Dr. Cooper does not respond, just sits there, pensive, studying us skeptically.
"So we have a week to get out of here?" asks Eliano in a grim tone.
"Most likely, yes," Dr. Cooper replies. "Do you have a house in the city?"
"No," Eliano says. "That’s the problem. We don’t have any fully safe place where we could officially stay. I may have some… alternatives, but they’re far from ideal. My situation is, to put it mildly, complicated."
Dr. Cooper rubs his chin, his gaze moving across our faces. Then he says, "As far as I know, one of the requirements for Salt to live with you is that you own a house, not even an apartment. Those are the conditions imposed on the Second Chance program by the court. If they’re not met, Salt would have to return to state prison."
Eliano’s head snaps up.
"That’s not an option."
"I have no influence over that," Dr. Cooper says carefully, hesitating. He keeps tapping his pen on the desk. "Salt can be ordered back to prison in this situation, but what would happen to you and to the child afterward?" He sighs. "I’ll have to present this case to Warden Gomez and our internal committee."
"Aren’t there any exceptions?" Eliano asks. "They can’t risk his health or the pregnancy by putting him there."
"Well, I remember a case involving some legal complications around one of the couples at the facility where I worked before. They stayed for three months before leaving, despite the beta already being pregnant. Maybe it could be extended in your case to give you time to figure something out."
"I would be grateful if you could check with the committee and the warden."
"Okay. I’ll let you know what I find out," Dr. Cooper says.
We leave the office, both of us wearing grim expressions. Eliano looks like a brewing storm cloud. I can almost physically feel the weight of his dark energy inside myself.
We return to the unit in silence. Once inside, Eliano collapses onto the bed and says, "I’m sorry about this. I wish I could assure your safety out there, but… I can’t. Because of my damn family."
I stare at him for a moment, stunned by what he says. There is something in his voice that sounds like real pain. Is his alpha nature, his instinct to protect, suffering right now? I search for something to say. I know alphas are action-oriented, so maybe something along those lines.
"Isn’t there any way to withdraw some money from your account? Maybe do it directly at a bank, so tracking the transfer wouldn’t give Rocco anything?"
Eliano rests his hand against his forehead, partially covering his eyes.
"I tried that, but I found out my account is frozen."
"Frozen? I don’t understand."
"It’s tied to the Blue Lowen assassination attempt," Eliano says, his voice rough. "When Anzo failed to kill him, he decided the traitor was someone in the family. He suspected me andMauro. We only escaped during the chaos when the FBI raided the fortress."
"Wait. But if Anzo is in prison now, your account…"
"It doesn’t matter. The accounts were closed the day before he was arrested. And Rocco is the new ‘CEO’ of the family enterprises."
"So only Rocco has the power to change their status?"
"Yes. Whoever’s the capo controls them. My brothers and I were just users, not owners. They forced us into obedience by holding the power to withhold money."
"That’s a bad situation." I sigh and sink onto the bed beside him, and for a moment we both lie on our backs, staring at the ceiling. Even though I fight it, that heavy mood, that fear, reaches me too.
"What’s going to happen to us, Eliano?"
I slide my hand over my stomach, completely flat. I don’t look pregnant yet. The child is still so small, and yet the awareness of this new life already carries a powerful feeling. A new way of thinking. The future never mattered to me. I lived in the present.
Not anymore.
"I just don’t want anything bad to happen to him," I whisper.
Eliano exhales, covering his eyes with his forearm. His voice is dark.
