Page 26 of His Unexpected Heir

He shrugged. “In a way, my father was right. He told me that my dungeon stays would make me stronger, tougher, and more able to channel my attention.” He cut another piece of bread, setting it on her plate. His eyes turned granite hard as he continued, “I am currently very focused on dismantling every aspect of my father’s previous life so that he can’t abuse anyone else ever again.”

“What if he gets out of prison and demands the money from the sale of his businesses?”

“I have set up a salary for half of the income derived from the sale of each business. That amount was invested and I will continue to manage those investments, expand them for my personal use, maintenance of the castle, as well as various charities.”

“And the other half?” she asked.

“The other half was donated to a charity, under my authority as the chief executive officer. That charity was set up to revitalize the village.” He lifted his hand to order another glass of wine. “The villagers were abused as well during my father’s reign. So it’s only fair that his money go towards fixing everything that he ruined, don’t you agree?”

She grinned and even that affected his erection.

“I completely agree,” she said with a chuckle. “I think it’s brilliant even.”

“What else are you planning?” he asked.

For the next hour, patrons came and went from the pub, some pausing to greet Antonio and others interrupting to express their enthusiasm for the upcoming projects. But for the most part, she and Antonio had a lovely meal where the tension between them simmered, but didn’t explode. It was one of the nicest lunches she’d had in a long time.

Until…!

“Antonio!” a sharp feminine voice called out. “Querido, you’ve been gone for so long, I thought that you’d forgotten about me!”

Maria. This time, the voluptuous beauty was standing with an older man that Astra suspected was her father. Their arms were linked and the older man seemed uncomfortable. But Maria didn’t show any qualms about interrupting their conversation.

“You don’t mind if we join you, do you?” she asked, already leaving her father’s side to slide in next to Antonio, pressing herself against his side. “Did your little…friend tell you about the list of ideas I gave her?” she tsked. “Of course she didn’t,” she admonished before Antonio could even respond. She swatted Astra’s shoulder lightly. “You’re just trying to keep Antonio all to yourself, aren’t you? Shame on you! You know that he’s our village hero! We all adore him.” She leaned forward, hugging Antonio’s arm as an excuse to press her breasts against him.

Astra watched, mildly impressed by the woman’s tricks. But not surprised. Astra had been around wealthy, manipulative people for her entire career. She knew their tricks and how to avoid them now.

Before the older man could slip into the booth, trapping her at the table, Astra stood up, then gestured to the now-empty bench. “Please, senor, take my seat. I have a lot of work to get back to.”

She shot Antonio a knowing smirk, then walked away. He’d said that Maria wasn’t his fiancée, nor was he dating her. So that meant that there was either nothing between the two of them, or there was something secret happening behind closed doors.

Either way, Astra didn’t want to get in the middle. Especially since her heart ached at the sight of the bitchy woman touching the man that she….Astra had to remind herself that Antonio wasn’t “her” man. She might be carrying his heir, but Antonio was his own man. And she wasn’t in his life because he didn’t want her there. He’d made that perfectly clear.

Wiping a tear from her cheek, she angrily pushed through the pub doors and walked outside. She’d walk back to the castle before she’d sit and watch Maria tease and tempt Antonio. No way was she going to…!

“Astra!” a deep voice called out. She swung around, shocked to see Antonio hurrying after her. He grabbed her elbow and steered her towards his car. “Don’t you ever abandon me with that vile woman again,” he muttered under his breath.

Astra couldn’t help it. His words just…she burst out laughing. She wiped another tear away as inconspicuously as possible. “Is she that bad?”

“Yes,” Antonio hissed. Then he looked down into her eyes. “Were you crying?”

Astra looked away. “Of course not. What do I have to cry about?” she demanded. “It’s a beautiful day.”

He didn’t answer, but stared down at her for a long moment. Then he pulled open the door to his car. “We’ll talk about this later. Not here.”

She ducked into the car, grateful for the ride back up to the castle.

Maria glared at the dark vehicle driving away, fury making her stomach roil.

“Well, that didn’t go as you’d planned,” a female voice commented.

Maria’s hand itched to slap Eldora, but she restrained herself. This time. “When I marry Antonio, the first thing I’m going to do is fire you!” she hissed and turned on her heel, stomping out of the pub. She didn’t wait for her father, unconcerned since he was happily chatting with his cronies anyway. He didn’t understand her feelings, but that didn’t matter. Maria was fully capable of rectifying every situation to her satisfaction.

Since the perra was trying to steal her man, Maria determined that she needed to increase her efforts! No one, especially not an ignorant Americana, was going to interfere with the future she’d planned for herself!

Chapter 9

Astra didn’t see Antonio that evening. She chose to skip dinner and work instead. The food wouldn’t be good anyway, so she grabbed one of the protein bars that Macie had stashed for them.

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