Blood Ties

A choked sob racked Samantha's body as she stared down at the third pregnancy test lying on the ensuite counter. A singular, faint pink line stared back at her, taunting her to get a better look. Salty tears streamed down her face. Looking in the vanity mirror, bloodshot eyes and a puffy face stared back at Samantha. Sweat formed on her body from the panic rushing through her.

A soft knock at the door startled her. In a panic, she quickly ran her hand across the en-suite counter. The pregnancy tests clattered against the white tile floor, scattering. One landed at her feet, another flew across the floor towards the ensuite door, and the other landed by the toilet.

"Donna Reeves. Are you okay?" Diana, one of the maids, called out to Samantha from the master bedroom when she heard the sound of something smacking against the floor. Diana knocked again in fear that her boss had fallen to the floor.

"Yes, I'm okay. Samantha croaked out. Her throat tightened as she softly padded across the tile floor, trying to find the remaining tossed pregnancy test. She spies one beside the ensuite door, mocking her. It was daring her to come closer.

"Do I need to get Don Reeves, Donna?" Diana called out again. Worry filled her as she couldn't hear Samantha's feet on the other side of the door.

"No, but you can enter the ensuite," Samantha called back, her voice growing heavy with emotion again. After a few moments of silence, the door opened with enough room for the maid to peek her head through. The pregnancy test slid across the tile floor, landing at Samantha's bare feet. Samantha curled her index finger, signalling for the maid to come closer. "

What I am about to tell you has to stay a secret between us." She whispered.

The maid looked at Samantha with wide eyes at the words Samantha whispered. Her iris drifted to the pregnancy test lying at her boss's bare feet. This is it. This was her chance to get rid of Samantha once and for all. She could be with her beloved.

"Do you promise to keep it a secret?' Samantha whispered again. Panic and worry bombard her veins at her secret split by some lowly maid.

"My loyalty is to you, Donna, " the maid announced, bowing to Samantha. Samantha smirked at the maid's naive actions. She had seen the looks the young maid had been giving her husband. Once she figured out what to do with this gestation, she would dismiss the maid from the estate.

"I am pregnant," Samantha coldly told the maid as she bent down to pick up the abandoned pregnancy test. Her fingers squeezed the test, wanting to snap it in half. A gasp came from the maid.

"Oh! Donna! That's happy news! Don Reeves will be excited." The maid happily chirped. A huge smile appeared on her face. Samantha glared at the maid at the happiness radiating off of her. "Donna, what's wrong? Aren't you excited? This pregnancy could be the princess Don Reeves has been desiring."

Everyone in the mafia world desired a princess for various reasons. A few wanted a little princess to cherish, while others wanted a daughter to gain allegiance from other families. It was a way to strengthen and weaken crime families.

Samantha hummed at the maid's words as she mulled them over. She spoke the truth about Lorenzo wanting a princess to spoil for some time now.

"You could leave until the baby is born. If you have a princess, Lorenzo will be over the moon." The maid tossed out an idea, hoping Samantha would take her advice and disappear. A plan was starting to form in Samanatha's mind. She could leave in the darkness of the night, wait nine months, and show back up with a little princess. The only flaw to this plan was, what if she had another son?

"Samantha, are you in there?" Lorenzo, Samatha's husband, called for her. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach at his voice. The doorknob to the ensuite starts to jiggle from Lorenzo opening it. Panic filled both the maids and Samantha's body.

How would they explain the pregnancy test?

Oh, Diana?" Lorenzo coldly questions. His eyebrows furrowed when his eyes landed on the pregnancy test in his wife's hand. He opened his mouth when a voice cut him off.

"Donna Reeves. Thank you for allowing me to take the test in your ensuite." Diana spoke to Samantha and Lorenzo. She reached out for the pregnancy test in Samanath's hands. Samantha's brows furrowed at the maid's words. She bowed to them and rushed out of the ensuite. Lorenzo let out a grunt at the young maid. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but a boyish voice interrupted them.

"Mama! Dinner is ready." A little boy ran into the ensuite, smacking Samantha in the legs. The boy stumbled back a little bit. A smile appeared on her face. She looks down to see Xander attached to her leg, a toothless smile staring at her. A low rumble escaped from the boy's tummy. A chuckle escaped both Lorenzo and Samantha.

"Let's go feed our little Xandy." Samantha picked Xander up, plopping him on her waist. Lorenzo leads them out of the ensuite through the master bedroom. They enter the empty corridor and descend the flight of stairs to the lower levels of the house. More boyish voices were heard as they came upon the dining room.

The dining room had two full-size windows overlooking the estate grounds. In the distance, shrubs shaped into the letter R. A mahogany table sits in the centre of the room, with plush white cushions atop mahogany chairs. Crisp white napkins sat beside crystal plates with glasses of 2001 Domaine Leroy Musigny Grand Cru red wine and water, Silverware positioned on the napkins. A gold vase of white orchids sat in the middle of the table under a white table ner with R's engraved into the material.

Lorenzo, Samanth, and Xander stood in the dining room doorway, watching their other sons and brothers bicker over the seating arrangement. It was the same argument they had once a week since they could talk.

"I want Mama to sit by me." A whiny voice cried out. Soft sniffles escaped the boy. Disgust flooded Lorenzo's stomach. He had let them go too long without their training. It made them grow soft. It was time to fix that. Reeve men aren't spineless boys except Xander.

