Twisted Bonds (The Camorra Chronicles, #4)

by Cora Reilly

Not pregnant, again. I felt sick and desperate.

:(

“Since you hate extensive displays of emotions, you should leave. It’ll only get worse from here.” Even to my own ears, I sounded bitter.

“We’ve been trying for so long.”

“Is Nino shooting blanks?” I blinked, still, after all this time, stunned by Remo’s directness. “I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s him. It’s my fault. I just know it deep down. Something is wrong with me. Maybe I don’t deserve to be happy. First my parents, then Durant and now this…” I started gasping in air as despair and sadness crowded in my chest. I couldn’t believe I’d said those words aloud. They’d been haunting me for a long time now. “Kiara, stop it.”

I couldn’t. Remo grabbed my ankle, startling me. My head jerked up. He rarely touched me. I swallowed as I focused on his face. “It’s no one’s fault, and nothing’s fucking wrong with you, got it?” “It’s unfair,” I whispered desperately. Remo downed the remaining rum. “Life’s fucking unfair. It wants to crush you, but you can’t let the bitch win. You’ve got to force her to play by your rules.”

“You are strong in your own way, Kiara. And you are Falcone. The world’s yours. If you want a kid, you’ll get one.” I laughed. “I know you are powerful, but some things are out of your control. You can’t kidnap one.” “If Nino’s shooting blanks you can have my sperm to get you pregnant.” I choked. “Are you being serious?” He cocked an eyebrow. I shook my head. “You’re really being serious. You think Fina would be okay with you being a sperm donor?” “We’re all family. I want you and Nino to get your wish, and Serafina would understand.” “That won’t work if it’s me.” “There’s all kind of shit doctors can do nowadays. You and Nino should have a check-up. Once you know what’s the problem, you can find a solution.” “Maybe there’s no solution.” “There always is. You can adopt. Might not be the worst idea anyway considering how messed-up Nino and I are.”

“I’ve been thinking about adoption.” I looked at Remo. “But I don’t want the kids to be less because they aren’t blood relatives.” “The only blood I give a fuck about is that of the fuckers who’ll treat your kids less for some shitty DNA bullshit, and only because I’ll bathe in it after I slit their throats.”

💓🫶🏼

I crossed the small space between us and hugged Remo for the first time in my life. “Thank you,” I whispered. “You are how I wish my brothers could have been. I don’t care what people say about you, I love you like a brother.” Remo froze, then he lightly touched my back but didn’t say anything in return—not that I had expected him to.

😭

One week had passed since we’d found out that one of Kiara’s fallopian tubes was blocked. It could be a result of the rape, of an untreated sexually transmitted disease.

“A rose?” “A red rose with thorns.” “Why?” “A rose representing your beauty, red because I love the color on you, and thorns because even the prettiest rose should have them. You didn’t in the beginning, but they grew back.”

I opened my mouth for a reply, shoving a bag away when a small, human foot caught my attention. For a moment I froze, not sure if my mind was playing tricks on me, then I sprang into action. I tore away another bag, throwing it behind myself. “Remo!” I grabbed the baby, which lay unmoving amongst the trash. It was only dressed in dirty underpants. Pressing the little body against my chest, I jumped down the steps and knelt down on the ground. Remo was already there. “Fuck! Is it breathing?” I shook my head as I pushed my finger into the baby’s mouth cleaning it from possible objects that could get into its airways once I started CPR. Remo was snarling into the phone, “We need you to come over right this fucking second. We found a baby in the trash. It’s not breathing.”

Ayyy no

“What’s wrong?” “One of the whores got pregnant and when Remo found out, he forbade her from working. She returned a couple of weeks ago, telling everyone she’d given the baby up for adoption. Today Jerry heard mewling coming from the trash. He thought a cat had given birth to kittens in the dumpsters…” My heart was already squeezing tightly with realization. “Jerry told Remo and me because he still needed to work the bar. We found a baby, a few weeks old, malnourished, dehydrated.” I swallowed. “She threw her baby in the trash.” “She didn’t take good care of him even before. Remo’s taken him to the hospital. He’s waiting for us.”

💓💔

“I know you want to get pregnant, give birth to our child but—” I interrupted him with a desperate kiss, cupping his face, crying. “I’ll love this baby with all my heart. Thank you, thank you so much.” “It was Remo’s idea.” Nino pressed his forehead to mine for a moment. “Let’s go.”

:=(

“They won’t alert the authorities?” I asked as I approached the bed and bent over the little boy. His hair was soft and honey brown, and his eyes were bluish. I knew that often changed within a child’s first year. “We are the fucking authorities in this city,” Remo said.

YASSSS QUEEN 😹

I rushed toward him and threw my arms around his middle. He touched the back of my head briefly. “I don’t care if the world hates you, I’ll defend you against all of them.”

“Nobody will ever hurt you again, nobody will come close,” I promised, stroking his tiny head then his cheek, wondering if anyone had ever shown him love so far. My heart broke and at the same time something fiercer, darker rose in my chest. Nino kissed the side of my head. “I told you the same shortly after we married.” “I know, and you kept your promise ever since. Will you protect our son like you protect me?” “I’d lay my life down for you and him.”

He nodded and I bent over our son and kissed his forehead. “Alessio Falcone, welcome to your family.”

“Shhh. You’re safe. Your dad and I will protect you.”

“Sleep, Kiara,” he murmured eventually. “I’ll make sure you two are safe.” I knew he would.

Our son. I still couldn’t get over how wonderful it felt to think that, to say that. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t our blood and it never would. He was ours.

“You’ll be as strong as your dad and your uncles,” I told my boy.

them. I leaned forward, narrowing my eyes. “She isn’t his mother. Kiara is. Alessio won’t ever find out he isn’t our blood.”

Y va a quedar la caga

“That sounds good. First of July, it is then.”

“Alessio is my heir, Kiara. Blood or not. Remo and I don’t care about that. We took Fabiano in and he’s become our family. And I can’t see how it would matter that his birthmother was a whore. It’s got nothing to do with him. He’ll grow up to be a Falcone.”

Fabiano froze. “You want me to hunt her?” “Hunt her and kill her,”

“Kiara? Are you all right?” Leona asked. I took another deep breath, washed my hands and opened the door. She scanned my face, then took in the two tests on the floor. “I’m pregnant,”

I’m pregnant. I found out today before it happened.” I froze, staring at Kiara, at the joy in her eyes. “You know for sure?” “I was at the doctor’s today. I’m six weeks along. Alessio will be a big brother soon.”

I smiled to myself, surrounded by family. I pressed my palm against my belly and after a moment Nino covered my hand with his. This was worth fighting for. Every day, every hour, every minute.

Three days later, I gave birth to Massimo in a guest room of our mansion with Serafina’s and Nino’s help, the homebirth I’d always dreamed of.

“Alessio, Massimo and I, we’ll never leave you.”