I couldn’t sleep.

Even with Alexander’s warm body curled protectively around mine, his hand resting on my pregnant belly, I lay awake staring at the ceiling. The gentle sound of waves outside the villa window usually soothed me. Tonight, it felt like a cage closing in.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw my mother’s face from that video — pale, terrified, broken. Her voice begging Alexander not to destroy me the way he had destroyed her.

Grief hit me like a wave I couldn’t outrun.

She had tried to save me. And he had killed her for it.

Tears slipped silently down my cheeks. I bit my lip...