the right time for an heir. Then I found the invitation to his secr
hard I miscarried our baby, and his mistres
highest honor for architecture on TV, he's now kneeling o
pte
Gall
ped into the shower, a message flashed on his laptop that w
scent of his expensive cologne and the day's violence still clinging to the air in his study. My job w
screen pulsed in my
andro had refused to giv
rival family we'd been locked in a cold war with for generations. The thoug
For a secret son. W
d cage of our home. This was a lethal transgression. To step into Valenti t
d into the back, a ghost in the shadows, my heart hammerin
dro. My
he held a baby wrapped in white. A woman with fiery red hair, Scarlett Valenti, leaned against
. The family needs stability. Bringing an heir into this chaos would be a weakness." He'd sa
Were they all spent with her? With them? He had broken the most sacred rule of ou
r on the cold street. My phone buzzed in my
voice was smooth, the same
walk," I lied,
's cry. Then a woman's soft shushing. Scarlett's.
," I said, the wor
middle of somethi
little boy, maybe two or three years old, ran from the
ched. He hung up the ph
sed the boy's forehead, a gesture of pure, unthinking affection I had craved f
osing me, the quiet architecture student. I thought it was love. It was a strategic acquisitio
s all a f
again. I didn't call him. I dialed a number
Architectural Fellowship
my voice eerily calm. "I'm ca