Double Betrayal, Broken Donna Chapter 01
We were at the bridal salon — Teresa Gallagher, my best friend, trying on gowns, me standing there holding her things — when she said it.
“You know, your husband’s ruthless in bed.”
I blinked. The words didn’t even register at first.
Then she tugged down the neckline of her dress and showed me the bruise.
“He left this last night — in your car, by the way. Tell him to watch his grip next time.”
Something seized in my throat. My fingers wouldn’t stop shaking.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
She didn’t even flinch. Still smiling, she took my hand and pressed it flat against her stomach.
“Can’t help it. I’m carrying his baby.”
Everything in me went still. Then the world went white.
“He loves you — he does. But to him, you’re still dirty. He was my first. I’ve never been with anyone else — there’s no doubt about whose blood runs in this child. So he’s giving me a wedding.”
I stumbled backward. A pair of heavy, calloused hands caught me from behind.
I swung before I could think. My palm cracked across his face.
He barely flinched.
“So now you know.”
…
I couldn’t stop shaking. Cold poured through me — the kind that had nothing to do with the air.
Rocco Caruso tongued the inside of his cheek, watching me.
“All those years with Teresa, and you still didn’t pick up any of that sweetness?”
Same voice. Not even a little warmer.
Every word landed like it found some place in me that could still bleed.
“Does looking in the mirror make you sick?” The words barely made it out of me.
Something flickered behind his eyes — gone before I could name it. Then he smiled, slow and careless.
“That’s on you. You’re the filthy one here.”
“I can’t touch you without seeing all the men who got there before me.” The disgust in his eyes wasn’t an act.
“I won’t let my heir grow inside a body like yours.”
My whole body went rigid. A high-pitched ringing flooded my ears.
I searched his face for something — a crack, a flinch. Anything.
Twenty-four hours ago, he’d had his arms around me, his mouth against my hair. I love you. I love you. I love you.
He’d sworn none of it mattered. He’d looked me in the eye when he promised.
“Do you even hear yourself right now?”
My voice splintered. Tears spilled before I could stop them.
He brushed the tears off my cheek and sighed — like I was the one being unreasonable.
“I know exactly what I’m saying. I do love you — that part was never a lie. But you lied first. And I wanted to know what it felt like to be with someone who’d never been touched.”
He reached for Teresa’s hand. She let him take it.
“She’s your best friend — she’s not trying to take your place. And the baby? She already said it’d call you Mom.”
“You should be thanking her.”
Their fingers laced together right in front of me. The edges of the room went black.
Just yesterday, I’d found out I was pregnant too.
I’d planned a dinner — just the three of us — to share the news with the only two people I thought mattered.
But the second Rocco and Teresa sat down, they were at each other’s throats. Teresa went after him for never being around. Rocco told her to stay out of it.
It was nothing new. They’d always been like that.
I never got around to telling them about the baby.
By the end of the night, they were still fighting over who got to have me for the weekend.
And now here they were — side by side, telling me they were having a baby.
I doubled over, barely able to breathe. Rocco reached for me like he still had the right.
“Don’t make a scene, and nothing has to change.”
“That fight with Teresa last night? When I came home and told you I had to handle Family business — I went to her instead. We had sex in the car.”
“She was in red lingerie. I just — I didn’t even try to stop.”
Something in my chest caved in. All that was left was a cold, whistling emptiness where my heart should’ve been.
My teeth wouldn’t stop chattering. “She’s my best friend,” I choked out. “She’s my best friend.”
I turned to Teresa. “Why?”
Teresa stepped closer and wrapped her fingers around mine.
“Camelia, that’s exactly why this can work. I’m not trying to replace you.”
“What Rocco and I have — it’s just a thrill. That’s all.”
“You’ll always come first. For both of us.”
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. The ache in my chest turned vicious.
Rocco pressed his lips to my cheek like the last ten minutes hadn’t happened.
“Come on, isn’t this what you wanted? Your best friend in a wedding dress?”
“Pick yourself out a bridesmaid dress while you’re at it.”
The diamonds on the gown caught the light and threw it straight into my eyes like shattered glass.
Everything blurred.
I hit him again. Harder.
“You’re disgusting. Both of you.”
The words barely left my mouth before someone shoved me. My hip caught the corner of a table and pain ripped through me.
Teresa was crying now. “We’re filthy?”
“You threw yourself at Lucius — everyone saw it — and you’re calling me filthy?”
Rocco’s gaze turned flat. Deadly. “Calm down,” he said.