It had been the best two weeks of my life. Every night, once the house was asleep, I would sneak down to see my Dante. We would make love for hours and then I’d come back to my room to sleep for a bit. I’d started to nap in the afternoons making my mother worry I was getting sick. Lina was suspicious too. I wanted to tell her, to share what was going on with her, but it was just too dangerous for both her and Dante.

Each night when I’d left in the beginning, I worried I’d never see him again, now I knew I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him. I was in too deep.

I didn’t regret a moment of it though and I was glad I’d gone that first night I’d lost my virginity. I wasn’t going to go, but as I lie there in bed, I could faintly hear Lina and Marco in the room next door. I could hear the rhythmic thumping of the bed and the muted cries of ecstasy from both of them. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I’d likely be married before I ever even saw a penis other than on my computer.

It had been worth it too. That first night it had hurt a little, and it hurt a lot the next morning, but by the next night, everything felt great. He’d made love to me in so many different ways. Sometimes, he would take me hard and fast while others we would take hours finding our release. The first night I didn’t have an orgasm — maybe I’d been too nervous, but the second night, and every night after that it had been wonderful.

After another spectacular night and still feeling the effects of my orgasm, I crept up to my room. I opened the door slowly and entered my dark room. I stifled a scream when I saw Lina was sitting on my bed.

“You gonna tell me what’s going on? And don’t bother to lie. I can smell the sex from here.”

I didn’t lie, instead telling her everything from the details of my first time right down to tonight and how wonderful it had been. “Lina, I’m scared. I have feelings for him. I just can’t lose him. I want to ask my dad what’s going on, if he’s going to um—well, if Dante is going to be gone. But I can’t ask him. He will know something is up.”

“I can ask Marco what’s going on. Tomorrow, I’ll ask him how much longer I’m going to be staying here.”

I hugged Lina as the relief spread through my body, bringing with it the exhaustion I’d felt. Lina left me to sleep, saying that Marco liked her to be there in the morning. I fell asleep to dreams of waking up in Dante’s arms.

In the morning, Lina had talked to Marco and I got the best news ever. Apparently, there had been some sort of video conference call and an agreement had been made. There was a shipment of something coming in on Friday, and if all went well, Dante would be released the next day. I was a bit skeptical about it all, but Lina assured me that she had ways of making Marco tell more than he wanted to.

She’d also insisted that we go out and spend the day at the salon because now that I had a guy, I needed to look my best. I told her I’d just had my hair done and she laughed at me saying they weren’t going to touch the hair on my head.

Four hours later, after being convinced that Dante would love it, I walked in the door with freshly manicured nails, newly polished toenails, and a very smooth kitty. It had taken quite a bit to convince me to have it waxed, but Lina insisted that he’d like it.

We had also stopped at Victoria’s Secret to get me something sexy to wear. Honestly, I don’t think Victoria has any secrets, not with the kind of clothes she wears! But with Lina’s help, I chose a deep purple corset and black thigh high stockings. She also did my hair and makeup. When I’d looked at myself in the mirror, I couldn’t believe it was me. I looked beyond sexy.

Dante thought so too, because when I walked in his room, he couldn’t even speak. I’d been wearing my robe, but when I dropped it, he started breathing really hard and mumbled something like, “unfucking believable.”

He sat on the side of the bed and pulled me towards him. I stood there while he looked at me. “You are fucking perfect. Do you know that? Perfect. I don’t think you could get any better.” He ran his hands up my legs and over the stockings to the waistband of my panties. I held my breath as he pulled them down. “Shit. It just got better!”

In an instant, he lifted me in the air and threw me on the bed diving between my legs. I giggled at his playful nature but gasped as his tongue began to do amazing things. As he brought me closer and closer to orgasm, I involuntarily wrapped my legs around his head, digging the heels Lina had insisted he’d love into his back. When I started to take them off, he pulled back. “The heels fucking stay on,” he growled and went back to torturing me with his tongue.

He’d licked my pussy before and I’d loved it every time. Dante said he loved it because I’d go wild. I’d also learned to pleasure him with my mouth. I enjoyed sucking his cock and swallowing his cum, though he rarely came in my mouth. I’d blow him for a while, but he’d always want to fuck me. I didn’t mind because it felt so good when he did it.

