Page 40 of Mafia Doctor's Secret Baby

I finally move, stepping into the house and looking around. I doubt I’ll be given a chance to make a break for it anytime soon, but perhaps if I know where the exits are, on the off chance I do see a way out, I can actually take it. My chances are slim, but that doesn’t mean I have to give up on any hope of getting out of here.

In fact, that hope might be the only thing keeping me together right now.

Our surroundings are opulent—there are paintings on the walls, the house is immaculate, and I can smell cigar smoke in the air, one of those sense memories that takes me right back to all the evenings I spent working late with the councilor. But this is very different to my internship. No, the people I met there didn’t have power at the level I’m going to be faced with right now—and I have to catch up with that, fast.

At the top of the stairs, I’m led to a room at the end of a corridor—a far cry from the cell I was kept in. The doorknob is polished and I can hear quiet music playing from the next room.

“In,” the guard orders me, rapping his fingers on the door. I feel a dizzying sense of fear wash through me, but I plant my hand onthe door and push it open. I’m not going to get a choice in this meeting, one way or the other—better that I go about it on my own terms, at least.

Inside, the room is quiet, almost peaceful—aside from the classical music playing on a record player next to an open window, you could mistake this place for a sanctuary. A man is sitting in a large red leather chair, facing the window that looks out over the perfect gardens beyond. I stand there for a moment, not sure whether I should introduce myself or announce my presence, but then he turns to face me.

His gaze sweeps up and down my body quickly, and he rises to his feet, a broad smile crossing over his face.

“Ah, Ms. Kincaid,” he greets me smoothly. “A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. Please, sit down. Would you like a drink?”

His sudden hospitality is disconcerting to me, after everything I’ve been through at the hands of his men. Does he just expect me to nod along and let him take care of me? Surely, he can’t be that stupid. Or perhaps he’s trying to gaslight me, make me feel as though everything that happened to me was completely deserved. I stay standing right where I am, staring back at him, not breaking his gaze for a second. I can’t let him see any weakness—I can’t…

“No, thank you,” I reply, even though I can’t help staring at his drinks’ cabinet longingly. I haven’t been able to have a drink in a long time, what with breastfeeding and being pregnant, and more than ever right now, I crave something to take the edge off.

“Well, I must insist you sit,” he replies. His voice is mild; he doesn’t sound as though he has any reason to second-guess mypresence here, any reason to doubt what’s going on in my mind. Does he think I’ll give him everything he wants so easily? I guess I don’t have much of a choice…

I take my seat, and stare him down. He looks back at me steadily, and a smile curls up his lips as he reaches for his own drink, perched on the edge of the table.

“I didn’t think we’d get a chance to be alone together so soon, Ms. Kincaid,” he tells me. There’s something about the way my name sounds on his lips that I don’t like. I’m not even sure how he found it out—who told him who I am? Has he been stalking me so intently that he’s discovered everything about me? The thought of a man like this aiming all his attention at me—it’s bad news, there’s no doubt about it.

“What do you want from me?” I blurt out, before I can stop myself. Play it nice? Maybe when I know what I’m dealing with.

“Oh, if you’d prefer to get straight to business, we can do that,” he replies, clasping his hands before him and leaning forward. “I brought you here because I want to know everything you do about Luca.”

He lets that name hang in the air between us—I don’t know what he’s expecting me to do or say to that, how he intends me to respond, but I shake my head.

“I’m not telling you anything about him.”

He lets out a slight chuckle—as though the mere intention of my certainty is amusing to him. “I think you will,” he replies. “What is a woman like you doing involved with a bastard like him, anyway?”

The way he curses that word, it’s clear that he has some seriously dark feelings toward Luca. I’m not sure I want to know what they are—I feel like, if I’m not careful, I might make all of this worse somehow, and that’s the last thing I need. I realize, in that instant, that I am a vital assets to both sides of this battle. I need to remember that I have power here, and that I can make use of it if I play my cards right.

“I can’t imagine why some young, up-and-coming politician would want to associate themselves with a man like Luca,” he continues. “With everything he’s been involved with…how much has he told you about his family? His father? Everything he’s done over the course of his life? All the pain he’s caused, all the suffering he has left behind?”

I shift in my seat slightly.Don’t believe him.That’s what he wants, for me to let my doubts get the better of me. Luca might not have told me everything about what his family does, but I know it’s a damn sight better than anything this man has been up to.

“I bet he’s told you that I’m worse, hasn’t he?” he adds, a smile curling up the corners of his lips. “You really believe that, after everything that’s happened?”

“After you kidnapped me?” I spit back, unable to contain myself any longer.

He draws back slightly—but if anything, he seems rather amused by my sharp tone.

“We rescued you from him,” he replies. “And when the time comes, we’ll do the same for your daughter too?—”

“Don’t you dare speak about her!” I explode, my hands clenching to fists before I can stop myself.

His eyes flash with anger, and I can tell, in that instant, that I have overstepped the mark.

He rises to his feet, glowering down at me, the gentlemanly charm that he wore as a mask suddenly dropping away.

“I won’t be spoken to like that,” he warns me. “And you don’t want to find out what happens to people who go against what I’ve asked for. You hear me?”

His tone is clipped; I hear movement in the corridor outside, probably one of the guards, checking to see what all of this commotion is about. I don’t dare look around to check. I know that if I break his gaze right now, he will take it as some kind of insult, and I need to be careful about what I let him think of me.

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