Page 3 of Diary from an Inked Throne

Luca’s little sister had done nothing wrong but be born into the miserable fucking family. She was barely more than a child, but she was here on this earth. A flesh-and-blood human. One I knew in my heart needed protection. “Don’t you fucking touch her,” I growled at him, suddenly sure she was his next target.

It was one thing for me to sacrifice myself and the baby inside me. Those were my decisions to make.

I could not condemn Isabella to the same fate. “If you kill her—”

He laughed in my face. “Oh, trust me, I would if it would get me anywhere. Already thought of that. There’s no point in me killing her. If she’s dead, everything goes to her husband. The Guerra name dies.”

Isabella was still married to one of Carlos’s friends. Even though she’d fled and was currently hiding with the Slayers, their marriage was still binding in the eyes of both the law and the community.

I gaped at him, all the pieces finally fitting together. “You can’t inherit anything without my child. If we’re married, you’re his stepfather…”

“And I’ll control everything until he’s eighteen.” Enzo grinned at me. “You’re finally catching on. I sure as shit hope your son is smarter than you are. Now say your fucking vows.” He dragged the gun up my neck and held it beneath my chin, his voice dropping to a sugar-sweet tone sure to poison if you were stupid enough to try a bite. “Because I know what’s worse than your death, Nyah.” He brushed his lips over my ear, his hot breath making my skin crawl. “Letting you live, just long enough to deliver me a son, and then ending you. You’ll die knowing I’m his only role model.” His voice turned singsong. “And he’ll grow up, just…like…me.”

Horror rushed through me.

He was right.

The only thing worse than me dying right now and taking my baby with me would be dying and knowing I was leaving my only child in the hands of a monster.

“I do,” I whispered through the pain of another contraction.

Enzo smiled victoriously, his pleasure at breaking me written all over his smug face. He turned to the priest. “Continue.”

I didn’t hear the rest of the ceremony. Only registered that it was fast and nobody asked me another word. My contractions continued the entire time, but I was almost too numb to feel them.

The men and women who sat in the pews clapped politely as the priest announced us man and wife.

My father grimaced, but he was the only person there who seemed even remotely bothered.

The priest cleared his throat. “You may now kiss your bride.”

Enzo leered at me, hauling me closer against his chest. “Kiss your husband, Mama.”

He smashed his lips against mine, his disgusting tongue prodding at my mouth that refused to move to allow him entrance. I tried not to breathe in the scent of him, tried not to feel or hear or remember any of it. The pain of my labor only added to the worst moment of my life, one I didn’t seem able to escape from.

Enzo pulled back, his laughter at my expense cruel. He dragged me down the blood-red altar steps and along the aisle toward the open door. In the distance, sirens wailed.

But I knew the phone call to the police hadn’t come from someone inside the church. That wasn’t how this world worked. If the police bothered to question any of these people about the murdered man lying dead in front of them, they wouldn’t say a word.

Enzo stopped at the doorway to the church and spun us back to the crowd who had stood to follow us out. “Would love to stay and celebrate with you all, but apparently it’s time for me to meet my son.”

A cheer rose around us, and tears pricked the backs of my eyes.

Just like I’d thought. It didn’t matter this baby didn’t have an ounce of Guerra blood running through its veins. All that mattered was what men in power decided was true.

Enzo dragged me out across the lawn to a waiting car and pushed me inside before rounding it to take the seat behind the wheel.

I wanted to yank the door open and run, but another contraction clouded my vision. I clutched my belly and tried to breathe deeply, pushing the pain away. But tears rolled down my cheeks, my sight blurring until Luca, Dax, and Lynx stood on the church steps, staring at me.

And my heart broke all over again.

Because only in this much pain, in my imagination, in a world that could never be, would the three of them ever be waiting outside a church for me.

2

LUCA

THIRTY MINUTES EARLIER