We made love for hours, eventually I was naked in his arms, but afraid of falling asleep. “I’ve got to go. See you tomorrow.” I kissed his lips softly and left the room.

Once again, I crept from his room back towards mine. Just as I was walking through the kitchen, I heard a voice coming from right outside of the window on the back porch. I recognized it as Vito’s and ducked down so I wouldn’t be seen.

“None of it’s going as planned. You said that Sal wouldn’t negotiate with us, but my boss says the deal is going down this Friday.”

It was quiet for a moment and I realized he must have been on the phone. “Yeah, I guess it would piss Sal off even more if he agreed to the terms and then his son was killed anyway.”

More silence.

“Well, after the deal, I could say he tried to escape and I had to shoot him. Then Sal will be pissed and he’ll come after Franco. I can leave him without any protection and you can come in and put one between his eyes. That should earn you a lot of points with Sal for avenging his son’s death.”

Vito was silent for a while and then started to laugh. “Yeah, he would promote you to Dante’s position. And, I have a few guys on my side here,” Vito continued. “But there is no way I’m gonna be able to turn two of his guys. Loyal to the core.”

I couldn’t believe I was hearing this. My heart was beating so hard and so fast, I had trouble hearing what Vito was saying. He’d gone silent and I was afraid he could hear my heart beating, but he started speaking again. “Good idea. I’ll tell them where to find Sal, then after they kill him for bumping off Franco, you can pop them. Then there will be no one to stand in our way, and you and I can declare a truce and run this fucking town together.”

More silence. I hated the fucking silence.

“Yeah, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I’ve gotta go get laid. I spend half the night listening to Marco bone his girlfriend. Chick’s a fucking freak in bed. I swear, the first thing I’m gonna do after we bump him off is fuck that little cunt.”

Vito’s voice trailed off and I realized he was probably leaving. I didn’t waste any time and ran back down to Dante startling him.

“Jesus Annalisa!” he shouted, then noticing my appearance, “What’s wrong Baby girl?”

“They are going to kill you!”

He looked at me like I was insane. “Baby, we’ve always known that was a possibility, but I’m actually thinking there is a chance I can get out of here. There was a video chat yesterday. It went really well.”

“I know about that. This is different.” I took a deep breath to try to calm myself and to give me a moment to gather my thoughts. “When I left I heard Vito, one of my dad’s men, talking on the phone about how he was mad Sal was cooperating. He said he was going to shoot you trying to escape.”

I told Dante the rest of what I’d heard.

“I’m going to tell my dad in the morning. Then he can get rid of Vito and let you go.”

Dante pulled me into a hug. “It’s not going to be that easy Baby. Even if your dad believed you, which he might not, this is one of his most trusted men, he would wonder why you cared. Then, if you told him about us, he would think it’s a trick. Besides Babygirl, you said Vito mentioned having other men. Do you know who they are? They might hurt you for outing them. And I can’t take that chance. I also need to know who the traitor is on my side too.” He shook his head and exhaled loudly. “This is fucked up. We need a plan.”

He was right, it was fucked up. “We just need to get away from here.”

“Yeah, but as you can see, I’m not exactly free to go.” He looked at the door and the block walls all around him.

“I can get you out of here.” My voice was barely a whisper, but his head snapped up like I’d shouted it.

“You’d do that? That’s sweet of you Baby, but I’d never let you take the heat for that. Daughter or not, in your father’s eyes, you’d be going against the ‘family’. You’d be risking your life.”

“What if he didn’t know it was me? It could be anyone, or you could have escaped on your own.”

His eyes looked hopeful for a moment before his brow furrowed. “It’s still dangerous. I don’t like the idea of leaving you here, especially with traitors in your ranks.”

“I could come with you.” My voice was almost inaudible.

He took my chin in his hand. “Do you even know what you’re saying? They would know it was you for sure. We’d have to go into hiding.”

I looked at the ground, not wanting him to see the tears forming in my eyes. I knew he wouldn’t want to give up his life, his family for me. He barely knew me really, and I barely knew him. It had been only about two weeks, but the time we spent together, each night felt like a month. It was more than the sex. I cared about him, deeply. I looked up into his eyes to find he was looking back into mine.

“Baby, I have a safe house in the upper peninsula of Michigan. We can take one of my boats and head north on Lake Michigan. We’d be halfway there before anyone knew we were gone.”

