Chapter 46 Something defenseless
Lina’s POV
Morning sickness wasn't a lie. It doesn’t announce itself politely. It doesn’t care if you’re in the middle of a war. It just hits.
I barely made it to the private bathroom before I was gripping the sink, breathing like I’d just run miles. My hands trembled.
Not from fear.
From this.
From the quiet, terrifying proof that my body wasn’t just mine anymore. I rinsed my mouth and stared at my reflection. You can’t afford weakness, Lina.
A knock came.
Not polite. Not hesitant.
Carlino.
“You’re in there for too long.”
“I’m fine,” I replied.
The door opened anyway. His eyes swept over me. Took in the pale skin. The way I was bracing myself on the counter.
“That doesn’t look fine.”
“I skipped breakfast.”
“You don’t skip meals.”
I straightened. “I do now.”
He didn’t believe me. I could see it.His phone buzzed before he could press further. “Niel’s here,” he said.
Of course he was.
The conference room felt colder right now. No investors this time. Just the core.
Carlino.
Niel.
Legal.
Security.
Niel dropped a file on the table like he was discussing weather. “It’s fake.”
Carlino didn’t blink. “I know that already.”
“The lea was fabricated. Digital forensics confirmed it. The metadata doesn’t match Veridian’s system. Someone built it offshore and planted it.”
Relief flickered across the room. It didn’t touch me.
“And the investigation?” Carlino asked.
“Closing. Official statement within forty-eight hours,” he responded.
“So we’re clean,” I said..
Niel looked at me. Calm. Measured.
“You were always clean.”
“Then why does it feel like we’re the ones bleeding?”
Seventeen percent drop doesn’t just bounce back because someone says “oops.”
Carlino leaned forward. “BlackRidge?”
“Suspended.”
“NorthStar?”
“Cutting exposure.”
His jaw tightened.
“So,” Niel continued, “publicly we push transparency. Full forensic release. Media interviews. Controlled narrative.”
“And privately?” Carlino asked.
Niel’s mouth tilted slightly. “We respond.”
There it is.
The part that didn’t involve press releases. “This can’t turn into retaliation,” I said. “Not publicly.”
Carlino’s eyes shifted to me. “You think I don’t know that?”
“I think you’re angry.”
“I am.”
“Then don’t let Kailen see it.”
The room went quiet. Niel actually nodded. “She’s right, Padrone. Rage confirms instability.”
Carlino didn’t answer. But he didn’t argue either. That was something.
When the meeting ended, the dizziness came back. Subtle. But there. I reached for the table. Carlino caught it. His hand wrapped around my elbow before I even registered that I was swaying.
“You’re not fine.”
“I’m tired.”
“You don’t sway when you’re tired.”
“I do now,” I argued back.
His eyes darkened slightly.
“You’re pale.”
“It’s been a week.”
“It’s been months,” he corrected.
I pulled my arm free gently. “I’m not glass.”
“I never said you were.”
“But you’re hovering.”
“Because they’ll escalate.”
“Then let them.”
His expression hardened. “You don’t understand—”
“I understand perfectly.”
I stepped closer. “They see me as leverage. As your distraction. As the reason you’ll hesitate.”
“You think I’ll hesitate?”
“If it’s me?” I held his gaze. “Yes. You said and acted on it.”
He didn’t answer. That was answer enough.
By evening, the headlines flipped.
Cleared.
Fabricated.
False alarm.
Niel handled it like surgery. Precise. Clean. No wasted movement. The Board issued their statement. Media cycles shifted. But the market didn’t recover.
Trust doesn’t rush back just because the truth does. I stood alone in his office watching the stock graph. It wasn’t collapsing. But it wasn’t rising either.
This is how slow damage works.
A hand drifted to my stomach before I could stop it.
It wasn’t instinct anymore.
It was awareness.
The door shut softly behind me, startling me. “You’re doing that again.”
I didn’t turn. “Doing what?”
“Standing still like you’re bracing.”
