Dante's expression stiffened for a split second before he bounced Carina in his arms, playing it off. That smile came a half-second too fast, the one that always preceded whatever calculated thing left his mouth next. "Uh-oh, Mommy's making her scary face. She's gonna eat you up!"
Carina played right along, shrieking, "Run! The ugly monster is so scary!"
The door clicked shut. The house went silent. Somewhere below, one of the soldiers posted at the east wing coughed once and then there was nothing.
My phone chimed. A notification from my assistant: the blood verification results from Dr. Marchetti.
I scrolled straight to the bottom.
Black ink on white paper. The conclusion was unambiguous: the maternal relationship between Valentina Montecarlo and Carina was not supported.
I stared at those words until my hands and feet went numb with cold.
The little girl I had raised like a princess for five years was not mine.
Then where was the baby I'd spent three days and nights in labor for, the one I'd nearly died delivering when the amniotic fluid embolism hit?
——
My fingertip hovered over the screen.