Chapter 1

The day I found out I was pregnant, I went to the headquarters of the Moretti Family.

Hugh was inside the council room, meeting with his capos and the men who managed the Family's legitimate businesses.

Standing outside the glass doors, I saw him at the head of the table. I couldn't help taking out my phone and calling him.

But Hugh didn't reach for his phone.

The young woman sitting beside him did.

His secretary glanced down at the screen and declined my call without hesitation. Then, as naturally as if the phone belonged to her, she unlocked it and began typing.

A second later, a message from "Husband" appeared on my screen.

[I'm in a meeting. Don't call unless it's important.]

I stared at those words for a long moment.

When I looked up again, his secretary had already stepped closer to Hugh.

In front of his capos and advisers, she reached up and gently straightened his crooked tie.

Hugh didn't stop her.

I lowered my eyes to my phone and calmly typed a reply.

[Okay. Should you come out, or should I go in?]

……

Our eyes met through the glass.

For a split second, panic flashed across the woman's face. She quickly hid it, leaned toward Hugh, and whispered something in his ear. There was nothing openly improper about the gesture, yet the faintly wounded look on her face made it feel strangely intimate.

The moment Hugh saw me, his brows drew together.

He gave her shoulder a reassuring pat before leaving the council room and walking toward me.

"What is it?"

His voice was cold, irritation clear in his tone. He obviously wasn't pleased that I had interrupted a Family meeting.

My gaze fell to his tie.

I hadn't bought it for him, and neither had he. I'd heard it was a gift from his secretary after the Moretti Family's annual banquet, a small token of gratitude for taking her under his protection.

What I hadn't known was that his new secretary was so young and pretty.

I glanced past him at the woman still standing inside.

"Why didn't you bring her out with you?"

Hugh pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"I told her to decline the call and answer the message. Luna is new to the Family. She's young and impulsive, but she didn't mean anything by it. Don't scare her."

Five years of marriage, and I could barely remember the last time Hugh had bothered to explain himself this much outside Family business.

Yet now he was doing it to protect a woman who knew the Don's private phone password before his own wife did.

Every trace of happiness I'd carried here disappeared.

I gave a quiet laugh.

"Hugh, do you think I'm blind?"

I stepped closer and looked directly into his eyes.

"Bring her out."

Before Hugh could answer, the council room door opened.

The petite young woman walked straight toward me.

"Mrs. Moretti, I'm right here."

Her delicate face held a stubborn kind of pride.

"You may not understand how important that meeting was to Don Moretti. To you, I declined his wife's call. To him, one interruption at the wrong moment could affect the Family's business and reputation."

She lifted her chin slightly.

"I'm only a secretary, but protecting the Don's interests is part of my duty. If you have a problem with what I did, take it up with me. This has nothing to do with Don Moretti."

I caught the unmistakable approval in Hugh's eyes and suddenly found the whole thing ridiculous.

Over the years, plenty of women had gathered around him. Some wanted his money. Others wanted the Moretti name and the protection that came with it.

I'd seen every kind.

I just hadn't realized Hugh had developed a taste for this particular kind of woman, young, self-righteous, and convinced that serving the Don made her special.

"Take it up with you?"

I glanced at the name engraved on the small gold badge pinned to her jacket.

"Luna, right?"

I gave her a faint smile.

"You're fired."

The arrogance vanished from her face.

"What?"

Her eyes widened.

"What right do you have to fire me? I work for Don Moretti. I've done nothing wrong!"

I looked at her coldly.

"Because I'm his wife."

I paused.

"And half the legitimate businesses you're so determined to protect belong to me."

Luna's face went pale.

A second later, tears filled her eyes.