The words echoed in my head long after Luca said them.
Our child.
I stared at him, unable to breathe, unable to think. The basement felt too small, too loud, even in its silence.
"That's not possible," I whispered.
Luca's gaze didn't soften. It sharpened. Like a man who had just identified his enemy.
"You've been nauseous," he said calmly. "Dizzy. Exhausted. And you fainted just now."
"That doesn't mean".
"I had blood drawn the night you collapsed in the penthouse," he interrupted. "I didn't want to frighten you until I was sure."
Marcus shifted uncomfortably beside us, eyes lowering in respect.
I shook my head violently. "You should've told me."
"I wanted to protect you," Luca replied. "Now I see that was a mistake."
My hands trembled as I pressed them against my stomach. It didn't feel any different. It couldn't be real.
"I can't be pregnant," I said, my voice breaking. "Not now. Not in the middle of this war."
Luca stepped closer, his voice low. "That war just changed."
Sirens grew louder outside. Reinforcements were coming. Cleanup crews. Lies to erase the truth.
But none of that mattered.
Someone had tried to manipulate me using my past.
And now they knew my future existed.
"They planned this," I said suddenly.
Luca's eyes flicked to mine. "Explain."
"They wanted me to open that door," I continued, piecing it together. "They wanted access to me. To my body. To confirm."
Marcus cursed under his breath. "A bloodline check."
"Yes," Luca said quietly. "Victor Romano suspected. This confirms it."
My knees weakened. Luca caught me before I fell, his arm firm around my waist.
"I won't let them touch you," he said. "Or the baby."
I looked up at him. "You don't get to decide everything."
His jaw tightened. "In my world, survival is a decision."
We were moved again before sunrise.
This time, farther. Deeper. Underground.
The new safe location wasn't a house it was a fortress carved beneath concrete and steel. No windows. No outside access. Only coded doors and silent guards.
I hated it instantly.
"This feels like a tomb," I said.
"It's a womb," Luca corrected. "Temporary. Protective."
I laughed bitterly. "You hear yourself?"
He turned to me. "You think I don't know what I've done to you?"
"Do you?" I asked. "Because I didn't choose this life. I didn't choose your enemies. And I didn't choose to be pregnant in a war zone."
His silence was heavier than anger.
Later that night, I lay awake on the narrow bed, one hand pressed to my stomach. Fear crawled through me in waves fear of losing the baby, fear of becoming invisible behind Luca's power, fear that loving him would destroy me.
A soft knock came at the door.
Luca entered quietly.
"I ordered a ceasefire on all external attacks," he said. "For now."
"For me?" I asked.
"For the child."
The words hurt more than I expected.
"And me?" I asked softly.
He hesitated.
Then he sat beside me. "I married you to end a war," he admitted. "I didn't expect you to become the battlefield."
I turned to face him. "I won't be your weakness."
He met my gaze. "You already are."
"And I won't be hidden away," I added. "If they're coming for my child, then I need to understand everything."
Luca studied me for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
"Tomorrow," he said. "I tell you who your mother really was."
My breath caught.
"And why Victor Romano wanted you alive."
A sudden alarm blared through the bunker.
Red lights flashed.
Marcus's voice came over the intercom, tense and urgent.
"Sir. We have a problem."
Luca was already on his feet. "What kind?"
Marcus swallowed audibly.
"She's gone."
My heart slammed painfully. "Who?"
"The woman who pretended to be your father," Marcus said. "We had her contained. She escaped."
Luca turned slowly toward me.
"And she left a message," Marcus added. "For Elena."
My blood ran cold.
"What did it say?" I whispered.
Luca's voice was deadly calm.
"Congratulations on the heir. We'll see you soon."