Maybe I was.
He came to stand beside me. “We stabilized it,” he said.
“For now?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“But he won’t stop.”
“No.”
There was no comfort in pretending otherwise. If Kailen couldn’t win publicly, he’d pivot. They didn’t attack structures when they could attack people.
“You should go back to the house,” Carlino said again.
“No.”
His tone shifted. “Lina.”
“I won’t hide.”
“It’s not hiding.”
“It is.”
I turned to face him.
“You think I don’t know what this is? He’ll push where it hurts. And you think locking me away removes the pressure point.”
“It does.”
“It doesn’t.”
His jaw flexed. “You’re not expendable.”
“I’m not fragile either.”
“You’re important.”
The word hit differently.
Important.
Not leverage. Not decoration.
Important.
“You’re something I can’t afford to lose,” he said quietly.
My chest tightened.
Another wave hit me—stronger this time. Not nausea. Just… heaviness. My body felt slower. Softer.
I swallowed it down.
“You’re exhausted,” he said.
“I’ll sleep.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
He studied me too closely. “You’re not telling me something.”
My heart jumped.
“I don’t tell you a lot of things,” I replied lightly.
“This feels different.”
“Paranoia looks bad on you.”
“I don’t care how it looks.”
Of course he didn’t.
That’s what terrified everyone. He stepped closer. Not touching. Just near enough that I felt the heat of him.
“If this escalates,” he said quietly, “it won’t stay financial.”
“I know.”
“And I won’t hesitate.”
“I know.”
But that wasn’t what scared me anymore. Before, when danger circled, I thought about whether I could survive it.
Now my thoughts were different. What if I fall wrong? What if someone shoves me? What if stress does something I can’t undo?
The fear wasn’t loud. It was rather constant.
A low hum beneath everything. He thought this was about protecting me. He didn’t understand yet. It wasn’t about me anymore. It was about something smaller. Something defenseless. Something that didn’t ask to be born into an empire built on war.
“You’re shaking,” he said suddenly.
I hadn’t noticed.
He reached for my hands. Warm. Steady.
“I’m not weak,” I whispered.
“I know.”
“I’m not your liability.”
“You’re not.”
“Then stop looking at me like I’ll break.”
His grip tightened slightly. “I’m looking at you like you matter.”
Silence stretched between us.
Carlino stared at the city lights, jaw tight.
“He burned my estate,” he said quietly.
I didn’t answer.
“He planted bombs. Hit my illegal business. Now he’s attacking my legal empire too.”
My stomach twisted.
“And you just let him?” I asked.
“I’ve measured every blow,” he said. “Studied him. Watched how far he’d go.”
“And now?”
“Now I strike back.”
I blinked. “Retaliation?”
“No mercy,” he said, calm. “Not like before. This time he won’t touch a thing I built.”
“You mean… destruction?”
“Consequence,” he corrected. “Calculated. Precise. Enough to remind him who he’s dealing with.”
I swallowed. “Kailen’s dangerous. He wants revenge for his father. He won’t hesitate.”
“Neither will I,” Carlino said. His eyes darkened. “He’s been testing me. Throwing attacks. I’ve taken enough. I won’t take another.”
I felt my stomach tighten again, the pregnancy pressing on every thought.
“You’re going to give him a blow?”
“Yes,” he said, stepping closer. His hand hovered near my waist, instinctive. “Not public. Not reckless. But enough to show him the cost of touching what’s mine.”
I looked at him. “And if he answers?”
“Then I answer harder.”
“You’re not thinking about…” I stopped. “About the escalation.”
“I am,” he said, calm as ice. “But survival isn’t about thinking small. He started this war. I’ll end it on my terms.”
I nodded slowly, tension clawing at my chest.
“You better be sure,” I whispered.
“I am,” he said. “He wanted war.”
“Then give it to him.”
Carlino’s eyes flicked to mine, sharp, lethal.
“I will,” he said quietly. “And he’ll regret the day he decided to touch me.”