Page 32 of His Unexpected Heir

Bailey turned and grimaced. “Their father was such a pathetic bastard that he’d have Antonio locked in the dungeon for days at a time without food or water for even the smallest infractions,” she whispered.

Macie gasped, then looked to Astra for confirmation. “No!”

“Yep,” Astra nodded. “Antonio has mentioned that.” Then she pointed to the feather over the mantle. “And that?”

Bailey shivered. “It used to be a leather whip,” she replied flatly. The words were so terrifying, so…horrific, that no one spoke for long moments.

Astra remembered feeling the scars on Antonio’s back and her heart melted even as her stomach churned with fury over what that monster did to the man she…loved?

No, surely not love! She didn’t know Antonio well enough to love him!

“I can’t imagine whipping a child!” Macie whispered, lowering her eyes to her glass. She shook her head. “If that man ever comes back here, then I’ll….?” She didn’t finish the statement since she didn’t have a threat dire enough.

“He’s going to sell it,” Bailey told them.

Astra looked up, startled by the abrupt words. “Sell what?”

Bailey gestured to the large room with her hand. “The castle. Everything in it. He’s going to sell it. He’s already spoken to Matteo, who gave his blessing. Matteo doesn’t want anything to do with the place either. Too many bad memories.”

“I can imagine,” Astra whispered, feeling her throat tighten with so many emotions that she couldn’t distinguish one from the other. Now that Bailey brought it up, Astra remembered Antonio telling her about his intentions. She’d pushed them out of her mind, unable to grasp how someone could want to sell such a magnificent structure.

“On a positive note,” Macie piped up, “dinner was unexpectedly delicious! What happened? Did Eldora have an epiphany or something?”

Astra laughed, then explained to Bailey how the food had been barely edible for the past week. They’d been existing on protein bars and pub food.

“Yes, but the real question,” Bailey asked as she turned to Macie, “has Astra made any cookies?”

Macie pretended to gag, shaking her head. “No! Thank goodness! She’s been too busy with the events down in the village to do any baking!”

“Hey!” Astra argued. “I’m getting better, right?”

Both ladies laughed, shaking their heads. “Not even slightly!” Macie replied, but her voice was filled with compassion.

“Remember those oatmeal raisin cookies?” Bailey prompted. “They were like rocks!”

“The black ones?” Macie laughed and shuddered. “I had to test out her peanut butter cookies. She’d accidentally put salt into the mix instead of sugar. She even topped the cookies with salt!”

“Oh my gosh!” Bailey gasped, laughing so hard, she put a hand to her stomach. “I’m so glad I wasn’t around for those!”

“Hey!” Astra replied with a mock glare, “it was an honest mistake!”

Which only made the others laugh harder. When the men stepped into the room, it was to find the women regaling each other about their own baking or culinary catastrophes, easing Astra’s wounded pride at her baking debacles.

Matteo sat down beside his wife, then picked her up and set her down on his lap. “Did you tell them about my last birthday cake?” he asked, nibbling at her neck.

“No!” she gasped. She turned to the others, pushing Matteo’s nibbling mouth away from her neck. “Matteo’s favorite flavor is lemon. So I got a lemon cake and thought to make it extra moist by adding lemon syrup right after it finished baking. Then I put the cake together with lemon curd for the filling.”

“And?” he teased, kissing her hand.

She looked at him, love in her eyes, then continued. “And lemon sherbet. I think it was the lemon sherbet that made the cake topple.”

“Tell them how you fixed the cake, my love.”

She rolled her eyes, but leaned against his chest. “The cake was higher on one side than the other, so I just…added some…flowers.”

Matteo looked at the others, laughter in his eyes as he said, “She was hoping no one would noticed that the cake was lopsided.”

She gasped and playfully batted at his shoulder. “It wasn’t that I was hoping no one would notice,” she argued. “I was just…trying for a certain aesthetic.”

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