My eyes were wide. He was considering this? He was considering giving up his life here to spend the rest of it with me? When he saw my shocked look, his face fell. “Oh, I didn’t mean to assume you’d be ready to leave your family. I know leaving mine would be hard. I shouldn’t have assumed. What was I thinking?”

“I do. I want to go with you. I’d miss my parents, but I can’t imagine being without you. I, um, I love you.” I bit my lip as the words hung in the air for a second.

He pulled me into an embrace. The kiss that followed my declaration may have been the most intense kiss in the history of the world. Every part of me felt alive and I had no doubt that I was doing the right thing. It would be hard leaving my parents, but living without Dante would be impossible.

“I love you too my Angel. I never thought I could feel this way. I was going to tell you earlier, but I was afraid to admit it. You’re the first non-relative that I’ve ever said it to.”

My heart was racing again. This time out of joy rather than fear. We kissed again until I pulled back. “Should we go now? It’s almost two in morning.”

“No baby. We wouldn’t get far. I need resources. We have to go tomorrow night. You can pack a few things. We need to travel light. I’ll bring money and we can buy anything you might need. It’s not going to be forever, once we get things straightened out here, maybe there will be a way we can come back.”

“Wait! What about our dads?”

“We can leave messages for them from a disposable cell once we are on the lake warning them.”

“Do you think they’ll believe us?” I asked. “Like you said, Vito is one of his most trusted men. And why would your dad believe you? They would think it was some sort of trick. He might even think my dad still had you or even that we’d killed you!”

“We’ll just have to talk to them long enough to convince them. We have to make them listen, but we can’t do it from here. Even if they don’t believe us about having traitors, their guards will be up, and they will be looking for tricks. That should be enough. They’re grown men and I have to think that they can take care of themselves. They chose this. I chose this, but you…” He grabbed my chin and lifted it slightly. “You didn’t choose this. You didn’t choose the mess I’ve made. I have to make sure you’re safe.”

I leaned into his hand. “I did choose this though. I chose you. I’m choosing you.”

He leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips. “I’m a lucky man. I do have one condition though.”

“What?” I asked.

“You have to let me go by myself first. If I get caught leaving, I don’t want you with me. I’ll tell them that I escaped myself, or implicate Vito. It doesn’t matter, what does is that you’d be safe. I have to get a few things before we go. You can wait until I’m gone, and if no one notices, you can leave and we will meet at the dock at midnight. Baby, are you sure, you want to do this? Our families might not forgive us.”

“I’m sure.”

He smiled. “I’m going to need my sister’s help. She’ll be able to get me the things that I’ll need.”

“Should we call her?”

“They took my phone Baby.”

“We can use my phone,” I offered.

“Yeah, but I don’t know her phone number. She programmed it in like two years ago. I’ve never actually dialed her number.”

We were silent for a moment, each of us trying to think of a solution.

“Every evening she jogs in the park. You could catch her there.”

“Won’t someone be with her?”

“Rita’s not that type of girl. She’d never let somebody take care of her. She’ll be by herself but don’t let that fool you. She’s tough. Just tell her I need help and to get the blue duffel bag from my closet. Have her meet me down the street from here at 10 o’clock tomorrow night”

“Dante, there’s no way she’ll believe me. I wouldn’t believe me.”

“Can you go get some paper? Maybe she’ll recognize my handwriting if I write a note.”

“I’ll do better than that. I’ll go get my phone, so you can record a message on there. That way she’ll see it’s real and she’ll help you.”

“Us - she’ll help us.”

I smiled at his words at how easily he called us, well, us.

“And Baby, if at any point it seems dangerous, just forget it. We can go without the bag. It’ll just be a hell of a lot easier if we have it. It has my passport for one, and a fake. Do you have one?”

“A fake passport?”

Dante chuckled. “No, I meant a real one, unless you have a fake one, of course.”

“I do have one. It’s in my dad’s safe though. It’s with all of my papers. I could see if I could get it.”

Dante was already shaking his head as I spoke. “No, that’s way too dangerous. He’d suspect something.”

Dante was right. There would be no real reason to ask for my passport.

“I’m sure we can get you one if we need it. That’s why I need my sister to help me get that bag.”

“Let me go get my phone,” I said, giving him a quick kiss and leaving him for the second time that night. There wasn’t anyone awake in the house, and I was able to return in less than five minutes.

