Luca

"Jesus Christ, I'm fine!" I bellowed, jerking my arm away from Dr. Saunders. "I just want to see my wife."

Saunders gave me a sympathetic sigh and adjusted himself to work on my bicep once again. "And you will, as soon as I get this slug out of your arm." I had been sitting in this shitty hospital for twenty minutes already and no one was letting me see Charlotte. I got out to her just as the ambulance was pulling up, Ellison and his troops in tow, so there wasn't much room for protesting.

I groaned in exasperation, but I knew he was just trying to help. Silvano shot me in the arm, seconds before I blasted a bullet straight through his brain. If I had it my way, I would have ripped him to shreds with my bare hands, but I needed time for that, and that wasn't a luxury I had.

When I got to where I left Charlotte, she was gone. I was seconds away from losing my shit, but I ran into Angelo, who told me Charlotte was safe and outside with Marco. I was relieved, but I wouldn't be content until I got my hands on her, and I couldn't do that unless this numbskull got the bullet out of my arm.

"Stop giving him a hard time." Angelo chuckled, walking into the room. "You got shot. A little medical attention is necessary."

I glared at him. Wasn't it his duty as my best friend to be on my side about this shit? Hell, the last time I was shot, Angelo took the bullet out himself.

"Yeah, well, if you'd gotten there when you were supposed to, maybe I wouldn't have gotten shot." I chided, rolling my eyes at him. I was quickly losing my patience with everyone, desperate to see Charlotte.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Angelo grimaced. "You were inside for ten minutes when Charlotte came out. You explicitly told us not to come in before fifteen minutes."

We were only in there for ten minutes? It had felt like a lifetime. "Then why the fuck did you start shooting from the rafters?"

"We didn't shoot, Luca." Angelo got serious. "When you sent the siganl, the GPS came from one of the back rooms. That's where we were ehaded when Charlotte came flying out that side door. We didn't know you were in the great room until then.."

I frowned. If they weren't the ones who shot the guards that held Charlotte, who was? Did Silvano's own men turn against him? All that mattered now was that we were safe, we were together, and in a few hours, we would be on a flight back to New York and away from all this bullshit. Silvano was out of our lives for good.

"Mr. Catalano?" Another doctor said, peeking his head around the plastic curtain of the emergency room.

I nodded, eyeing the guy suspiciously. He didn't even look old enough to be out of med school.

"I'm Dr. Rodriguez. I've been with your wife." He came in and pulled the curtain closed behind him. Now he had my full attention. "How are you feeling?"

"How is Charlotte?" I ignored his question. How I was feeling was irrelevant right now. I had a bullet in my arm and it fucking hurt, but nothing like the pain of not knowing what was going on with Char.

He smiled as if he understood. "Charlotte is fine. Both she and the baby are going to be just fine, miraculously."

"Thank god. I was so..." I clamped my mouth shut. Wait a second. Did he say baby? Silvano had kidnapped a child too? How the fuck had we not known about that?

"Babe...baby?" I stuttered, frowning. Angelo chuckled over my shoulder.

Dr. Rodriguez nodded.

"I don't understand. What do you mean, baby?"

Angelo smacked the back of my head. "You moron! He's trying to tell you Charlotte's pregnant!"

My eyes widened, and I snapped my neck to look back at Dr. Rodriguez in complete shock.

"I'm guessing you didn't know." He chuckled as if they were all in on this joke except for me.

Pregnant? Charlotte was pregnant? My body went completely numb. I wasn't sure what I feeling at first, but then an overwhelming sense of excitement flooded me.

"Does she know?" I let out a sharp laugh.

"I highly doubt it. She's about six weeks, so signs of pregnancy are really, really subtle at this stage. If she noticed anything, she probably just passed it off to the flu or being sick from traveling."

Pregnant.

Pregnant. I couldn't seem to wrap my mind around that. "Can I see her?"

"Of course." He nodded. "As soon as you're done here, I'll take you to her. She's sleeping right now, but we'll need to tell her about the baby as soon as we can. I want to start her on a heavy regimen of vitamins since the last couple of days have been so stressful."

"He's all set!" Dr. Saunders said, setting his tools down on the tray.

