the holster at my chest, I approached my brother. He hung up.
“So what did your wife say?”
Luca narrowed his eyes at me. “Everything’s fine. The ultrasound showed a healthy baby.”
I gave a terse nod. “See, Gianna’s taking care of your kid.”
Luca didn’t say anything for a while. “It’s not our kid yet. It can still be yours.”
I considered that, becoming a dad, having responsibility for a small human being. Gianna and I loved staying up late and doing whatever we felt like. We loved traveling too—as much as me being a mobster allowed. I loved seeing the joy on Gianna’s face whenever she managed to wrangle a bit more freedom out of the mafia life. A kid would take away plenty of her freedom, even more so than mine.
“No, you and Aria should adopt it like we agreed.”
When I returned late in the afternoon, Gianna was browsing travel pictures on her laptop. She didn’t mention her examination, nor did I. Instead she pointed at a lush green forest and then white beaches and blue water. “Costa Rica.”
I kissed her and sank down beside her. “You want to play name a country?”
She rolled her eyes. “I want to flee the cold this winter. Why don’t we spend a few weeks in Costa Rica in November? New York is always so depressing in winter.”
“Can you fly?”
She frowned. “Of course.”
I gestured at her flat belly. “I mean because of the kid.”
“I know what you mean, but it’s not a problem.”
“Then we should fly to Costa Rica for a bit of adventure.”
Her entire face transformed. Relief and happiness shone in her eyes. This was the Gianna I wanted to keep seeing, and this Gianna needed her freedom.
Maybe for the first time since we’d agreed to giving Luca and Aria our child, I felt a sense of certainty and acceptance. Some people weren’t meant to be parents, and we were among them.
When I told Luca about our travel plans, expecting to be met with resistance, I was surprised when he nodded. “That’s actually a good plan. Maybe you’ll be more chilled afterward.”
I stifled a comment, but his words proved to be correct. Gianna and I really enjoyed the two weeks away from everything. The only thing that occasionally dimmed our joy was when people congratulated Gianna on her pregnancy. In her sixth month, the bump was now visible when Gianna wore only a bikini. Apart from that, this vacation was like all of our vacations before, except we couldn’t drink or dive, but Gianna was still fit and eager to do as many activities as possible.
One evening as we watched the sunset in the hammock in front of our beach villa, Gianna leaned her head on my shoulder, whispering, “I wish we could stay in this moment forever. I’m scared of returning to New York.”
Gianna admitting to being afraid was a rare event and immediately fired up my protectiveness. I pulled her closer against me. “There’s nothing for you to be scared of. You have me.”
She looked at me. “I do, don’t I?”
I frowned. “Of course.”
“Things will get tough. Pretending this pregnancy isn’t there is impossible with my belly, and it’ll be hard hiding from the public to keep it hidden.”
“You’ll spend plenty of time in the Hamptons with Aria and Liliana.”
Gianna cringed. “I still have to tell Lily. I can’t postpone it anymore. It’s not fair.”
“Then tell her.” I paused, knowing Gianna would loathe what I had to say next. “You should stop teaching classes. Hiding your bump in gym clothes is much harder, especially if you do all those yoga poses.”
Gianna nodded slowly, surprising me. “I know. It’s been hard to avoid ab exercises these last few weeks. Eventually my clients will get suspicious.”
Wistfulness swung in her voice. Gianna loved her job. She loved feeling useful. A life as a trophy wife wasn’t what she was born to be. She pulled her legs up against her body, her gaze returning to the ocean cloaked in darkness.
When suddenly she jumped, her eyes going wide and darting down to her belly.
“What is it?” I asked, alarmed.
Gianna didn’t say anything at first and only stared down her body. Slowly she lowered her legs and met my gaze. “It’s nothing. I think my stomach is acting up.”
Gianna was lying. “Are you sure you are okay?”
She glanced down at her belly again and nodded slowly. “I’m fine. I’ll just do a few detox-days once we’re back home, then everything will be okay.”
I had a feeling her reaction had