After returning with the phone, I opened up the camera and handed it to Dante.

He pushed the red button and started talking into the phone. “Hey Rita, it’s me. I know this has to be strange, but I didn’t know how else to contact you. I’m here with Annalisa. She and I have spent a lot of time together and, well, we’ve fallen for each other. I know it sounds crazy, but I love her.” He looked away from the phone for a second and smiled at me. “And she’s going to help me escape tomorrow night. That’s Friday. I need your help though. There’s the blue duffle bag in my closet. Can you grab it and meet me about a quarter mile south of the Morelli household at…Uh…eleven.? Thank you so much Rita. I’ll explain more when I see you. Please don’t tell anyone. See you tomorrow.” He pressed the button again and handed me the phone.

I held it tightly. Even though I was terrified for him, and a bit scared for myself too, I couldn’t stop smiling. He’d already told me he loved me but hearing him tell someone else made it all the more real.

We kissed for a while before I left him for the third time that night. I could barely sleep. When I woke in the morning I felt awful, which wasn’t a surprise. I’d been living on three hours sleep for a week. The afternoon naps had helped but it just wasn’t the same. My stomach was upset, a ball of nerves. So many things could go wrong. I felt like I was going to throw up.

There was a lot riding on me getting the message to Rita. Even though I felt like sleeping or at the very least, laying on the bathroom floor with my head against the toilet, I knew I had to get up and out of the house. It wasn’t until I went to leave I realized that I had no way of getting out of the house without Donnie tagging along. I needed Lina’s help. Besides, I had to tell her I was leaving.

“Are you okay?” she asked sitting next to me on my bed.

“Yeah, no...well yeah. My stomach is upset, but that’s because I’m all nerves,” I said, drinking the coffee that I’d grabbed from the kitchen as well as the breakfast biscuits.

“Nerves about what? Big night with Dante?” She didn’t wait for me to answer. “Marco said that if everything goes as planned and he thinks it will, that I can go home tomorrow, which means that Dante will be leaving. Have you and he talked about seeing each other after he’s released?”

My stomach was settling with the food and with talking about it to Lina. “Yeah, we have.” I took her hand. “Lina, something really shady is going on. Last night I heard Vito talking. He was talking on the phone to someone, I don’t know who, about killing Dante, and then killing my dad and Dante’s dad. He even said something about killing two loyal guys. I have to think that one of them is Marco.”

“Marco?” Lina asked with her mouth open wide.

“I don’t know for sure. Vito didn’t say his name, but either way, he’s going to make sure that Dante doesn’t get out of here alive. He wants to start a war, and when it’s over he and whoever he’s in with are going to take over.”

“Are you going to tell your dad?”

I shook my head. “I can’t. He won’t believe me, and then he’ll wonder what I was doing up, and it might wreck the deal for Dante. I can’t take that chance.”

“Then what are you going to do? I have to warn Marco.”

“Dante and I are going to run away together. I’m going to help him escape tonight, and meet him at the docs at midnight. You can wait till morning, till they discover that Dante is gone and tell Marco everything. He will probably listen to you.”

“So you’ve really got to go?” she asked, tears in her eyes.

“Yeah, at least for a little bit. But I get to be with him.”

Lina gave me a huge hug. “Then it’s worth it because I know you’ll be happy.”

“There’s one problem though,” I said, holding up my phone. “I have a message on this that I need to get to Dante’s sister this evening. I can’t figure a way out of this house without Donnie coming with me.”

“Donnie? That’s easy,” Lina said. “I’ve got the perfect plan.”

Donnie played into it just like she said he would. He’d come up to me in the kitchen in the late afternoon. “Are you all right Annalisa?” he asked when he found me with my head on the table.

“No, not really. Female troubles. Lina is going to run to the store for me in a bit.” I’d learned a long time ago, if you mentioned “female” stuff, most men never asked anything more.

His brow furrowed. “But didn’t that just end?”

“Honestly Donnie, the way you keep track of that is kinda creepy.” I was playing the part Lina had suggested, but it really was creepy how he knew these things.

“Hey,” Donnie said, putting up his hands. “It’s not like I try to, it’s just that you and your mom... well your dad is my boss, and once a month he gets all cranky when he can’t get any.”

