Venessa’s POV

The baby wouldn’t stop crying.

I held him against my shoulder, rocking him back and forth as if that would silence him, but his tiny screams tore through the air like needles through my skull. My palms were sweaty, my patience thin, and my heart beat with a wild rhythm that had nothing to do with love.

“Shhh,” I hissed, bouncing him harder, my voice shaking. “You’ll wake the entire damn hotel.”

Elena sat slouched on the edge of the bed, one leg crossed over the other, sipping her wine like this was some casual evening. Her brows arched as she looked at me, completely unbothered by the...