Thin Lives (Donati Bloodlines #3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

wrong.”
    “Good for that, hmm?” He smiled. “Keep it up, that’s all.”
    For her baby?
    Anything.
    For Calisto?
    She was backed into a corner, and couldn’t even begin to fight her way out. She had to depend on Calisto to do that for himself. And God, she hoped that if he did begin to remember or question … if he did begin to see the holes in the stories around him … that he would just somehow know he couldn’t tell anyone until he had it all figured out.
    Would Affonso kill Calisto for remembering, for knowing the truth?
    Probably.
    Because if Calisto did remember, and he did know the truth, he wouldn’t let Emma go. He wouldn’t let his child be raised by another man—a man he despised. There was no doubt in her mind that Affonso knew it, too.
    And if Affonso thought Calisto would try to take what belonged to him, he would end it before he even got the chance to try.
    But she knew Calisto, probably far better than even Affonso did.
    He wasn’t a stupid man.
    So, Emma held onto faith and hope.
    Just a little bit of each.
    It was enough to get her out of bed each morning, and keep moving forward. But it didn’t give her much else.
    “And another thing I have been considering,” Affonso said.
    Emma twisted her hands in her lap, wishing her husband would just move on with his damn day and leave her be. Hadn’t the entire morning been enough?
    “What’s that?” she asked.
    “Have you considered a name for the baby yet?” Affonso asked.
    Oh.
    She quickly looked away from the cold eyes surveying her.
    “Well?” he demanded after a long moment.
    “I had a couple of names.”
    “I suppose we can’t use my name, now that you’ve given it to the dead one.”
    Emma visibly recoiled, but quickly straightened her back and schooled her features. “We could, but I would prefer to let Affonso Jr. keep his name as his own, if that’s fine with you.”
    Affonso sighed. “Fine, let him keep it. But this one …”
    “I thought Nazio might be good for a middle name, after your father. I know his full name was Ignazio, but everyone just calls him Nazio, even now when they talk about him.”
    That quieted her husband instantly.
    Emma figured that was a good thing, and decided to see how much further she could push him on the subject, and maybe she could actually get what she wanted for once.
    After all, Affonso wasn’t that hard to figure out.
    As long as something seemed like it was meant to please him and no one else, he was a happy, selfish bastard. That was just how the man worked. It didn’t take Emma very long in their marriage to figure it out.
    “Go on,” Affonso urged.
    “Nazio for your father, like I said,” Emma explained. “And I was looking through the religious names because they’re classic, and a lot of Italian names come from the bible.”
    “Some. What of it?”
    “They seemed too classic, maybe. David. John. How many of those do we know?”
    Affonso’s face remained passive. Emma hated that more than anything. It was harder to tell what he was thinking when he gave nothing away. He did that shit far too often.
    “Too classic,” Affonso echoed.
    “Yeah, but I still liked the idea of something in that ballpark.”
    “I’m listening.”
    “What about … Cross?” she suggested softly.
    Affonso leaned forward in his chair, resting his arms on the desk as he said the name to himself, adding in the middle and surname as well.
    Cross Nazio Donati.
    Emma held her breath, waiting.
    Waiting for what, she didn’t quite know. Maybe for him to refuse her suggestion because it was too strange—too eclectic for Affonso’s regal, old-fashioned tastes. The name Cross wasn’t exactly Italian, as far as that went. It could be a problem, given who they were and the fact Affonso held their heritage in such high esteem being a Cosa Nostra crime boss.
    But for her, it was more than just a name.
    And she couldn’t explain that to her husband without him knowing why she wanted to give the baby