“Ewwww! Donnie!”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, but anyway, that’s how I know, cause last week he was a bear, but then yesterday...”

“Donnie!”

“Sorry.”

“Anyway, I’m going to bed. I’m not coming down for dinner.”

“Fine,” he said walking from the room.

It had been as easy as Lina had said it would. Wearing her sunglasses and scarf, no one looked twice at me as I drove through the gates in her car. Earlier in the day, I’d googled Dante’s sister Rita, so I would know what she looked like. I thought finding her in the park would be impossible, but I picked a bench along the main path and waited. It seemed like the most likely place to wait. I really wasn’t sure what I’d do if I didn’t find her. I sat there, my leg bouncing nervously, holding my phone in my hand.

Finally, I saw her go running past me, wearing headphones. She’d stopped at the water fountain and was refilling her water bottle when I’d approached her.

“Rita?” I asked walking up behind her.

She spun around in surprise, then her eyes narrowed. Apparently, she recognized me. “What the fuck do you want? Where the hell is my brother?”

“I have a message from him,” I blurted thrusting my phone at her.

She seemed surprised but took my phone. She pushed play on it. Her face was hard, cold. Maybe she was expecting to see him being tortured or something. Instead, she saw him sitting on a bed in a dark room.

I watched her face as the message played. I’d listened to the message a few times while waiting for her. Her jaw dropped at his admission that he was in love with me.

She brought her head up, this time appraising me, as she looked me over head to toe.

I felt small under her gaze.

There was no welcome hug, no change in her demeanor at all. She simply said, “Tell him I’ll be there.”

“Thanks,” I said rushing away, relieved she believed him and not wanting to say more in case I’d somehow fuck it up. I got halfway to Lina’s car before I realized that I’d left my phone with her. Feeling like an idiot, I turned back to get it. She’d walked about fifty yards from the water fountain and was talking on her phone with her back to me.

“You won’t believe this,” I heard her say into her phone as I approached. She was still holding mine, replaying the message one more time. “Dante fucked his way out of another one Jimmy. He’s convinced Franco’s daughter that he’s in love with her. In her defense, he sounded so convincing I almost believed it, almost. Can you imagine Dante with only one woman? I bet he fucks half a dozen women after she helps him escape tonight.” She started laughing.

The tears fell involuntarily from my eyes.

I stood there frozen. Thoughts rushed through my head. Had he been using me? It had seemed so real, and it had been my idea, hadn’t it? I turned away from her, needing to get out of there. My head spun as I headed back to the car without my phone. There was no way I was going near her again, even if she did have my phone.

I wanted to go and ask Dante about it, but there wasn’t time. And what would he say anyway? He’d tell me he loved me and she was wrong. He’d say that if it were the truth and he’d say that if it were a lie. I started to doubt everything.

I moved in a daze through traffic nearly forgetting about going to the pharmacy where I was picking up the fake supplies I’d told Donnie Lina was getting. It seemed stupid, but Lina said I needed to come back with a bag. I wondered if I should just skip it, but thinking about anything was difficult, and I couldn’t seem to focus on anything for more than a few seconds.

Deciding on following as much of the plan and not wanting to think about anything, I pulled into the pharmacy parking lot. I wandered the store for a few minutes.

As I stood in the feminine hygiene section trying to forget Rita’s words, tears streamed down my face. I was so emotional, maybe I really was about to get my period. I did some mental math. I remembered I’d had it for Lina’s birthday last month because she wanted to go dancing and I felt kinda crampy, but we went anyway. So that was the fifteenth, and so.... wait... Donnie was right, I was supposed to get it last week. I’d never been late ever. I paced the aisle redoing the math. It was hard to focus on anything, let alone think straight.

When I’d come to the same conclusion, I stopped walking, staring right at the pregnancy tests. I totally missed the irony of how they were located right next to the tampons and right below the condoms, two things I wouldn’t be needing if I were pregnant. Without really thinking, I grabbed one and headed for the checkout.

Somehow, the idea that I might be pregnant had cleared my head some, giving me the opportunity to try to make sense of things. I began to process all of the new information and made some decisions.

First, I was going to let Dante go. If he loved me, he’d be waiting for me at the docks. If he didn’t, and it was all a trick, he wouldn’t be there, I could go home. I’d confess being tricked to my father and tell him about Vito. I’d feel stupid and heartbroken, but at least I’d know. There was no way to know for sure how he felt about me if I didn’t set him free. Even if he didn’t love me, I loved him and I couldn’t stand the thought of him being killed.

