Chapter 4 - The Betrayal Wearing IvoryCeleste Rossi ate breakfast at nine every morning.
Layla remembered that.
When she had worked in the penthouse, Celeste rarely stayed overnight, but whenever she did, she demanded coffee at exactly nine, fruit sliced into identical pieces and toast that could not be darker than pale gold.
The staff hated preparing breakfast for her.
Nothing was ever correct.
The coffee was too hot.
The berries were too cold.
The plate was too large.
The napkin was folded incorrectly.
That morning, however, Celeste did not complain about the food.
She sat alone at the marble dining table wearing an ivory silk blouse while Dominic’s security men quietly sealed every exit around her.
Layla watched from the upper hallway.
Dominic stood beside her.
“You should remain upstairs.”
“You already said that.”
“And you ignored me.”
“Yes.”
“This conversation could become unpleasant.”
“It involves me.”
“It involves a traitor.”
“It involves my children.”
Dominic looked at her.
He no longer argued.
That was new.
He extended a hand instead.
Layla hesitated before taking it.
Together they descended the stairs.
Celeste looked up when they entered.
Her eyes immediately dropped to their joined hands.
Something sharp passed through her expression.
“Have we abandoned all dignity now?”
Dominic pulled out a chair for Layla.
“Sit.”
Celeste laughed.
“You are serving the maid?”
Dominic remained standing.
“Careful.”
One word.
Celeste’s smile vanished.
Layla sat.
Matteo entered carrying a thin black folder.
He placed it before Dominic.
Celeste glanced toward the guards.
“What is this?”
Dominic opened the folder.
“Alan Mercer.”
Her face did not change.
It changed too little.
Layla noticed.
Dominic did as well.
“You know the name.”
“Should I?”
“The security supervisor who allowed Moretti gunmen into this home.”
Celeste picked up her coffee.
“That sounds like your problem.”
“He was murdered last night.”
“Again, Dominic, I fail to understand why that concerns me.”
“Because three months ago, Mercer received a telephone call from a number belonging to one of your father’s companies.”
For the first time, Celeste’s hand stopped.
Only briefly.
Then she drank.
“My father owns dozens of companies.”
“Yes.”
Dominic slid a photograph across the table.
It showed Layla outside her old apartment.
Celeste did not touch it.
“What am I supposed to see?”
“You tell me.”
“I see a badly dressed pregnant woman carrying groceries.”
Layla felt Dominic’s hand tighten against the back of her chair.
Celeste noticed.
Her eyes flashed with satisfaction.
That was when Layla understood.
Celeste wanted him angry.
Perhaps because angry men stopped thinking.
Layla placed one hand over Dominic’s wrist.
“Let her speak.”
He looked down at her.
Then back at Celeste.
Celeste’s mouth tightened.
Dominic placed another document on the table.
“Mercer kept copies of the payments.”
“You already told me Moretti paid him.”
“One payment came through Moretti accounts.”
He paused.
“The other came through Rossi Maritime Holdings.”
Celeste’s face became pale.
“That is impossible.”
“Is it?”
“My father would never finance an attack against you.”
“Your father has financed attacks against half the East Coast.”
“Not against you.”
“Then explain the transfer.”
“I cannot explain something I know nothing about.”
Dominic watched her.
Layla did too.
Celeste looked frightened.
But Layla had seen frightened women before.
She had been one.
Fear was rarely clean.
It trembled.
It looked for exits.
It begged.
Celeste was not afraid of being accused.
She was afraid of what Dominic might discover next.
Layla leaned forward.
“When did you learn I was pregnant?”
Celeste looked at her with disgust.
“When you arrived here.”
“That is not true.”
Dominic’s gaze shifted toward Layla.
Celeste scoffed.
“You think because you are carrying his bastards, you have suddenly developed intelligence?”
Dominic moved.
Layla caught his hand.
“Do not.”
His eyes burned.
She turned toward Celeste.
“When I dropped the tray months ago, you accused me of being intoxicated.”
“Yes. You looked terrible.”
