Chapter 1
Massimo did not interrogate anyone beside the road.
Mara was eight months pregnant and shivering.
That made every other question temporary.
He helped her into the heated rear seat of his SUV while one of his bodyguards collected the hospital bag from the snow.
“Are you having contractions?”
“I don’t know.”
Mara pressed both hands beneath her stomach.
“It started hurting in the car.”
Massimo’s face changed.
“Why were you going to the hospital?”
“My doctor wanted me checked. I was having cramps this morning.”
“And Adrian decided this was the appropriate moment to abandon you?”
Mara looked away.
That answered enough.
Massimo ordered the convoy toward the nearest hospital with an obstetric unit.
Adrian demanded to follow.
Massimo allowed it.
Not because he wanted him near Mara.
Because separating a husband from a pregnant wife medically was not Massimo’s decision unless Mara wanted it.
Mara did.
“He doesn’t come into my room.”
“Done.”
Sienna remained behind with another vehicle and her own attorney already being contacted.
At the hospital, fetal monitoring showed the baby was stable.
Mara was dehydrated, stressed, and having irregular contractions, but she was not yet in active labor.
Her obstetrician wanted observation.
Massimo sat beside the bed only after Mara asked him to stay.
For twenty minutes, neither spoke about Adrian.
Then Mara finally said:
“What did you mean?”
Massimo knew exactly what she meant.
He reached into the inside pocket of his winter coat.
“I received something four days ago.”
He placed a folded report on the tray table.
Mara read the header.
North Shore Genetic Services.
Then:
Prenatal Paternity Analysis.
Her face changed.
“I never had this done.”
“I know.”
She looked at him sharply.
“How do you know?”
“Because before accusing my daughter of anything, I verified whether the lab existed.”
Mara read further.
The report identified her by full name and date of birth.
Gestational age matched.
Sample dates matched a routine prenatal blood draw she remembered.
The alleged paternal sample belonged to Adrian Holt.
Result:
Excluded as biological father.
Mara stopped breathing for a second.
“That’s impossible.”
Massimo watched her carefully.
She was not performing shock.
She was frightened.
“I have never been with anyone else.”
“I believe you.”
She stared at him.
“You believe me after seeing this?”
“I believe the report means something happened.”
He leaned forward.
“I do not yet know what.”
Mara looked back at the result.
“Who sent it to you?”
“Anonymous courier.”
“When?”
“Four days ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was verifying it before putting a bomb inside your marriage.”
Mara gave a bitter laugh.
“My marriage seems to have handled that part itself.”
Massimo almost smiled.
Then remembered the mountain road.
No.
Nothing about today was funny.
Claire Donovan, Massimo’s outside attorney, arrived within an hour.
She immediately advised Mara to retain separate counsel.
“I don’t need another lawyer.”
Claire looked at her.
“You’re pregnant, your husband abandoned you on a snowy road, your father runs half the room by standing in it, and somebody conducted a genetic test you say you never authorized.”
Mara looked toward Massimo.
He nodded.
“Get your own lawyer.”
She seemed surprised.
“You’re not offended?”
“No.”
Claire added, “He is trainable in limited circumstances.”
Massimo ignored her.
Mara eventually agreed.
Before Claire left, she asked one question.
“Did Adrian see the report?”
Massimo looked toward the hallway.
“He heard what I said.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Massimo thought back.
Adrian’s face collapsing.
The fear.
The absence of confusion.
“No.”
He frowned.
“He didn’t see it.”
May you like
Claire nodded slowly.
“Then we need to know why a man who supposedly just learned his wife’s baby might not be his looked terrified instead of surprised.”
