Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Wanted the Heir
Theo came home at 2:13 in the morning.
Sienna ran to him despite Adrian telling her not to.
Her brother was bruised, furious, and alive.
He hugged her so tightly Adrian had to remind him she was pregnant.
Theo released her immediately.
“You're what?”
Sienna blinked.
“You didn't know?”
“I was kidnapped before the family newsletter.”
She laughed.
It came out as a sob.
Theo looked at Adrian.
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“And you're happy?”
Adrian looked at Sienna.
“More than I know how to explain.”
Theo considered him.
“Okay.”
That was apparently enough.
Corrado was brought to another secure location.
His testimony, combined with Sienna’s recording and Rocco’s ledger, was enough to expose years of conspiracy.
But Alessandra had vanished.
Her reason for wanting Sienna alive became clear the following morning.
Luca found a hidden amendment to Vittorio’s trust.
The heir did not need to be an adult.
If Adrian died while leaving a minor child, a trustee would control the child’s voting interest until age twenty-five.
The trustee named in the document was the child’s nearest living Valente relative approved by the family council.
Alessandra intended to become guardian of the empire through Sienna’s baby.
“She needs Adrian dead,” Luca said.
“And Sienna alive until the child is born,” Rocco added.
Adrian stared out the window.
Then Sienna asked the question nobody wanted to answer.
“And after?”
Silence.
She already knew.
Adrian turned.
“That will never happen.”
Sienna crossed the room.
“You can't promise that.”
“Yes, I can.”
“No, Adrian. You can promise to fight. You cannot promise that nothing bad can happen.”
His expression tightened.
She touched his chest.
“I need a husband, not a wall.”
That reached him.
Adrian covered her hand with his.
“I don't know how to do this.”
“Neither do I.”
“What if I fail you?”
“Then fail while standing beside me. Not while locking me somewhere.”
He bowed his head.
Their foreheads touched.
“All right.”
That evening, Sienna returned to Bellini Bakery.
The building was ruined.
She walked through blackened beams and wet plaster until she reached what remained of the kitchen.
Adrian followed several steps behind.
She found her father’s old wooden recipe box beneath a collapsed shelf.
Burned along one side.
Still intact.
Sienna opened it.
Recipe cards.
Her father’s handwriting.
She began crying.
Adrian wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“We'll rebuild.”
She leaned against him.
“You don't have to.”
“I know.”
“That's why I love you.”
The words escaped before she could stop them.
Adrian froze.
Sienna closed her eyes.
“Well. That was dramatic.”
He turned her gently.
“Say it again.”
“No.”
“Sienna.”
“You heard me.”
“I need to be certain.”
She looked into the eyes of the man she had been ordered to marry.
“I love you.”
Adrian kissed her.
Slowly.
Carefully.
When they separated, he whispered, “I loved you before I knew I was allowed to.”
Her eyes filled again.
Then something clicked behind them.
Adrian spun.
A camera.
A man stood across the street photographing them.
Marco’s guards chased him.
He escaped.
But dropped his phone.
On it were dozens of photographs of Sienna.
At the bakery.
At the obstetrician.
At home.
One photograph showed her mother.
Another showed Theo.
The final image was a hospital floor plan.
Dr. Hale’s clinic.
Sienna stared at it.
“She knows where I'll deliver.”
Adrian took the phone.
“Not anymore.”
They changed doctors, hospitals, schedules.
Weeks passed.
Alessandra disappeared completely.
Sienna’s pregnancy advanced.
At twelve weeks, Adrian heard the heartbeat again.
At sixteen, he bought six books about pregnancy and secretly highlighted them.
At eighteen, Sienna woke at three in the morning and found him assembling a crib.
“You know we have months.”
“The instructions were bothering me.”
“You were asleep.”
“They were bothering me conceptually.”
She laughed so hard she had to sit down.
For a little while, they became almost normal.
Then came the anatomy scan.
The doctor smiled.
“Everything looks excellent.”
Adrian released a breath.
Sienna squeezed his hand.
“Would you like to know the sex?”
They looked at each other.
“Yes,” Sienna said.
The doctor moved the monitor.
“You're having a daughter.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
“A girl?”
“A healthy little girl.”
Sienna watched his face.
The feared Adrian Valente cried without embarrassment.
Later, in the parking garage, he knelt beside Sienna and pressed his lips against her stomach.
“Hello, little one.”
Sienna smiled.
Then a car engine roared.
Adrian looked up.
A black SUV accelerated directly toward them.
He shoved Sienna behind a concrete pillar.
The vehicle missed them by inches.
Gunfire erupted.
Marco’s men returned fire.
The SUV disappeared up the ramp.
Sienna trembled against Adrian.
Then her phone buzzed.
One message.
A daughter. How perfect.
A second arrived.
Enjoy feeling her move.
Then a third.
She belongs to the Valentes.
Adrian read it.
His expression became deadly.
Sienna took the phone from him.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“No more reacting.”
“What do you want to do?”
Sienna looked toward the exit where the SUV had vanished.
“For months, Alessandra has decided when we move, where we hide, when we're afraid.”
May you like
Her hand settled over their daughter.
“It's our turn.”
