Claimed by the Capo

Fire and Glass

Text: Congratulations. We need to talk. - V

Matteo stared at the text for 5 seconds.

Then he deleted it. Blocked the number. Threw the phone across the room.

It hit the wall and cracked.Lily sat up in bed, sheet pulled to her chest. “What did it say?”

“Nothing that matters,” he lied.

“Matteo.”

“It was my father. From jail. He said congratulations.”Her blood went cold. “How does he know?”

“I don’t know. Cameras. Guards. Snitches. He’s a Russo. He always knows.”He got up. Started pacing. Barefoot. Sweatpants. No shirt.

“This changes everything,” he said.

“How?”

“Because now he has leverage. A real pregnancy. A real heir. He’ll use it to get out. To get to us.”Lily put a hand on her stomach. Still flat. Still just hers.

“I’m not afraid of him,” she said. But her voice shook.

“You should be.”24 HOURS LATERThe news broke before breakfast.

DON VINCENZO RUSSO CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY, FRAUD, AND ATTEMPTED MURDER.

Mugshot on every channel.

Elena, the lawyer, called at 7am. “It’s good. But it’s not over. He’ll make bail. He’ll make deals. We need to go public with the pregnancy on our terms. Control it.”“No,” Matteo said. “She’s not a press release.”

“She’s a target, Matteo. The sooner the world knows she’s protected, the safer she is.”He hung up.

Lily was at the window, drinking tea. No coffee anymore.

“You heard her,” she said.

“I heard her.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I want to get you out of the city.”She turned. “No.”

“Lily—”

“I’m not running. Not again. Not while there’s a baby.”He crossed the room and pulled her to him. “I’m trying to protect you.”

“Then protect me here. With me. Not without me.”He kissed her forehead. “You’re stubborn.”

“You’re welcome.”THE LEAKThey didn’t get to choose how it came out. Friday night. Gala footage leaked.

Matteo at the mic: “She’s pregnant. With my child. And I chose her.”

Cut to Lily’s face. Shocked. Then steady.

Cut to Vincenzo across the room, face like stone. By Saturday morning it was everywhere.

RUSSO HEIR CONFIRMS PREGNANCY. FATHER INDICTED.

Comment sections were a war zone.

Gold digger.

She’s brave.

This baby is in danger. Lily didn’t read them.

Matteo did. All of them. That night he couldn’t sleep. He sat in the dark, watching her breathe.

His hand on her stomach.

“Hey,” he whispered. “You in there? Be good to your mom, okay?”She stirred. “Who are you talking to?”

“The baby.”

She smiled in the dark. “You’re already a dad.”

“I’m trying.”THE ATTEMPTIt happened 3 days later.

Grocery store. 2pm. Broad daylight.

Lily needed fruit. She was craving peaches.

Matteo said no. She went anyway. With 2 guards.They were in aisle 4.

A man bumped into her cart. “Sorry, miss.”

Then he grabbed her arm. Yanked. Lily screamed.

The guards moved. Too slow.

A knife flashed. Then a shot.

The man dropped. Matteo was there. He’d followed her. He always followed her.

Gun in his hand. Face blank.

“Get her out,” he told the guards. In the car, Lily was shaking.

“He had a knife.”

“I know.”

“He said ‘tell Vincenzo I said hi.’”Matteo punched the dashboard. Once. Twice.

“f**k!”

“Matteo, stop.”

“I almost lost you. I almost lost—” He looked at her stomach. She took his hand. Put it on her.

“I’m here. We’re here.”He broke. Right there. Head in her lap.

“I can’t do this if something happens to you,” he whispered.

“Then don’t let it.”THE SAFE HOUSE AGAINThey went back upstate.

Different house this time. No address. No phones.

Just them and 4 guards in the woods.For 2 weeks they lived like ghosts.

Matteo cooked. Badly.

Lily read. Napped. Threw up in the mornings.

They talked about names.

He liked James. She liked Nora.

They compromised on neither.At night he held her. Hand always on her stomach.

“Do you think it knows we’re talking?”

“I think it knows your voice,” she said.One night she woke up to him not in bed.

Found him on the porch. Rain. Cigarette he didn’t smoke.

“What’s wrong?”

“I got a letter. From him.”

“Vincenzo?”

“He says if I give him 20% of the company, he’ll call off the men. He’ll sign over full custody after the baby’s born. He’ll disappear.”Lily sat next to him. “And if you don’t?”

“He says he’ll make sure neither of us see the baby turn 1.”She was quiet. “What did you say?”

“I burned it.”

“Good.”He looked at her. “I’m scared, Lily.”

“Me too.”

“But I’m more scared of giving in to him.”

“Then don’t.”He kissed her. Hard. Desperate.

“Come inside,” he said.THE NIGHTThe house was cold. Fireplace going.

They didn’t talk.

He undressed her like she was fragile. Like she was the only thing real.

His hands shook.

