"Keep it down. If Giovanna hears that kind of talk, she'll overthink everything."
Catarina lay propped against the hospital pillows, her makeup still flawless. She didn't look like a woman who'd just given birth. She looked like a woman who had won something. "Overthink what? Whether she agrees or not, I'm keeping my promise. This child will carry your surname and be entered into the Rossetti bloodline registry."
The room shifted at that. Even the laughter dimmed for a half-second. Everyone in that room understood what entering a child into a Family's bloodline registry meant. It was not paperwork. It was a claim on inheritance, on territory, on the right to one day sit where Tomasso sat. And it required the Don's formal recognition.
"But you'd have to divorce Giovanna first. That doesn't feel right..."
"It's not a big deal. Once the baby's registered under my name, I'll formally sever the arrangement with Catarina and re-bind with Giovanna. Simple. If she won't agree, I'll just do it behind her back."
Catarina sniffled, dabbing at the corner of her eye. "Giovanna is so kindhearted. She'll say yes. I'd be so grateful to her. Honestly, however long I get to be your wife, even just on paper, I'd be more than happy."
"Relax. You all know how much she loves Tomasso. Remember when she went to that sit-down with the Calabrese Family and spent the whole evening charming their old Don, glass after glass of grappa, just so Tomasso could close that territorial arrangement?"
"And that time Tomasso got hospitalized for a stomach infection? She thought it was something serious. Got on her knees and begged the doctor, then knelt outside the operating room for hours until the surgery was over. She's crazy about him. She'd never leave. A little thing like this is nothing compared to losing Tomasso."
"Exactly what I was thinking."
Tomasso's lips curved. He pulled Catarina closer against him, his arm tightening around her shoulders. "No matter what it takes, I'll give Catarina and this child a home."
I stood in the doorway and watched the man I'd loved for seven years hold another woman in his arms.
My fingers curled at my sides until my nails bit into my palms.