Diego’s POV

She was lying—because if she wasn’t, then I had just destroyed everything I’d built. Pregnant. My fiancée’s sister. That wasn’t a mistake. It was a war waiting to happen.

Except—she wasn’t lying.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

Davina crossed her arms. “I went to a doctor weeks ago to confirm it.”

My stomach dropped.

I hadn’t used a condom. I hadn’t even thought about it. All I had thought about was how good she had felt—how perfect it had been to sink into her.

Now here we were.

She was pregnant.

And I was engaged to her sister.

“Does anyone know?”

She frowned. “Are you asking if my sister knows I’m pregnant with your baby?” she said. “No. I didn’t tell anyone about that night. It wasn’t exactly my proudest moment.”

Too bad she saw it that way. It had definitely been one of mine.

“You said you met Carlotta after me?”

Did she think I was lying? If I’d known who she was, we could’ve avoided all this mess.

“That’s right.”

“How long after?” Her voice shook even though she was trying to sound confident.

“Why?” I snapped. “Why does that matter?”

“I just need to know, alright?” She looked around to see if anyone was watching. “Just tell me.”

“About two weeks.”

She bit her lip and turned slightly so I only saw her side.

“Then why are you marrying my sister?”

That question threw me off. Was she trying to figure out why I was doing this? She wouldn’t get far.

“I love your sister.”

“You love my sister,” she repeated. “What a joke.”

“Excuse me?”

“I just find it hard to believe,” she said. “You barely know her—and suddenly you’re in love? Engaged? When you slept with me two weeks before?”

“What did you think?” I said. “That I’d fall apart over you? You were never unforgettable enough for that.”

Her face tightened like the words hit harder than she thought they would. She looked away, jaw clenched—but just for a second.

“You’re right,” she said quietly. “I wasn’t unforgettable. But you are.”

I blinked, not knowing if she was trying to insult me or say something else.

“You don’t seem like the type to make rash choices,” she went on. “Not when it comes to love. So if you’re marrying Carlotta, it’s not because you love her. You have another reason.”

I hadn’t expected her to figure that part out. Smarter than I gave her credit for. Dangerous, even. Because I knew exactly how she looked beneath me—and exactly how much I still wanted her.

“The baby,” I said flatly. “You keeping it?”

“Yes. I’m not getting an abortion—even if that’s what you want.”

The assumption stung—but more than that, it made me angry. Like I was some heartless guy who would tell her to get rid of the baby just to make things easier for me.

Would it make my life easier? Yes.

But I wasn’t that heartless. Not yet.

“If you’re keeping the baby, then we need to figure some things out.”

“Thanks but no thanks.” Her answer was immediate. “I’ve already figured it all out. You disappear from our lives. I raise this baby alone. And my sister gets to marry a man who actually gives a damn about her.”

The level of delusion would have been laughable—if she hadn’t been dead serious.

“That’s your plan?”

“Sure is. And it’s a good one.”

“It’s pathetic,” I snapped. “I’m not breaking up with Carlotta, and you sure as hell aren’t raising this baby without me.”

That stopped her cold and her face flooded with color. “Y-you… Wait, what?”

“What’s the problem, Davina?” Her name burned on my tongue—sweet, sharp, wrong. “Does that not fit the caricature you've painted of me? The heartless asshole who screws and runs?”

“There is no way in hell I’m letting you be in my baby’s life,” she hissed, like she had a say in the matter.

“Why not?”

“You were never supposed to be mine,” she exploded.

“Carlotta will learn to deal with it over time,” I said. “She’ll be pissed, sure. But she’ll get over it.”

Her nostrils flared. “I was right. You don’t love her.”

“And you think you get to judge that?”

Davina took a deep breath. “You don’t know me very well, Diego,” she hissed. “Because if you did, you’d know that I love my sister more than anyone else in the world. I know she deserves better. She’s good. She trusts. She gives people chances they don’t deserve. She believes the best in everyone—even scum like you. And you’ll ruin her.”

I stepped in again. “You sound jealous.”

She shook her head. “I am not. I’m protecting her.”

I stepped in, just a little closer. “Like you protected her from Jeff Parker?” I murmured, close enough that my breath brushed her cheek.

And just like that, she froze.

It was clear to anyone watching—I had hit a nerve, and a deep one. But with the entire mafia resting on my shoulders, I couldn’t afford to blink. Not when I had spent years building a reputation people didn’t dare test.

“You think Carlotta won’t find out?” I said softly. “Think she won’t wonder why you’re twisting all of this?”

Her eyes shimmered. But the tears weren’t for me. They were for Carlotta. Because she knew exactly how I found out, as the only way I’d know about Jeff Parker was if Carlotta had told me about him.

“Trust me, Davina—”

“Trust you?” she snapped, voice cracking. “I wouldn’t trust you if you were the last goddamn man on earth. I’d rather—”

Gunfire ripped through the air, cutting her off mid-sentence as she froze, eyes wide with fear.

“What the—”

More gunshots broke through the civilized chatter coming from the garden.

That was when we heard the screams.

"Down. Now."

“What the hell is happening?” Davina gasped.

“Get behind me,” I ordered her as I pulled out my gun. “We’ve got company.”

Because in that moment, I knew—whatever secret war I’d been fighting with Davina had just been swallowed by a far bigger one.