"Fucking finally!" I jumped up and grabbed my shirt, slipping it over my head.

Angelo rolled his eyes. "What he means to say is thank you."

No, I meant what I said, but I deferred to Angelo because I needed to get to Charlotte.

"Congratulations, Dad." Angelo smirked, teasing me as he followed me out of the room.

I socked him in the shoulder. "Don't ever call me that again."

Angelo burst out laughing. "I'm going to go find Marco and Carlo and tell them the good news. We'll come down and see you guys in a bit."

"Thanks man." I said, turning to follow Dr. Rodriguez. He led me down a large hallway and stopped in front of a dimly lit room.

"When she wakes up, you can page me. I'll come talk to you both a little more about her condition and what we need to do." Dr. Rodriguez smiled.

"I thought you said they were both okay." I said, getting anxious again.

"Relax, Luca. Everything is fine. I just want to be sure it stays that way." He said, holding his hand out to me. "Now go in there and see your wife. I'll be back soon."

I nodded, chuckling and walking into the room. For a brief moment, I wondered if it would have been like this with Layla. The excitement and the fear and the looming realization that I had absolutely no idea how to be a father to a newborn. Thankfully, I'd have months to learn and even that was exciting.

I didn't let myself dwell on what might have been for long. The present and future were all that mattered. We had a perfect, healthy little girl and were going to have another. Although, I hoped this one would be a boy. I was already severely outnumbered at home with my girls, and a little more man power could do a load of good.

I walked in and made myself comfortable in the chair next to her bed. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Charlotte was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life. I would happily give up any other sight if it meant I could stare at her all day for the rest of my life. Not even the ugly bruising on her eye and cheek could detract from that.

Everything about her was exquisite, from the way her dark eyelashes curled up to the soft pink pout of her lips. The way her chest rose and fell with each breath and the curve of her body beneath the blanket. She had one foot out of the covers, just like she slept at home because she could never decide whether not she was hot or cold. I wanted to wake her, but I knew she needed her rest, and she was so peaceful.

I was overcome with emotion, realizing how close I was to never seeing this site again. Never seeing Charlotte, never knowing my child was growing inside of her. If one thing had gone differently, we wouldn't be sitting here and the reality of that was paralyzing. I'd always known the violence of the Mafia—it was practically ingrained in me—but I was never quite as aware of it as I was sitting here staring at my wife. It was much harder to deny or try to normalize when the proof was right in front of me, literally in black and purple, on Charlotte's face.

I pressed a kiss to her forehead, causing a smile to spread across her lips and her eyes to flutter open. "I thought I heard you yelling about something out there." Her voice, raspy and low. I didn't have any kind of hospital fetish, but she sounded so sexy.

"You're supposed to be sleeping." I chuckled, reaching for her hand.

"I can't sleep. My head hurts too bad." She winced.

"I'll get the doctor to get you some pain meds." I said, standing up.

She reached for my wrist. "Just stay with me. Please."

How was I supposed to resist a request like that? I moved to the hospital bed next to her, stroking her cheek softly. "I've been so worried about you."

"It really wasn't that bad." She was trying to placate me, but I wasn't falling for it.

"You're adorable when you lie." I chuckled.

"No, I'm serious! For my first mafia kidnapping, I expected way worse." She smirked.

"I'm glad it wasn't as bad as you were expecting, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. It could've ended a lot different." It was a little concerning to me she was in such good spirits. She was probably still in shock, and the trauma of this nightmare would hit later.

"It could have," she nodded. "But it didn't. You saved me. By the way, is my dad here?"

My brow furrowed. Maybe she had hit her head harder than I thought. "Your dad? Char, Josh has been..."

"Not Josh." She cut me off, shaking her head. "Antonio. He was there."

Antonio? Now I really knew she was confused. "Antonio wasn't there, baby."

"Yes, he was!" She protested. "When you were fighting with Silvano, one guard tackled me. He would've killed me if Antonio hadn't shot him."

"I think you're thinking of someone else. Antonio wasn't there. He's not even in the country, right? Didn't he say he was going to LA?"

"I know that's what he said, but he was there. I'm positive, Luca. You have to go find out if he's okay." Her voice was frantic.

