Prologue

PROLOGUE

TATIANA

I didn't need to look down at the double pink lines to know what my fate was. I knew it was sealed the moment I realized I missed my period.

But I waited two weeks to go to the store and get a test, terrified of seeing a positive sign staring back at me.

And so I'd gone this morning, finally forcing myself because not having that confirmation was killing me.

I had to be careful. My brothers had men watching me, protecting me in their own twisted and domineering way.

But I took their overbearing attitude because it was for my safety .

Their enemies would use me to get to them .

It had been the story of my life since before our father died… murdered by a hit ordered by those very same brothers themselves.

I'd always been a pawn, a chess piece for everyone else to play. My life had never really been mine. Not really.

Not until I met him, and I'd gone against the rules and done whatever the hell I wanted to.

I stared at the test sitting on my vanity.

With shaky fingers, I picked it up and stared at the results. The two lines that showed were bright pink.

There was no shock.

There was no nervousness.

I felt… nothing.

And that terrified me more than anything else.

Even more than the baby growing inside me, whose father was not only family by marriage but also the head of the West Coast Italian Mafia.

Gio.