“You looked at my stomach.”
Celeste said nothing.
“At the time I assumed you were looking because I touched it.”
Layla’s voice remained quiet.
“But you looked before I did.”
Celeste’s fingers tightened around her coffee cup.
Dominic became completely still.
Layla continued.
“You already suspected.”
“That is absurd.”
“You visited the servants’ floor the week before I was fired.”
Celeste stared.
Layla remembered suddenly.
A forgotten detail.
A door opening near midnight.
Expensive heels against the tile.
Celeste speaking quietly with someone.
“I heard you outside the staff laundry.”
Celeste laughed nervously.
“So?”
“You never went there.”
“I could go wherever I pleased.”
“You were speaking to Nora.”
Dominic frowned.
“Who is Nora?”
“The housekeeper supervisor.”
Matteo immediately reached for his phone.
Celeste stood.
“This is ridiculous.”
Dominic’s voice stopped her.
“Sit.”
She froze.
“Dominic—”
“Sit down.”
Celeste slowly returned to the chair.
Matteo spoke into his phone and stepped away.
Layla searched her memory.
“Nora scheduled medical appointments for staff members when they became ill.”
Dominic looked at her.
“When my morning sickness started, she told me I could not keep missing shifts.”
Layla’s throat tightened.
“She said she needed proof that I was actually sick.”
Celeste stared at the table.
“I gave her the clinic paper.”
Dominic understood.
“It contained the pregnancy.”
“And approximate conception date.”
Silence.
Matteo returned.
His expression confirmed everything before he spoke.
“Nora resigned two days after Layla was dismissed.”
Dominic looked at Celeste.
“Where is she?”
Matteo continued.
“Florida, according to payroll records. Except she never entered Florida.”
Celeste stood again.
This time Dominic did not stop her.
She moved backward.
“You cannot prove I had anything to do with that.”
Dominic walked around the table.
“I have not yet accused you.”
“You are looking at me as though you want to kill me.”
“Perhaps that is because I do.”
“Dominic.”
Her voice cracked.
“My father will not tolerate you threatening me.”
Dominic smiled without warmth.
“Your father should be more concerned about whether I tolerate him.”
Layla felt the room tighten.
A war with Moretti was already destroying parts of the city’s criminal network.
A war with Rossi would create something larger.
Celeste knew it too.
“You need my family.”
“Not anymore.”
“Our marriage would unite Chicago and New York.”
“I no longer intend to marry you.”
The sentence landed like a gunshot.
Celeste stared.
Layla’s breath stopped.
Dominic continued.
“The engagement is finished.”
“You cannot do that.”
“I just did.”
“Our fathers negotiated this alliance.”
“My father is dead.”
“Mine is not.”
“Then tell Victor Rossi that if he has an objection, he may bring it to me personally.”
Celeste’s face distorted.
“You are destroying years of planning for her?”
She pointed toward Layla.
“A maid?”
Dominic moved so quickly that Celeste flinched.
He did not touch her.
His voice was almost gentle.
“She is the mother of my children.”
Celeste’s eyes filled with furious tears.
“You slept with her once.”
“I know.”
“You do not love her.”
The silence after those words was different.
Layla looked at Dominic.
He did not answer.
Something painful tightened inside her chest.
Celeste saw it.
She smiled.
“There.”
Her confidence returned.
“At least we finally found something you cannot lie about.”
Dominic’s gaze remained on Layla.
“I do not know what to call what I feel.”
Celeste’s smile weakened.
Dominic continued.
“I know that when she disappeared, I searched for her without understanding why.”
Layla’s heart began beating harder.
“I know that when I saw her carrying my children in that diner, the idea that I had left her alone made me physically sick.”
His voice lowered.
“I know that when a gun touched her head last night, I would have surrendered every dock, every building, every dollar and every life under my command to keep her breathing.”
Celeste went silent.
“So perhaps you are correct,” Dominic said. “Perhaps I do not yet understand what love is.”
He looked directly at Layla.
“But whatever exists between us is worth more to me than every alliance your family could offer.”
