Page 91 of Beautiful Vows

"But why take Milly?" I’m still a little concerned she is somewhere with these men.

"Only your father stands in the way of creating a new syndicate." He nods carefully. "He can take his role or…"

My shoulders sag. "Or Milly can."

"Sorry, but now that Fredrico is proven to be alive, and Amelie and Amara are his children, we can no longer accept his adopted cousin to take over the position. So either your father takes it, or as his next of kin, Milly will be expected to."

"Milly doesn't want this. And I don't want this for her. I don't want her involved. You've just given me the option of not doing this. Don't make her do it."

"The Moretti line disappeared with your mother because the Syndicate refused to accept anyone other than your mother and her heirs. You are bringing it back to life and the reason I gave you the choice. Whereas, the Rossi family wants the position replaced with the next heir in the family. That was an adopted cousin until your father proved himself to be alive, and as Milly and Amara are his heirs…"

I hold my palm to his face, not wanting to hear anything else.

“It’s time,” Antonio says.

Mac Bailey stands outside the office where I found out everything about my life and beside him stands a petite woman with long, dark hair and darker eyes. Her eyes are on me as I walk toward my father.

"What are you doing here, Lucia?" Antonio asks, stopping in front of her.

"My brother isn't brave enough to take over, and he has officially agreed with the Gallo family in Italy that I will be the new head."

"That will need to go to a Syndicate vote. The others might not agree." Antonio opens the door to his office and ushers her inside.

"The balance of power is here, right now." She looks at Dominic and Antonio, before glancing at me. "I only need yours and Dominic's votes."

"I'll need to speak to your brother first," he responds. "I need to hear from his mouth that he is renouncing the position."

Her lips purse as she stands in front of the bookcase and stares at Antonio. "Who killed my father?"

As Dante stands in front of me, my hand slides up my thigh and I grip my gun. This is a girl who may or may not find out about how her father was really killed and I don't want her shooting my dad if she somehow already knows.

"I offered you my position. Why would I try to kill you?" Eduardo’s words—her father's words to Dante—play in my head. As they have over and over since I heard them.

My eyes meet hers. She smiles and says, "We've never met."

"You're right," I reply, and get a sneer in response.

"I'm not sure how you got into my house without my permission. You're not on the invite list for today," Antonio says.

From my periphery, I can see his hand reaching for the gun in his drawer. I know it's there. It's the same place he put it the day I broke into his home.

"I told them I was here in the place of my father." Her voice is high and scratchy on my ears, like she is getting nervous or angry. "You would never had denied him."

"I offered you my position. Why would I try to kill you?"

Her father didn't try to kill us.

She did.

His daughter—Lucia Gallo—the woman who Dante was supposed to marry, is who wants me dead.

As I turn to her, she whips a gun out of her pocket and points it at me. Hatred blazes in her eyes when I meet her dark gaze. "He was mine."

A mirthless laugh escapes my lips as I observe Lucia's trembling hands. Despite her bravado, I know she won't pull the trigger. Antonio's gun is now trained on her, ready to fire the moment she makes a move.

"He was always mine," I say. My voice is calmer than I know she feels. "I was always his."

Dominic's deep voice cuts through the tension. "Drop the gun, Lucia. You're making a monumental mistake." The warning in his tone is clear. She won't leave here alive if she persists.

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