Chapter 7
Rocco visited Adeline the next morning.
A uniformed officer sat outside her room.
A family lawyer sat inside.
That was Adeline’s choice.
Rocco respected it.
He stood at the foot of the bed, hands folded in front of him.
“How’s our son?”
Adeline touched her belly.
“Stubborn.”
“Like you.”
“Like both of us.”
They almost smiled.
Then she said:
“You can’t handle this the way your family handles things.”
“I know.”
“No, Rocco. You know how to say that when lawyers are listening. I need you to know it when you’re angry.”
He looked at the monitor.
“I hit her.”
“Yes.”
“I shouldn’t have.”
“No.”
“She shoved you.”
“And the court will deal with that better if you don’t become the reason everyone talks about your violence instead of hers.”
He looked at her.
Adeline’s eyes were tired, but clear.
“If our child is born into a courtroom, I want the judge to see at least one parent willing to obey orders.”
That sentence changed him more than a threat could have.
Rocco had always believed obedience belonged to weaker men.
Now he understood something worse.
His refusal to obey ordinary law made it easier for people like Seraphine to predict him, bait him, and use his violence as a tool.
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If he wanted to protect Adeline and the baby, restraint could not be theater.
It had to hold when no one applauded.