Layla could not speak.
Celeste looked between them.
Hatred replaced shock.
“You will regret this.”
Dominic turned toward the guards.
“Remove her from the penthouse.”
Celeste laughed.
“You think this ends because you throw me outside?”
“No.”
Dominic’s eyes became cold.
“It ends when I know whether you sold information about my children.”
“You cannot hold me prisoner.”
“I am not.”
He looked at Matteo.
“Take Ms. Rossi to the Blackstone Hotel. Place security on the floor.”
Celeste’s face twisted.
“Security or surveillance?”
“Both.”
“You arrogant bastard.”
She grabbed her handbag.
As she passed Layla, she stopped.
“You think he chose you?”
Layla looked up.
Celeste leaned closer.
“He chose the babies.”
Dominic stepped forward.
Layla stopped him again.
Celeste smiled cruelly.
“When they are born, he will have what he wants.”
She lowered her voice.
“What do you imagine happens to you then?”
Layla refused to react.
Celeste left.
The elevator doors closed behind her.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Layla stood.
“I need air.”
Dominic followed her toward the terrace.
Snow covered the outdoor furniture.
The winter wind struck her immediately.
Dominic placed a coat around her shoulders.
“Do not believe her.”
Layla kept her eyes on the skyline.
“Which part?”
“All of it.”
“She is right about one thing.”
“No.”
“You do not know what happens after the babies are born.”
Dominic came closer.
“I know you remain with them.”
“That was not the question.”
His expression tightened.
Layla forced herself to continue.
“I need to understand something before this goes further.”
“What?”
“If there were no babies, would you want me here?”
Dominic said nothing.
Pain spread through her.
She nodded.
“That is what I thought.”
Layla turned.
He caught her hand.
“Do not interpret silence as an answer.”
“What else am I supposed to interpret?”
“The fact that I am trying not to lie.”
That stopped her.
Dominic stepped closer.
“If there were no children, I would still have searched for the masked woman.”
“You did not know she was me.”
“No.”
“If you had discovered me without the pregnancy?”
“I do not know.”
“Exactly.”
He exhaled.
“I cannot change the beginning.”
“No.”
“I cannot make myself into a man who understood you when you worked here.”
“No.”
“I can only tell you what is true now.”
Layla looked at him.
“What is true now?”
Dominic lifted her hand.
He pressed it against his chest.
His heartbeat was steady beneath her palm.
“I wait for you to wake every morning.”
Her eyes burned.
“When you are in another room, I listen for your voice.”
He swallowed.
“When you laugh, I want to hear it again.”
Layla remained completely still.
“When you look at me as though I might be worth becoming better for, I believe it for several seconds.”
His voice became rough.
“And when you look at me as if I am the monster everyone says I am, I remember that I probably deserve it.”
“Dominic.”
“I do not know whether that is love.”
He stepped closer.
“But it has nothing to do with the children.”
Layla’s tears escaped.
Dominic brushed one away.
He did not kiss her.
He waited.
That mattered too.
Layla closed the distance.
Her lips touched his.
The kiss was nothing like the reckless encounter inside the masquerade library.
There was no alcohol.
No mask.
No darkness hiding their identities.
Dominic’s hands remained carefully at her waist.
Layla touched his face.
For several seconds, the Morettis did not exist.
Celeste did not exist.
The past disappeared.
Then pain tore across Layla’s abdomen.
She gasped and pulled away.
Dominic froze.
“What?”
Another cramp tightened violently.
Layla gripped his coat.
“Something is wrong.”
Fear transformed Dominic instantly.
He lifted her before she could protest.
“Matteo!”
His shout thundered through the penthouse.
Layla pressed a hand against her stomach.
A warm sensation spread beneath her dress.
She looked down.
Blood.
Dominic saw it.
The most feared man in Chicago became white.
“Call the doctor.”
He carried her toward the elevator.
“Now!”
Layla buried her face against his chest while another contraction seized her.
May you like
She was only thirty-two weeks pregnant.
And the twins were trying to come early.
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