"Okay, okay." I said, trying to keep her calm. She definitely didn't need to be getting herself so worked up right now. Once Dr. Rodriguez came back, maybe he could shed some light on whether or not her confusion was normal. "I'll check on Antonio, but there is something else I want to talk to you about first."

"Is Layla okay?" She frowned, suddenly panicky.

"Oh, she's fine, Char. She flew back to New York with your mom a day or so ago. I thought they'd be safer at the estate. It's nothing like that, I promise." I assured her.

She bit her lip, still expecting bad news. "Then what is it?"

"Char, Dr. Rodriguez came to see me earlier. While they were running tests on you, they found something."

"What do you mean?"

"Char, you're pregnant." I smiled as the words left my tongue.

Her eyes widened, but her lips curled into a gentle grin. "Really?"

"Yeah. Dr. Rodriguez said six weeks." I grabbed her hand, my chest tightening with emotion, unable to contain my happiness.

"Wow." She smiled, shaking her head in disbelief. "That's... are you happy?"

"Am I happy?" I repeated, exasperatedly. "I have never been so happy in all of my life. Except for maybe the day you agreed to marry me."

"Layla is going to be over the moon." She smiled.

"I can't wait to get back home and tell her."

Charlotte took my hand in hers and set both of them on top of her stomach, as if we could already feel a baby in there.

"And you're sure everything is okay? The baby wasn't hurt at all?"

I shook my head. "Dr. Rodriguez says everything is fine. He's going to come back in a little while and talk to you about vitamins and other things you need to do while you're pregnant."

"Impeccable timing." Dr. Rodriguez smile, coming in the room and washing his hands. "How are you feeling, Charlotte?"

"I'm doing okay. My head hurts a bit, but it's manageable."

"Good. The headache will probably come and go for a few days, but if it gets bad, you can take pain relievers for it. I'm not going to prescribe anything stronger right now because of the baby, but if it gets worse, we can definitely get you something."

Charlotte nodded.

"So I guess Luca told you the good news." He smiled. "The baby is doing miraculously well, considering all the trauma you've been through. Your numbers weren't as high as we like to see them, but we gave you a few transfusions, and that seemed to help things for now. It's going to be really important that you get a lot of rest over the next few days. The baby looks fine right now, but that could always change."

"I'll make sure she rests." I assured him. Charlotte wouldn't lift a finger this entire pregnancy. I planned to spoil her as much as possible.

"Good. I know this isn't your first child, but prenatal care is going to be even more important this time. I want you to keep a good eye on things, considering everything you've gone through. That means lots of vitamins, healthy foods, exercise, plenty of sleep and water. And I assume you guys will be heading back to the states as soon as possible?"

"Yes." Charlotte answered quickly. We had all had about as much of Italy as we could take. Even our mothers were ready to forgo the wedding and do something simple. Charlotte and I were married. It didn't make much difference to me either way.

"You'll need to get right into your doctor so she can start monitoring you. And dad," He turned his attention to me. "I'm counting on you to make sure she follows through with all of this. It's incredibly important that we give this little one every chance we can at survival."

"Absolutely. I'll make sure of it." I nodded, a heaviness setting in. What if something went wrong? What if it all looked fine now, but that wasn't really the case?

"Great. I'm going to keep you here a few days to montior your vitals and make sure everything looks good, and then we'll get you home as quickly as we can."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Rodriguez." I shook his hand.

"Yes, thank you." Charlotte smiled.

"Absolutely! I'll be here all night, so just page me if you need anything." He disappeared out the door, leaving us alone again.

"I can already tell you're going to be totally over bearing through this, aren't you?" She chuckled, reaching for her water bottle. She couldn't get up the strength to open it with her cracked ribs, so I took it from her and unscrewed it.

"Damn right I am. I'm making up for lost time, and you heard the man. You need all the rest you can get. I'm not even going to let you out of bed!" I was only halfway kidding.

"You realize we can't have sex while I'm pregnant, right?" She arched an eyebrow at me.

My eyes widened. "You have got to be fucking kidding me."

She started laughing uncontrollably, clutching at her ribs and alternating between smiling and wincing.

