"I was already pregnant when you left," she says quietly. "I didn't know until three weeks after you disappeared."
I whip around to look at her.
Every cruel accusation I just hurled at her comes rushing back, filling me with guilt, and at the same time, a new anger rises.
"Seven fucking years, Katerina."
"Don't you dare." It’s not just anger blazing in her eyes. It’s hate. "Don't you dare act like the victim here."
"You kept my son from me! My own flesh and blood, and you never thought I deserved to know?"
"Deserved?" She laughs derisively. "You left me without a word, Luca. No explanation, no goodbye. Just vanished. What exactly did you deserve?"
My hands clench at my sides, restraining the urge to put my fist through the wall. "I had no choice?—"
“Poor, poor Luca.” She steps closer, unflinching in the face of my rage. "I chose to protect my child from a man who could disappear without a second thought. I chose not to chase after someone who clearly didn't want to be found."
"You had no right to make that decision."
"I had every right." Her voice drops dark and low. "I earned that right the moment I realized I was carrying your child but you were gone. The moment I faced your father, terrified he'd cast me out or worse, and refused to name you as the father to protect you, even after you abandoned me."
The truth of her words slices through my anger, leaving a profound sense of guilt. I turn away, unable to face her or the mirror that shows what I've become. "Does he know anything about me?"
"He knows his father couldn't stay."
Something breaks inside me. "I have a son." The idea of it is terrifying and miraculous all at once.
"Yes. And he's perfect, Luca." Her voice softens. "He's brave and stubborn and too smart for his own good."
Like his mother, I think but don't say.
Her eyes are sharp as they hold mine through the reflection in the mirror. “So, now that you know who his father is, are you going to keep your promise?"
6
KATERINA
I stare at Luca, horrified at what just slipped from my lips. Did I really just ask the father of my child if he'd kill himself?
My hand flies to my mouth as if I could physically catch the words and stuff them back inside.
Not just the suggestion that he kill himself, but revealing my secret as well.
Telling him the truth changes everything.
The secret that's lived inside me, that's shaped every decision I've made since holding that positive pregnancy test, is now in the hands of a man who abandoned me without a second thought.
Will he demand rights to Enzo? Try to take him away? Use him as leverage in whatever game he's playing with his family?
Luca's face hardens, jaw clenched tightly. His gray eyes bore into mine with an intensity that makes my skin burn.
"Is that what you want, Katerina? For me to disappear again? This time, permanently?"
"No." The word comes out too quickly, too honestly.
I hate that I still care, hate that even after everything, the thought of him gone forever is unbearable.
I back away, needing distance from him, from this conversation, from the terrible mistake I've made.
