A Doctor's Fall, A Mafia Queen's Rise

ef Resident at a top hospital, the accomplished Dr. Falcone. But my w

name was listed as "Emilio Thomas," my husband's secret middle name. Then, my husband's voice came

bad lady trying to take my daddy away!" The crowd turned on me, whispering that I was the othe

bdomen as blood soaked my dress. I lost the baby I didn't even know I was carrying-the legitimate Moret

ed that she'd planned it all, and that Emilio swore he'd never have anoth

I stared at two pink lines on a pregnancy test I'd taken before the gala.

pte

ra

come from a gunshot or a rival family. It came from a four-year-old

stament to a brilliance that had nothing to do with being Mrs. Emilio Moretti. Here, in t

he wal

clothes too expensive for a walk-in clinic.

nt," she said, her vo

m room. As I went through the standard questio

" I asked, my pen hov

Hayden, replied. "A specifi

him, and saw the faint, tell-tale pattern of the rash. It was a

i

ck to the intake form. Under "Father's

name he never used. A name, I realized, whispered

world, so solid and pristine just moment

fe," Hayden said, her eyes fixed on me, a deliberat

ry in our penthouse, at the five years I'd spen

ered it, her voice turning

peaker. A voice I heard every night befor

il

vy in my trembling hands. My t

re you?

meeting with the Capos, cara

o easy.

c's private entrance. I didn't have to wait long. A black sedan, t

k door

o got

led as he opened the passenger door for Hayden, then leaned in to unbuckle the small boy from his

. It was a chasm that opened up be

kmarked weeks ago. An offer for a prestigious, completely isola

overed over

d steady, I