"You're joking, aren't you?" I needed clarification immediately.

"Yes, I'm kidding. In fact, most women get an even bigger sex drive when they're pregnant." That smirk was equally irritating, as it was adorable.

"You think you're funny, don't you?" I couldn't help but laugh. "You had me rethinking the whole second child thing there."

"You're ridiculous."

"As much fun as getting teased by my wife is, you need to get some rest." I narrowed my eyes at her.

"And so the bossiness begins." She giggled.

"Always." I brushed my lips against hers, careful not to hurt her cuts. I couldn't wait until I could kiss her the way I wanted to again. "I'm going to go get some coffee, and you better be asleep when I get back."

"Don't forget to check on Antonio!" she yelled after me.

I sighed heavily, rolling my eyes. I also needed to find Rodriguez and ask him about this confusion she was experiencing. "Whatever you want, baby."

I shut the door to her room as quietly as I could. Ellison was waiting for me in the hallway when I got out.

"How's she doing?" He asked, handing me a cup of coffee.

"Good, actually. She's in good spirits, but I'm sure it will take a little while for the shock to wear off." I took it gratefully.

"Might be a good idea to get her set up with a therapist when you guys get home." I nodded. It was already on my mind. I knew from experience that once these nightmares finally hit her, they wouldn't go away for a while. Silvano might be out of our lives physically, but the scars he left mentally would last for decades.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Luca, but I hope I don't see you again for a very long time."

"You and me both, Ellison." We shared a laugh, knowing there was nothing but love behind that statement. If I saw Ellison again, it would be because I was in trouble or something was wrong. "Hey, I know you guys swept the factory after we left. Charlotte is under the impression that Antonio was there for some reason. You don't know anything about that, do you?"

Ellison's face fell a bit. "Luca, Antonio was there. He got shot, and they brought him here, but he didn't make it through surgery."

I sucked in a sharp breath. Antonio was dead? We hadn't exactly been on the best of terms, but it didn't make the news any easier. At one point, he'd been like a father to me, and whether she liked it or not, he was Charlotte's.

Charlotte would be devastated when she found out, especially if she ever found out his true intentions on Christmas. At least in her mind, he was trying to make amends and make things right with her.

"Why the fuck was he even there?" I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration.

"As best we can tell, Silvano contacted him. He must've cared about Charlotte more than anyone gave him credit for because he went there to save her."

Shit. Could all this really be true? I now knew it wasn't Angelo who shot the guards. Could it have been Antonio?

"When I interviewed Charlotte, she said he had protected her from an attacker and said he was going back in to help you."

"I never saw him." My voice cracked. At least by coming for her, he'd left her with one last good memory to cling to.

"He never made it that far. We found him unconscious in the hallway. His chest was riddled with bullets. There was nothing they could do once he got here."

"I should go tell Charlotte." I frowned, knowing that wouldn't be a fun conversation. She would put the blame on herself, I knew it.

Ellison nodded. "I'm glad I got to meet your family, though I wish it could've been under better circumstances."

"Me too." I smiled, shaking his hand.

"You don't have to have the same fate as them, you know." Ellison smiled sympathetically. "Antonio and your father. You should use this as a lesson. Get out while you can. Before it takes that beautiful family away from you."

I had heard his speech a dozen times, but today it rang truer than it ever had before. "Take care, Ellison."

"Goodbye, Luca." He smiled, shoving his hands in his pockets and turning back down the hallway.

I stood outside of Charlotte's door for a few more minutes, trying to quiet my mind.

I didn't know what to think. Part of me was relieved that he was dead, that I never had to worry about him risking Charlotte or our family again. The other part of me was breaking, though.

Antonio was untouchable in my mind. The fact that he was dead was going to be tough to swallow. When my father died, I spent years training with Antonio. He transformed me into the man I was, the leader I was. How did the Romano family even exist without him? My world was rapidly changing shape around me. Antonio was gone, killed after decades of pain and loneliness. Charlotte and I were having another baby. My family had been brutalized the last few years, this week being the tip of the iceberg. Did I want to bring another child into that?

For the first time in my life, it left me questioning what place the mafia had in my future.