“Lily,” he said. “Tell me if it’s too much.”

“It’s not.”He laid her on the rug in front of the fire.

This time was different.

No anger. No fear.

Just need. He kissed her stomach first. Long.

“Hi,” he whispered to it.

Lily laughed and cried at the same time. “You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m in love,” he said. And meant it.When he came into her it was slow. Deep.

He watched her face the whole time.

Memorized it.

“Look at me,” he said.

“I am.”

“Say my name.”

“Matteo.”

“Again.”

“Matteo.”He came apart with her name on his lips.

After, he didn’t move. Stayed inside her, forehead to hers.

“I’m not letting him hurt you,” he said.

“I know.”

“I’m not letting him hurt us.”

“I know.”They fell asleep on the floor.

In the morning, the fire was out.

But they were still warm.THE CALLMonday. Back in the city.

Elena: “Bail hearing is Wednesday. He’ll get out.”

Matteo: “Then we need to be ready.”Wednesday. Courthouse.

Vincenzo walked out in a suit. Smiling.

He looked right at the cameras. Right at Matteo and Lily in the back.

And he mouthed two words:

Mine too.Lily felt sick.

Matteo put his arm around her. “Ignore him.”But he couldn’t.

That night, another text. New number.

Picture attached.

It was Lily. At the grocery store. 2 seconds before the knife.

Caption: Next time I won’t miss.Matteo showed it to no one.

He called his head of security. “Triple it. 24/7. No one gets near her.”Lily found him at 3am in the nursery they hadn’t built yet.

Empty room. Crib in a box.

“What are you doing?”

“Making sure he never touches this room,” he said.

She sat next to him on the floor. “He won’t.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you won’t let him.”He pulled her into his lap. “I’m so in love with you it hurts.”

“I’m so in love with you it scares me.”THE PLANThey decided Friday.

They weren’t hiding.

They were fighting. Press conference. Monday.

Lily and Matteo. Together.

They would tell the truth. The contract. The threats. The pregnancy.

They would ask for police protection.

They would dare Vincenzo to try something with the whole world watching.Sunday night, they packed. Not to run. To go on stage.

Lily picked a blue dress. For the baby.

Matteo wore a suit. No gun. Not this time.In bed that night, she couldn’t sleep.

“Matteo?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you afraid?”

“Terrified.”

“Of what?”

“That I’ll fail you. That I’ll fail them.”She took his hand. Put it on her stomach.

“You won’t. Because you’re not alone.”He kissed her.

It started soft. Grateful.

Then it changed.

Urgent.

Like they both needed to remember they were alive before tomorrow.He moved over her. Careful.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered.

“You won’t.”It was slow. Deep. Intimate in a way it hadn’t been before.

Because now it wasn’t just about them.

It was about the life between them.He whispered to her the whole time.

“You’re perfect. You’re ours. I’ve got you. I’ve got you both.”

She cried. He kissed the tears. After, he stayed. Inside her. Then on top of her. Then curled around her.

His hand never left her stomach.At 4am she woke up to go to the bathroom.

Came back and he was awake.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” She paused. “Matteo. I feel different.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. Fuller.”He smiled in the dark. “That’s the baby.”

“Yeah,” she said. And believed it.They fell asleep like that.MONDAY MORNING8am. Press conference in 3 hours.

Lily was in the bathroom.

Matteo was making coffee. She screamed. He was through the door in a second.

She was on the floor. Pants down. Test in her hand.

But this time it wasn’t a pregnancy test.

It was a blood test. From the doctor yesterday.

Results printed.She was holding it up.

“Matteo,” she said. Voice shaking.

“What? What is it?” She looked at him. Eyes wide.

“I’m 8 weeks pregnant.” He froze.

“8 weeks,” she repeated. “That means... that means it happened before the safe house. Before the gala. Before any of this.”The room tilted.

Matteo dropped to his knees.

“8 weeks,” he said. “That’s... that’s the night of the brunch fight.”Lily nodded. Tears falling.

“The night we fought. The night I ran. The night you found me.”He put both hands on her face.

“You’re having my baby,” he said. Like he couldn’t believe it.

“We’re having a baby,” she corrected. He kissed her. Hard. Then pulled back.

“We have to tell them. At the press conference.”

“I know.” His phone buzzed.

Elena: We’re live in 2 hours. You ready? Matteo looked at Lily. At the test. At her stomach.

Then at the text from Vincenzo still on his phone. He stood. Pulled her up.

“Yeah,” he said. “We’re ready.”But as they walked out, another text came in.

New number.

Don’t do it. Or the baby pays. - VLily saw it over his shoulder.

She stopped walking.

Matteo stopped too. Outside, the city was waiting.

Cameras. Reporters. His father.

And inside her, a secret that was 8 weeks old.Matteo looked down at her.

“What do we do?” he asked. Lily put her hand over his on her stomach.

“We tell the truth,” she said.

“And we fight.”