And second, if I was pregnant, I wasn’t going to tell him. I didn’t want him feeling obligated to be with me. I didn’t want that to be the reason he showed up at the docks at midnight. I’d always wonder if he did it for me, or for the baby. If he showed up, I’d tell him. If not, I’d raise the baby on my own. That was the third thing I’d decided. I wanted this baby.

It wasn’t that I wanted to be pregnant. I sure hadn’t set out to get pregnant. I wasn’t married. I wasn’t really even with Dante. I hadn’t finished school and I didn’t have my own place. I wasn’t sure how I’d do it financially, though I knew my parents would help out. Yet despite all of that, I knew that if I were pregnant, I wouldn’t end the pregnancy or give the baby up for adoption. Despite how Dante truly felt for me, I loved him, and I would love a baby if we had one.

Twenty minutes after leaving the pharmacy and making some potentially life changing decisions, I arrived back home. I put the scarf and glasses back on then entered the house with the bag from the pharmacy. It was all for nothing since no one even noticed me coming back in the house. I went up to my room and into my private bathroom. After I read the instructions on the box, which seemed simple enough, I was peeing on a stick. Leaving it on the bathroom counter, I went to lay on my bed to wait the ten minutes the box said it took.

As the clock ticked by, the reality of the situation started to hit me. I’d have to tell my parents, who thought I was a virgin. Dante would find out, and I’d be the butt of so many jokes. I’d have disgraced my family. Rita’s words and her face played over and over in my head. I felt the tears start to fall again. Ten minutes had passed, but I didn’t get up to go look. I was afraid to.

“How did it go?” Lina asked coming into my room,

I was wiping the tears from my eyes, having just decided that I needed to stop crying and go look.

“That bad?”

The moment I opened my mouth to speak, I started to cry again. “I found Rita...and showed her...and she said she’d come tonight to pick him up.”

“Well, that’s good right?” Lina asked, sitting next to me on the bed, clearly confused as to why I was crying.

“Yeah, but I was so nervous I left my phone there. When I went back to get it, she was on her phone talking to someone else. She was laughing at me...about me. She said she knew Dante could fuck his way out of another bad situation.”

Lina put her arm around me and hugged me tight.

“You should have seen how she looked at me, like I was nothing.”

“Wait, she knows you overheard her talking about you?”

“No. That was when she’d watched the video. She looked at me like she couldn’t believe he was in love with someone like me.”

“Well, she’s a stupid cunt,” Lina said pulling back.

I gasped at her word.

“Well it’s true. She has no fucking clue what has gone on between you two. I don’t really either, but I know how happy you’ve been.” She hugged me again for a long time. “And,” she said letting me go. “If he is fucking with you, then it’s his loss and you got some great sex out of it. You can forget all about him and move on.”

I started to cry again. No matter what, if he loved me or not, if I was pregnant, I couldn’t just forget about him. There would be a constant reminder every day.

Lina mistook my crying. “Awww, hun. Don’t cry. I know you don’t believe me, but you would get over him. If I told you how many guys...well… and even Marco. I mean, how long has it been? We still don’t live together. I’m...well, I’m his...never mind this isn’t about me. Trust me, if he is fucking with you, you’ll get over him, but you don’t even know that he has been. Last night you were on cloud nine. He’s done nothing to change that right?”

I shook my head.

“So you’re basing this all on what his sister said?”

I nodded.

“She’s a stupid cunt, like I said. She doesn’t know what the fuck she’s talking about.”

“She knows him better than I do.”

Lina raised her eyebrows. “And why is that? Because she’s his sister?”

“Well, yeah.”

She shook her head and rolled her eyes a little bit. “And Donnie is like your brother and so is Marco right?”

I nodded. “Yeah. They know everything about me.”

She raised her eyebrows.

I laughed. “Well, I guess not this.”

“See? It’s all gonna be okay.”

At those words, I started sobbing again. “I might be pregnant,” I blurted out.

“Didn’t he use protection?”

“He didn’t have any. They took all of his stuff,” I answered. “I told him I was on the pill.”

“When did you go on the pill?” She tilted her head.

