With that gun still pressed to my temple, I didn’t have a choice. For my baby, I’d do anything.

I slowly bent my knees, and knelt down on the cold marble floor.

Lena leaned down over me, that triumphant smile still on her face.

“Seraphina, did you ever think this would happen? Back when I got on my knees and begged you not to marry Vincent?”

Before the wedding, Lena had snuck to see me, knelt on my floor, and begged me to call off the marriage.

She said her and Vincent were in love.

But the marriage between the Sorrentinos and the Morettis wasn’t just about love. It was the backbone of the entire East Coast arms smuggling ring. Lives depended on it. I

f I called it off, the blame would fall on my family, the Morettis, and we’d be ruined. I’d had no choice but to say no.

I never thought she’d hold that against me, all these years later.

I didn’t have the energy to rehash it now. I looked up at them, my voice breaking, begging: “Please. Call a doctor. I’ll let this all go, I swear, just call a doctor.”

But Vincent didn’t lower the gun. He stepped forward, ground my face into the cold marble floor. “You’ll let it all go? That’s rich. I’d like to see you try.”

My cheek was pressed to the freezing stone, and I screamed: “You said you’d let my baby go!”

Lena shrugged, “I said I’d let the baby go. Vincent didn’t.”

“You’ve been parading around with that bastard, using the Sorrentino name, living off our money. You really think I’d just let you get away with that? Not a chance in hell.”

Vincent bent down, the gun still pressed tight to my temple.

Another searing cramp ripped through my stomach, and I felt warm liquid run down my legs, staining the marble beneath me red.

I felt the baby kick faster, more frantic, inside me.

Pure, all-consuming despair swallowed me whole.

I stared at them both, my eyes sharp with hatred, and said: “Vincent. Lena. You’ll regret this.”

Lena stood at Vincent’s side, her eyes dark and vicious. “Vincent, this bitch still hasn’t learned her lesson. We need to do more.”

Vincent’s lips curled into a cold, cruel smile. “Oh, I’ll show her regret. Alright.”

“Lena. Go get the rope.”

Lena’s face lit up. She ran to the hall closet, grabbed the heavy-duty nylon rope the family used for smuggling crates, and hurried back over to me.

I scrambled backward, but Vincent kept the gun trained on me, and I froze. I didn’t dare move an inch.

“What are you doing?” I whispered, terrified.

They tied my wrists and ankles tight to the arms and legs of the single leather armchair in the middle of the room, the rope digging in just enough that I couldn’t move an inch, no matter how hard I struggled. Only then did Vincent finally lower the gun, standing off to the side and watching me with cold, dead eyes.

Lena came back from the bathroom with a thick stack of paper towels and a bottle of water, and stood right in front of me.

“You won’t tell the truth? Fine. We’ve got all day. Let’s see which breaks first. That stubborn mouth of yours, or your body.”

She folded three paper towels neat and flat, laid them gently over my nose and mouth, covering them completely.

I held my breath instantly, jerking my head side to side to get away, but Vincent stepped forward, put a hand on the top of my head, and held it perfectly still. I couldn’t move at all.

“Scared now? Should’ve thought about that before you opened your legs for some random guy.” He stared down at me, cold as ice. “Admit it’s a bastard, and this stops right now.”

I clamped my mouth shut, refused to say a word. My eyes blazed with defiance. I’d hit the panic button. Leo and the team would be here any second. I just had to hold on.

Vincent must’ve read my mind. He leaned down, his mouth right next to my ear, and whispered: “Just so you can enjoy this a little longer, I activated the estate security system. The team can’t get in. Not for a while.”

My blood turned to ice in my veins. But I still didn’t make a sound.

Lena saw I wouldn’t break, picked up the water bottle, and started pouring it slow and steady onto the paper towels.

The cold water soaked through the fabric, sealing it tight to my face, cutting off my air.

The suffocation hit me like a truck. I couldn’t help but open my mouth to gasp for air, but all I got was water and paper fuzz in my throat, and I broke into a violent, choking cough.

Lena grinned at the sight of me struggling, kept pouring the water one slow drop at a time, keeping the towels soaked through.

Not enough to drown me instantly, just enough to keep that constant, suffocating fear hanging over me, every second feeling like I was drowning.

“Give it up, Seraphina.” She leaned down, her voice a soft, evil purr in my ear. “Even if you don’t care about yourself, what about that baby? You keep this up, you’re gonna lose them. Is it really worth it?”

Vincent watched my face turn bright red, and pressed down harder on my head to hold me still. In his eyes, every word I’d said was a lie.

Leo couldn’t have kids. I was just using his uncle’s name to hold onto the Sorrentino fortune and the title of Mrs. Sorrentino.

The suffocation got worse, my vision started to blur, and my limbs went heavy.

The only thing I could focus on was the baby in my stomach, their movements getting weaker and weaker. I was terrified I wouldn’t hold on long enough for Leo to get here.

Right as my vision started to go black, right as I thought I’d pass out for good, the front door of the house burst open with a deafening crash.

And then I heard the voice I’d been praying for.

“STOP!”