master of it.

My wife wasn’t supposed to mean anything to me. There was no way I should care if she was out cold or hurt, or injured, or even if someone had fucking upset her. Yet, here I was.

Andrei had changed the woman he was going to marry. Bethany was no longer by his side. The wedding was happening, but with her sister, Adelaide. No one was going to hurt my wife again.

She released a moan, and I leaned forward, taking her hand. “Aurora,” I said.

Her eyes opened then closed. Opened again. I waited for her to get accustomed to the light, and she gasped, sitting up and wincing.

The doctor had given her enough painkillers to help manage whatever pain she experienced. I couldn’t stand the thought of her hurting.

Sitting on the bed, she squeezed my hand. “Slavik,” she said. “You came.”