"She has to sit by Papa at the head of the table." A different voice reminded the young boy. Lorenzo entered the dining room with a blank expression. Samantha placed Xander on the floor. He darted across the room to take the chair beside his father's pot.

"Boys, we have this argument every week. Your mother sits beside me at the table," Lorenzo reminded the boys. He pulled Samanatha's chair for her to sit before pulling out his chair. "Diana!" He bellowed as he looked at the sons seated around the table.

The kitchen doors swing open to reveal Diana. Diana pushes a gold serving cart from the kitchen. Steam rises from various plates. The tangy aroma of lemon wafts through the air. She places a plate before Lorenzo, moving on to the remaining Reeves family members.

"We have chicken seasoned in lemon pepper with buttery mashed potatoes, and grilled asparagus. Enjoy!" Diana mumbled. She pushed the serving cart back towards the kitchen. A scowl graced her face as she watched Samantha and Lorenzo eat with their boys. She disappears behind the door, back into the kitchen.

Lorenzo cleared his throat, gaining his wife's and older son's attention. Balor, Xander, and Stone looked at their father. Each one wore a blank expression until they were commanded not to.

"How was your day?" He asked, picking up his steak knife and fork. Royce and Ollie happily babbled out an answer to the question Lorenzo asked. Samantha's lips quivered at her youngest son's responses.

"Balor?"

Balor ignored his father's question. He pushed around the mashed potatoes on his plate, trying to make it look like he had eaten something. Lorenzo called out for Balor a few more times before slamming the palm of his hand on the table. Red wine splashes over the top of the glass, spilling onto the white table runner.

The once peaceful atmosphere turned tense.

"You will not ignore me, Balor!" Lorenzo snapped through gritted teeth. "Now I will ask you again. How was your day, Balor?" He asked the question from earlier. He picked up his glass of wine, pressing it to his lips.

"Good, sir," Balor replied to his father. Lorenzo let out a hum before moving on to his next son.

"Xander?"

"I punched a kid in the face." Xander instantly answered his father. A smile played on his face. Mischief danced in Xander's eyes at the joy of punching the kid.

"That's our boy," Lorenzo smirked. The feeling of pride rushing through his veins that one of his older children was turning out to be like him. If Balor didn't change during the workout, he would be looking for a new heir to run the family if Balor couldn't step up.

What about you, Stone?"

"I coloured papa," Stone announced with mashed potatoes smeared across his face. When Lorenzo got his answer, the family continued to eat quietly. The sound of cutlery was the only noise made. Samantha's mind wandered about the pregnancy test Diana had taken for her.

Could she leave in the middle of the night and leave her boys? Using her thumb, she gently caresses her flat stomach, thinking about her unborn child. How would Lorenzo react to having another child? Would this child turn out as he wanted him to be?

"Samantha, darling? Where has your mind been tonight?" Lorenzo called out, snapping Samantha out of her mind. She was thinking of running tonight instead of waiting eight weeks or longer. He gently caresses his wife's arm, bringing her back to them.

"Nothing, darling." She replied, pressing a chastising kiss to his cheek. She pulled the duvet back to get comfy. Lorenzo let out a grunt, climbing into the bed beside his wife. He throws an arm over Samantha, pulling her towards him to cuddle.

Her eyelids snap open as an ear-deafening snore bounces off her eardrums. Her tired eyes snapped to the alarm clock sitting on the bedside table. Bright red numbers stare back at her, reading one-thirty in the morning. If she left now, she could have a five-hour head start before Lorenzo woke up.

She pushes the duvet back, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Her satin nightgown crinkles as she shuffles off the bed. Her bare feet touch the plush carpet flooring, and she quickly but silently tiptoes across the master bedroom floor to one of the closets. Stripping out of her satin nightgown, she bends down, pulling open a dresser drawer filled to the brim with ratty jeans caked in dirt and mud, and a sweatshirt.

Samantha scrunches her nose in disgust at the peasant clothing. Lorenzo always made her and the boy wear peasant clothes in case they needed to hide their identity and escape. She strips out of her nightgown, letting it tumble to the floor without a care. Rummaging through the dresser drawer, she pulls on the first pair of ratty jeans and a hoodie. Pattering back across the master bedroom, the rustling of fabric stills her escape.

"Samantha, honey." Lorenzo groggily called out, his eyes closed. The duvet rustled under his moving body. He stuck a hand out, feeling Samantha's spot. It still felt warm. Samantha held her breath, keeping her body still as she watched Lorenzo feel around under the blanket. "Bathroom," He groggily mumbled before a snore echoed from across the room.

She exhaled a bated breath. She tiptoes the rest of the way. The doorknob giggles as she twists the knob and opens it. A creak escapes the hinges, wailing into the quietness of the night. Samanatha winces at the creaking. She glanced at her husband,

A snore escaped from Lorenzo after a few moments.

She slipped out the door, her bare feet padded down the darkened corridor towards her son's room. She darted in and out of her boys' rooms, kissing them on their foreheads and tucking them tightly into their beds. She whispered to them, "I will be back one day." Backing out of the boys' rooms, she started back up the corridor towards the staircase. Samantha rushes down the staircase towards the front door into the night.