Chapter 18 Chapter 18

Chapter 18 Chapter 18
Elara’s POV. 

Dante had woken up early again to take me to the clinic for another checkup.

Dr. Aris held the digital readout in his hand, his eyes darting between the screen and the three people standing in the small room.

"Well?" Dante’s voice was a low vibration of threat.

Aris cleared his throat. "The beta-hCG levels are at 450 mIU/mL. Progesterone is rising steadily." He turned the screen toward us. "It’s confirmed, Dante. Elara is pregnant."

Dante closed his eyes and let out a breath he had been holding since we the doctor had been in the room. 

"A son," Dante whispered.

"It’s very early, Dante," Isabella said, her voice a sharp blade wrapped in silk. "A lot can go wrong in the first trimester. Especially with... fragile subjects."

Dante didn't even look at her. He stepped toward me, his hand hovering over my stomach as if he could feel the life through the fabric of my dress.

"Nothing will go wrong. Because from this moment on, she does not breathe without my permission."

He turned to the head of security, who was waiting at the door. "Vince! Double the guard on the east wing. I want four men on the door, four on the perimeter, and two inside the sitting room. No one enters except me. Not Isabella, not Marcus, no one."

"Dante, surely I can—" Isabella started.

"No!" Dante roared. "You are banned from this wing, Isabella. If I see you near Elara’s door, I’ll assume you’re there to finish what you started at the warehouse. Get out."

Isabella didn't argue. She gave me a look, a slow, terrifying smile and walked out. 

By noon, the east wing looked like a military camp base. The furniture had been padded. The sharp corners of the vanity were covered. My meals were now brought in by a nutritionist under the watch of two guards.

I was sitting by the reinforced window when the door opened. Marcus Vasquez walked in, flanked by two of his own men. The Moretti guards tried to block him, but Marcus held up a golden seal, the board’s mandate.

"Step aside," Marcus said smoothly. "I’m here to audit the most valuable asset in the portfolio."

The guards hesitated, then stepped back. 

Marcus walked to me, his eyes scanning my face with a mixture of pity and interest.

"Congratulations, Elara," he said, leaning against the wall. "You’ve done it. You’ve become the most valuable hostage in New York City."

"I'm not a hostage," I said, my voice hollow. "I'm a wife."

"You're a biological safe-deposit box," Marcus corrected. He leaned in closer, his voice dropping so the guards couldn't hear. "Dante is already losing his mind. He’s diverted sixty percent of the Syndicate’s liquid assets to 'security' for you. The board isn't happy. They see you as a drain on the bottom line."

"I have his heir," I said. "That's what they wanted."

"They wanted stability, Elara. Not a king who burns his kingdom to protect a single room." Marcus reached out and touched the glass of the window. "Isabella isn't going to let you reach the second trimester. She’s already talking to the Petrovs again. She’s convinced that if you 'miscarry' due to an outside attack, Dante will have no choice but to crawl back to her."

"Dante will kill her first."

"Dante is one man," Marcus said. "And pregnant women die all the time in this business. Infections, accidents, stress... it’s a dangerous world for a vessel."

He looked at me, his gaze sharp. "The offer still stands, but once that belly starts to show, you’ll be too heavy to move. Decide fast, Elara. Before the crown you're wearing becomes a noose."

Late that night, Dante came to the room. 
He didn't touch me the way he used to. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched me sleep, his hand resting on my hip.

"I’m moving the final accounts tomorrow," he whispered into the dark, thinking I was asleep. "Everything will be in your name. Yours and the boy’s. If the board tries to move against me, they’ll have to go through you."

I kept my breathing steady, but my heart was racing. He wasn't just protecting me; he was making me the target for the entire Syndicate. If I held the money and the heir, I was the only thing standing between the board and total control.

I felt his hand tighten slightly on my hip.
"You're my anchor, Elara," he muttered. "Don't you dare leave me."

I lay there in the silence. I was pregnant with the child of a monster, protected by a man who was losing his grip on reality, and hunted by a woman who had nothing left to lose.

I was the prize. And for the first time, I realized that the only way to save the child was to destroy the father.

I waited until Dante fell asleep. I reached under the mattress and felt for the small, cold piece of metal Lorenzo had slipped me before he was taken.

The scalpel.