I felt myself blushing. “I um... I hope you don’t mind, but I used some of the ones you left here.”

She looked confused.

“You know. You left a few of those packs with just like one row in them when you stayed here last summer.”

Her eyes went wide. “The green ones? Bella! Oh, my God! Those are just sugar pills. And you can’t just take one and be protected, you have to…” She stopped talking when I’d started to cry again.

I thought I couldn’t feel dumber, but somehow I did.

“Oh, I guess it doesn’t matter now. Are you pregnant?”

“I don’t know,” I sobbed.” I’m too scared to look.” I looked over at my bathroom.

“You took a test?”

I nodded. “Yeah, but I haven’t looked.”

“I understand being scared, but no matter what, you’re going to be alright, baby or no baby, Dante or no Dante.”

“I know.”

“Good, cause you’ve got me and a great family.”

“I know I do.”

“But you love him right?”

“I do, so much.”

“And he loves you too right?”

“I thought he did. I don’t know now. Maybe it was a trick.”

Annalisa walked to the bathroom and picked up the pregnancy test. She looked down at it and then back at me. “Annalisa Morelli. He does love you. You’ve got great instincts.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her compliment.

“And you know what else, you’re going to be a great mother.” She handed me the test.

I stared down at the word “pregnant.”

I was pregnant, and I was happy about it. I wondered how Dante would feel. I wanted to tell him, but I wasn’t sure that I should. I’d have a few minutes with him when I let him out, but I needed to know if he wanted me, not the baby.

As if she could read my mind, Lina asked, “Are you going to tell Dante?”

“I—I don’t think so.”

“Good. I don’t think you should. Not until you’re away,” she said.

“That’s what I was thinking. I don’t want him to meet me at the dock out of obligation.”

Her nose crinkled up. “You’re still on that? Damn, his sister really got to you. I was thinking that you shouldn’t tell him because if he’s like the guys I know, if he’s like Marco, he’d go all chivalrous, and think that it’s too dangerous or some shit.”

“I hadn’t even thought of that,” I admitted.

“Look, I know you’re all nerves and this isn’t something you expected, but neither was meeting Dante. Get some rest. You’re going to need it for tonight. You need to take care of yourself and the baby.”

“I can’t rest, I need to pack.”

“I’ll help you pack. You’re not bringing a lot are you?”

“No, just a small bag. Dante said we can get everything we need once we’re there.”

Lina helped me pack a few things and then I laid down to rest. She woke me at 9:30 and we said our goodbyes. She pressed a piece of paper into my hand. “This is my phone number for when you get to a phone, and this is an email address I made this afternoon. You can contact me there if you don’t think it’s safe to call.”

With one final hug, I left her and made my way downstairs. She promised to keep Marco occupied while I went to the basement.

It was a few minutes before ten when I punched in the code. Dante was sitting on the edge of the bed looking anxious. “Did you see Rita?”

I nodded.

“And you showed her the video? Did she believe you? Is she getting my stuff and coming to get me?”

I didn’t want to lie to him, so I responded simply, “Everything is set, but you have to go now.” I opened the door and checked the basement. No one was there, nor on the stairs. I entered the second code to get up and out of the basement and walked him up the stairs.

Right before we hit the top of the stairs, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me hard. “I love you baby girl. I’ll see you in two hours. Be safe.”

I hugged him tightly for what might have been the last time and whispered, “I love you too. Head off to the left, go through the bushes and then to the street. Please be safe.”

He gave me one final kiss and with that, he disappeared out the back door and into the darkness. The moment he was gone the insecurities crept back. He was literally gone. I’d helped him escape. Sure, he’d said that if he were caught he’d say he did it himself or that Vito helped him, but if it were all a scam, he’d tell everyone that he fucked me and tricked me into letting him go. I’d be the laughing stock, so would my father and I’d be broken hearted, not to mention the baby. I put my hands on my stomach and smiled. No...no...it was nerves. He loved me. He would be there I reassured myself.

I closed the back door and snuck up to my room. No one saw me, and from what I heard going on in Marco’s room, he wouldn’t be checking on anything for a long time. Midnight was our magical number to meet up, but in reality, if Dante hadn’t been caught by now, he was home free. Sure, we had a security system, but it was for the house. We had hedges and a fence, but nothing he couldn’t climb. He was heading off to the side yard where there were few lights. Most likely, he was waiting in the bushes somewhere out there for his sister unless she was already there. If she was, he was in her car and moving safely away.

