A small envelope with “Hawkes” scrawled across the front in elegant script lies in the plush cloth that securely held the bottle.
My hand shakes slightly as I pass Pope the box and tear open the envelope.
Congratulazioni. Be seeing you soon.
- Damiano
“Shit.” Pope’s sentiment matches my own assessment of the situation. “Should we tell them?”
We both glance toward the other side of the dais, where the rest of the family waits for the celebration to start with Uncle Savage’s speech.
Kennedy whispers something to Cass that has him grinning and pressing a kiss against her neck. Astrid and Danika chat with Atlas and Wren, whose hand rests on her growing stomach, while Stone and Nora are in deep discussion with Isaac and Jack. Charlotte and Viviana play with Gio near them who is working to get to his unsteady toddler feet. Storm and Landon talk excitedly with Angelina and Alessandra holding Benjamin in her arms. Meanwhile, Luca stands stoically, scanning the crowd as intently as I have been with Byron by his side.
But it’s Coen and Allegra who answer Pope’s question for me.
They cling to each other behind the main group. Allegra rests her head on his shoulder, and Coen wraps his arm around her protectively as his sharp gaze takes in every single person in the room.
She’s terrified.
So is he.
And they have every right to be.
Her father isn’t to be fucked with, and that’s precisely what we’ve done—over and over again—by interfering with his plans and refusing his demands. Now that he knows his first grandchild is on the way, there won’t be any stopping him.
I shake my head, shoving the note back into the envelope and tucking it into my pocket. “No. It’ll only upset them. It can wait until after the ceremony.”
Pope’s brow furrows. “Are you sure?”
I’m not.
They’ll be pissed I didn’t tell them this was delivered when they do find out, but I can’t do that to them today. I can’t destroy this brief moment of joy for everyone.
It doesn’t seem to be an immediate threat.
If Satriano wanted that, he would have personally brought it and made a show of trying to get to us. Plus, I’m confident we have this place locked down tight, so he’s not getting in here, even if he wanted to.
“Fuck Satriano and fuck the champagne.” I point toward the bottle in Pope’s hand that costs as much as some people make in a year but might as well be trash considering where it came from. “Go stick that somewhere no one else will see it.”
He doesn’t hesitate to hustle down the ramp at the back of the dais, and I watch him use his access card to disappear into the security room along the far wall.
I’ll deal with it later.
When Pope reappears, he gives me a tight smile and retakes his position next to Allie on the dais. Benjamin immediately raises his arms for his father, and Pope scoops him up and whispers something that has the baby giggling.
Despite how unsettled I am by the gift, a smile pulls at my lips. Because Pope finally has his own family. Even with everything going on around us, even when he’s at the beck and call of a man like Satriano to maintain this false “peace,” he’s happy. And that’s all I’ve ever wanted for any of them.
But my smile fades quickly…because Dad was right.
I don’t have anything.
Nothing but this job and this gut feeling that, if I ever fuck up again, someone else is going to pay the price for it.
And I can’t let that happen.
I won’t.
GAGE
