Page 146 of Broken Honor

I forget about the exam, the paper due Friday, the cramps in my calves. I start walking.

Bea doesn’t even try to stop me. “Here we go again,” I hear her mutter with a soft laugh behind me.

When I reach him, I throw my arms around him, careful not to jostle the baby. Vieri catches me like he always does—like I’m made for his arms and his arms alone. One arm cradles my back, the other steadies the carrier. He smells like leather and black tea and a trace of baby powder.

I tilt my face up.

He kisses me without hesitation. My knees go soft, and I melt into him. He kisses like he’s memorizing me all over again.

A little huff escapes behind us. “Do you guys ever remember other people exist?” Bea asks, rolling her eyes as she saunters toward the car.

He breaks the kiss but keeps his forehead pressed to mine. “Tell me you aced your speech,” he murmurs, his voice low and proud. “Tell me you didn’t stutter once.”

“I did,” I whisper. “I didn’t even look at my notes.”

His smile is quiet. “That’s my girl.”

We walk to the car together, and I feel them again—the stares. Some students glance over discreetly. Others don’t even bother to hide it.

It’s not the baby. It’s the man. The scar above his brow. The tattoos that peek beneath his rolled-up sleeves. The aura of danger that clings to him like a shadow.

We slide into the car and Bea is beside the driver, talking about how we owe her a lifetime supply of espresso for babysitting. I sit in the back, Vieri beside me, Carmela still fast asleep on his chest.

I rest my hand over the baby’s legs, letting my fingers trace the soft edge of her sock.

A year has passed but the memories of that night remain. I thought I’d lost our baby. But fate—or grace—spared us. The blade hadn’t gone deep. She was born healthy. Strong. My miracle. I look at my Rosary that now hangs in the car and I say a prayer.

“Thank you, blessed mother.”

I pray now. I learned how to do it again without the guilt.

When I woke in the hospital, Vieri was there. He told me everything. My inheritance. The truth about my parents. The blood-soaked diamonds. He cried when he heard Nonna passed and blamed himself so much that there was no point blaming him.

Not that I did. I was shameless when it came to him and I accepted that already. I listened.

And then I told him I didn’t want anything to do with the diamonds. He and his brothers wanted nothing to do with them either.

They left it all behind. Wherever their uncle had stashed them, they stayed. Let the past rot with the bones that built it.

I moved into the mansion from the hospital, Bea right beside me. I gave birth in Vieri’s room after a grueling nine months. Carmela came into the world with a cry as fierce as fire.

She had Vieri’s eyes.

Two months after that, I applied to college. I had no hope of getting in but somehow I got in.

Vieri paused everything—handed the business to his brothers without hesitation. Said he wanted to be there when I graduated. When Carmela walked for the first time. When she said “Mama.” He would raise our kid while I studied. He’s here now. Just like he promised.

So I went back to college, taking Bea with me.

The car engine clicks softly as it cools, the air outside thick with the warmth of late afternoon. Vieri gets down, holding Carmela delicately. He opens the door for me and I get down.

Bea hops out on the other side, patting dust off her jeans. Riccardo barrels out the front doors like he’s been counting down the seconds.

“Bea,” he calls, half-breathless, grin wide. “Hey. Hi. How are you? You okay? Did you eat? Do you need anything? Should I carry your bag? You look amazing—did I say that already?”

Bea just raises an eyebrow at him. “Get me some lemonade.”

He blinks. “Right. Yes. Of course. Right away.” He practically grabs her bag off her shoulder and sprints back inside without another word.

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