After I Lost Our Child, the Billionaire Begged on His Knees

Eight years into my relationship with Moretti Group CEO Dante Moretti, I sat hidden in a confessional at St. Michael's and listened to him agree to marry another woman. Vittorio Bellini—Sofia Bellini's father—spoke low from the other side of the wooden door. "Sofia's been a widow for four years. Matteo Romano pulled you out of that crash, and the one thing he asked before he died was that you look after her. The press trails her and Nico Romano everywhere. Are you going to let people talk about her for the rest of her life?" Dante was quiet a moment. "The wedding's next month. As far as the world's concerned, she'll be Mrs. Moretti." "And Elena Rossi? She's been with you eight years. She's carrying your child." "Elena wants me, not a title," he said, even. "She knows I owe Matteo my life. She'll understand why I have to do this." I looked down at the marriage papers in my hands. Two hours earlier, Dante's lawyer had asked me to come to the church—said the priest had agreed to do a private ceremony, just the four of us. The pages crumpled under my tightening fingers. I had to brace a hand against the wooden wall of the confessional to stay on my feet. My fingers had gone as cold as if I'd held them in ice water. The baby fluttered faintly inside me. And just like that, I was back on that snowy night eight years ago. I'd been Dante's assistant only three months then. Matteo had shoved him clear of the burning car after the crash, and hadn't made it out himself. I stayed at Dante's side in the hospital for seven days and seven nights. His uncle was making a play for the Moretti Group at the time. Dante gripped my hand and said, "When I take the company back, I'll let the whole world know you're my family." At first we hid it because he was fighting his uncle for control. Even after he won, he kept asking me to wait a little longer. So the grand ceremony being planned wasn't mine. It was for Dante and Sofia. I was just the woman he kept in the shadows. I pushed the door open. The wedding planner was unfolding a seating chart. Up by the altar, Dante was helping Sofia pick out a bouquet. She held a cluster of white roses to her chest and asked if they looked good on her. "They suit you," he said. Sunlight poured down from high in the dome and fell across the two of them. The planner spotted the crumpled papers in my hand and smiled. "Would you like me to book your ceremony as well?" I slid the papers back into my purse. "No, thank you. I'm not getting married today." Dante turned. The composure dropped off his face, and he came after me, out of the church. "Elena, what are you doing here?" "I came to marry you." I looked up at him. "Seems your lawyer sent the invitation to the wrong person." His brow pulled tight. He took my arm and drew me behind a stone pillar. His palm was cool, faintly damp from Sofia's bouquet. "I was going to tell you tonight. Sofia's parents are getting old. They think the only way to secure her future is to make her Mrs. Moretti. Matteo put her in my hands before he died. I can't let a dead man down." "So you chose to let me down instead." Only after it was out did I hear how my voice shook. I took a breath to steady it, but the baby moved again, and that tiny motion nearly broke me. "It's only a public ceremony." His voice went soft—the same way it always did when he was coaxing me into giving in. "Everyone I trust knows exactly what you mean to me. You're the one I've always loved. You're the only woman I've ever wanted children with." Sofia called to him from inside the church. He glanced back, then pressed a black key into my palm. "The lake house is ready. Stay there until the wedding. Once it's over, I'll take you to Rosemont. Haven't you always wanted to see your grandmother's hometown?" It was exile, not a getaway. I refused the key. "I'm not living there." He bent to kiss my forehead. I turned away. "You're upset. We'll talk when you've cooled off." And with that, he went back into the church. Sofia slid her arm through his like it belonged there. Just before the doors swung shut, I caught her looking at me, a smile on her lips.