Every time Tomasso's associates saw me, they kissed my hand and called me the Don's wife. Warm. Respectful. Familiar. They sat at my table during Sunday dinners. They brought gifts to the estate on holidays. They looked me in the eye and smiled.
And the whole time, behind my back, they'd already given Catarina a title of her own.
How ironic.
I yanked the bedroom door open and stormed out. The moment I reached the main hall of the estate, one of the household staff hurried toward me, her shoes clicking fast against the stone floor. "Signora Rossetti, you're awake! The second Signora Rossetti went into labor suddenly. The Don took her to the hospital!"
I stopped dead. "'Second Signora Rossetti'? Who told you to call her that?"
I grabbed the Murano glass vase from the console table beside me and hurled it to the floor. It shattered across the marble in a spray of blue and gold. My chest heaved. The sound echoed through the hall, and somewhere deeper in the house, footsteps paused.
The woman flinched, her gaze dropping to the floor the way everyone's did in this house when the air changed. "It was Signora Ferraro's instructions. She said the Don agreed that she's also the lady of the house. You're the first Signora Rossetti, and she's the second..."
She was still talking when I snatched my keys from the hook by the side entrance and drove to the hospital. The two soldiers stationed at the gate didn't try to stop me. They knew better. But I saw one of them reach for his phone in the rearview mirror, and I knew Tomasso would hear I was coming before I arrived.
By the time I walked through the hospital doors, Catarina had already delivered.
The private suite was packed. Nearly all of Tomasso's inner circle had crowded inside, capos and associates and their wives, laughing and talking over each other like it was a celebration. Like it was a baptism feast already. Armed men stood at the corridor entrance, but they parted for me without a word. I didn't go in. Not yet. I stood just outside the doorway, and I listened.
"Tomasso, does your wife even know Catarina's had the baby?"
"Don't bring her up." Tomasso was leaning over the bassinet, teasing the sleeping newborn with one finger. A soft, doting smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "This kid's gorgeous."
"Seriously, Tomasso. If you look closely, he even looks a little like you!"