I paced for an hour. The clock seemed to be going backward. It wasn’t that far of a drive to the docks. I wanted to get there early, but I couldn’t risk it. First of all, every minute I was out of the house was a minute someone could realize I was gone. Second, someone could see me at the dock. It was night, and probably vacant, but if any of my father’s men were there, they’d call him immediately. If they saw me with Dante, they’d probably think he’d kidnapped me and shoot him on sight.

I wondered what my parents would think when they woke in the morning to find me gone. Would they think that he kidnapped me and forced me to help him escape? We’d be long gone, so they couldn’t punish him, but they wouldn’t know that. My father would think that they were keeping me prisoner somewhere. I imagined the war, the blood shed that would follow. I had to at least try to prevent it. Taking a piece of paper from my desk, I wrote a note.

---

Dear Mom and Dad,

I’m so sorry, but I love him. I hope you can understand and one day you’ll forgive me. Please don’t try to find me. I’ll contact you when I can.

Love,

Annalisa

---

I considered warning him, but I had no way of knowing who would find the note first. What if I warned him about Vito and Vito was the one to find the note. He wouldn’t give it to my parents. I even had to wonder about Marco and Donnie. Were they in it with Vito? They couldn’t be. They had to be the two guys he was talking about that he couldn’t turn.

I left the note on my bed, grabbed my duffle bag, and sneaked downstairs. Leaving with my car was going to be impossible. Whoever was up and on watch would stop me for sure.

Lina, on the other hand, was allowed to leave. Vito was the one on duty, which was perfect if it did all go south, because my father would believe he let Dante go. He was in the living room watching porn on his phone. I walked past him into the kitchen at the back door and just like Lina had suggested, shouted loudly, “You’re an asshole Marco. I’m going home.” I quickly stepped out and slammed the door before Vito could turn around.

My heart was racing as I moved quickly off the porch and to Lina’s car. I jumped in and started it up. Just as Vito was coming to the back door, I peeled out of the driveway.

There had been a risk that my parents heard, but they would believe, like Vito, that I was Lina. The only person who would know it wasn’t her, was fucking her and far too distracted to hear anything going on downstairs.

I kept waiting for someone to follow me, for there to be lights behind me, but none ever came. The entire thing was pretty much uneventful.

The dock was dark too. I pulled into the parking lot and turned off my lights. I looked around and didn’t see anyone. Had he stood me up?

I looked at the clock in the car. I was early, fifteen minutes early. I didn’t see any activity. Each minute that ticked by, I doubted even more. When it was five of twelve, I decided I had to get out and go see. What if Dante was down there, somehow, waiting for me? He might have been here a long time, wondering why I wasn’t coming.

I walked down to the dock cautiously. Standing under the amber glow of the dock lighting, I fidgeted nervously. I wondered how long I should wait for him when a man stepped from the shadows and walked up to me.

“Annalisa?” he asked. My heart was in my throat. Had something happened to Dante? “Where’s Dante?” I could barely form the words I was so nervous.

A slow grin spread over the man’s face. “Dante isn’t coming. Well he’s probably coming all over some slut right now, but he’s not coming here. I was sent to take care of you.”

My heart sank and my world started to spin. This couldn’t be happening. I started to back away from him but hit a wall of shipping crates. I gasped when he pulled out a gun. Dante using me to get free was one thing, but killing me? Why did he have to do that? The emotional pain I felt at this moment was so strong I’d have welcomed death, but it wasn’t just about me. I had a baby to think of.

“Don’t shoot,” I whispered, holding out my hands in front of me, as if that would stop a bullet.

“I’m not going to shoot you,” he sneered. “Well, as long as you cooperate. Fair is fair. Your father had Dante for a while, now we get to have you. I bet your father would pay quite a lot of money to get you back.” He touched my cheek making my skin crawl. “Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun first.” His hand went to my top and he began to unbutton it exposing my bra.

I sobbed as he slid his hand inside the cup of my bra and fondled my breast, squeezing my nipple. “Please don’t hurt me.”

“Oh, this won’t hurt. It’s going to feel really nice.” He pulled his hand out of my bra and started unbuckling his belt. “Yeah...real nice.”