Chapter 2
The ambulance siren sounded far away, even when the paramedics were right above me.
“Ma’am, stay still.”
“I need to know if my baby is okay.”
“We’re going to check everything at the hospital.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Rocco climbed into the ambulance before anyone could stop him.
One of Gary’s men reached for his shoulder.
Rocco slapped his hand away.
“I’m going with her.”
The paramedic looked at me.
“He’s my son,” I said.
The words came out before I thought about them.
Rocco’s face changed.
He sat beside me and held my hand the whole ride.
Not Preston.
Not my husband.
My sixteen-year-old stepson.
Through the back windows, I saw Preston standing on the driveway of the Marino estate while his mother screamed at everyone.
He didn’t chase the ambulance.
He didn’t call my name.
He just stood there.
At St. Vincent’s, they rushed me into maternity triage.
A nurse strapped monitors around my stomach.
For the longest thirty seconds of my life, there was nothing.
Then came the sound.
Fast.
Tiny.
Alive.
My baby’s heartbeat filled the room.
I broke down so hard the nurse had to hold my shoulder.
Rocco turned his face away, but I saw him wipe his eyes.
“She’s okay?” he asked.
“She’s stable,” the doctor said. “But we need observation. Trauma like this can change quickly.”
Rocco nodded like he understood, but his jaw kept trembling.
When the nurse stepped out, he leaned close.
“Audrey, I heard Grandma talking last week.”
My skin went cold.
“With who?”
He swallowed.
“My dad.”
I closed my eyes.
“What did they say?”
Rocco looked at the door first.
Then he whispered, “She said if the baby came, everything changed.”
I stared at him.
“What everything?”
“The trust. Grandpa’s trust.”
I knew about the Marino family trust only in pieces.
Old money.
Shipping companies.
Restaurants.
Construction.
Businesses that looked clean on paper because Gary had spent twenty years making them that way.
Preston always told me not to worry about it.
“Family paperwork,” he said.
But Brenda worried about it.
Brenda worried about everything she could control.
Rocco leaned closer.
“Grandpa changed his will after you got pregnant.”
My heart began to pound.
“He told Dad the baby gets a protected share. You get a protected share too.”
I felt sick.
“And Brenda knew?”
“She was furious.”
The door opened before I could answer.
Preston walked in.
He had changed his shirt.
That was the first thing I noticed.
I still had gift table glass in my hair.
He had changed his shirt.
“Audrey,” he said softly. “Thank God.”
Rocco stood.
“Don’t.”
Preston’s eyes flashed.
“Rocco, step outside.”
“No.”
“I said step outside.”
“And I said no.”
For the first time since I had married Preston, I saw fear in his face when he looked at his son.
Not anger.
Fear.
Preston turned to me.
“My mother lost control. She’ll apologize.”
I laughed once.
It came out broken.
“She said my child must not be born.”
His mouth tightened.
“She was upset.”
“Because of the trust?”
He went still.
Rocco’s hand closed into a fist.
Preston looked at him.
“You told her?”
Rocco stepped forward.
“You should have.”
Preston’s face hardened.
“You don’t understand adult matters.”
“No,” Rocco said. “I understand murder.”
The room went silent.
Then Preston did something that told me everything.
He reached for the monitor cords.
“Maybe we should transfer you somewhere private.”
I jerked back.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Audrey, calm down.”
Rocco blocked him.
“She said don’t touch her.”
Preston stared at his son.
For a second, I thought he would hit him.
Then Gary’s voice came from the doorway.
“If you lay a hand on either of them, Preston, you won’t leave this hospital standing.”
Preston turned.
May you like
Gary stepped inside with two attorneys behind him.
And in his hand was a sealed brown envelope.
