LUCIANO

My fingers trembled slightly as I unfolded the crisp white paper, my pulse an unsteady rhythm in my ears. The moment my eyes scanned the bold letters on the top of the document, my world tilted.

PATIENT: NADIA ANGELO

RESULT: POSITIVE – APPROXIMATELY 6 WEEKS PREGNANT

My breath caught. I read it again. PREGNANT

I inhaled sharply. My grip tightened around the edges of the paper, my knuckles white. My heart, so used to being a weapon of ice and steel, felt like it had just been ablaze.

Nadia is pregnant…with my child.

A growl tore from my chest, raw and vicious, rattling through the walls of the empty...