Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 108926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
My heart started pounding at the signs of severe hypertension and I barely felt any relief as an ambulance pulled up in front of the house. Luckily, we didn’t live far from the hospital, so we didn’t have to worry about the truck having to navigate through city traffic, slowing down our journey.
Gianna stopped at the door and told me to go, that she would get dressed, get my mother, and meet us at the hospital. I nodded, hoping my eyes conveyed my gratitude for her among the stark terror ripping through my heart.
Chapter Eleven
ANNA
The day started badly, learning that Nic was the head of a mafia family, and it only got worse when Sophia was rushed to the hospital. I’d never be able to forget the sight of her standing at the top of the stairs, deathly pale with blood leaking from her nose in a steady stream. The look of horror on Nic’s face when he screamed at me to call for help. How shattered Allegra seemed when I woke her and told her what had happened. The way my heart raced as she and I rode in the back seat of the town car which we’d found waiting at the curb, our hands gripping each other’s tightly while the only sound was the prayers Allegra muttered underneath her breath to keep her grandbaby alive. It all replayed in my head, over and over, as I wondered how long it would be before the doctors would come out and tell us what was happening with Sophia.
In the blink of an eye, my anger at Nic for keeping such a monumental secret from me seemed unimportant. The only thing which mattered was Sophia’s health and well-being. My reaction—or lack thereof—to Nic’s place in the criminal world, him calling me his fiancée, and then point blank telling me he wanted to knock me up—all of it could wait until we made it through this crisis. Nic couldn’t afford any distractions. He needed to be strong for his daughter—and so did I. She’d quickly found her way into my heart, just like her daddy had. I couldn’t imagine a world without her in it. I couldn’t fathom how Nic would go on if anything happened to his precious little girl.
Allegra and I almost hadn’t been able to get back to the exam room where Nic and Sophia had been taken, but I refused to allow a simpering nurse who couldn’t be more than a couple years older than me to keep us from them. Allegra looked on approvingly as I begged and pleaded, cajoled and threatened—and ultimately used the DeLuca name to get what I wanted.
“You will take us to my fiancé,” I growled at her, a hint of menace in my tone. “And you will do it immediately unless you want to face the wrath of the DeLuca family once she’s well. Don’t think for one moment that I’ll forget the time you’ve made us stand here when we could be back there comforting Sophia.”
“It’s fine, Sandra,” another nurse chimed in, stepping forward to intervene, her eyes wide as they darted between Allegra and me. “I’ll take Mr. DeLuca’s mother and fiancée back.”
“Fine,” the other nurse huffed, stomping away.
Sandra. I mentally marked the name down for consideration later. I hadn’t been issuing empty threats while I’d been talking to her. The sound of Allegra’s low chuckle had me jerking my head her way.
“What?” I asked defensively.
“You’ve been hiding some fire beneath your nice girl exterior,” she answered approvingly
“She’ll need it to be married to him,” the nurse mumbled as she opened the door to a spacious exam room.
“I thought they fixed it when she had surgery two years ago. Why is she having problems now?” Nic roared at a tall dark-haired man in a white lab coat. “And why has it taken so damn long for you to figure out what’s been going on with her?”
I hurried to his side, tugging his hand into mine and jerking my head towards the exam table where Sophia lay, watching her dad and the doctor with wide, tear-filled eyes.
“Niccolo,” Allegra tsked. “You can’t blame Dr. McGowan for Sophia’s condition.”
“He’s the only one who’s here,” he grumbled.
“Because you’ve probably managed to scare everyone else away,” Allegra chided, eliciting a snort of laughter from Dr. McGowan, confirming how true her words must have been. “Remember, she’s only been seeing him for a few weeks, which is hardly enough time to get the results back from all the tests he’s run.”
“Actually,” Dr. McGowan interrupted their argument. “Most of her tests came back this morning. If you’ll stay with Sophia for a moment, I’d like to speak with her father in the hallway.”
Nic gave Sophia a gentle hug and dropped a kiss onto her forehead before following Dr. McGowan into the hallway. I followed suit, pausing to whisper in her ear. “Love you, sweetie.” Her tiny hands gripped my back as she leaned up to reach my ear. “I love you too, Anna.”