Page 22 of Deception & Desire

I shrug. “She seemed to be under the impression that her father’s life was at stake if she didn’t.”

Isabella blinks at me. “Who the hell threatened Marco?”

“No idea. She thought it was me. I thought it must have been Teo.”

“Teo wouldn’t,” she says with a firm belief in her husband, which I’m glad at least one of us holds.

“Either way, it happened. We’re married, it’s…it’s legal.” I quickly skirt over exactlyhowlegal it all is. “Mia Chiavari is a Natali now. That’s all you really missed.”

Isabella sighs and looks away from my desk, suddenly looking quite tired. “Can you give me a real reason?”

“I told you, I need an heir. The alliance needs me to have an heir, and I need the alliance to keep you safe.”

“Oh, screw the damn alliance for a second, all right?” she brushes me off entirely. “Why areyoudoing this?”

For a moment, I contemplate not telling her at all. My reasoning had been enough to satisfy both Teo and Mia before. They hadn’t needed anything else.

But I also know that Isabella wasn’t going to drop this. She needed to know that I had something at stake here beyond duty.

“I…a child, Issy. A fresh start for the Natali name. One that’s not tainted by…byher,”I admit finally.

Memories of my mother are always jarring to remember. The softness with which she nurtured Issy, the harshness of her disapproval of me. Until, one day, she’d turned that harshness on Issy.

The day she’d threatened her life.

I knew then the crone that I’d only tentatively called my mother had shown that she was a monster all along. Her love for Issy had been her only redeeming factor.

I sleep peacefully, knowing her blood is on my hands.

The same hands Isabella now reaches for, squeezing them gently in her own. “You already carry the Natali name so beautifully, brother.”

“Now there’s two of us,” I reply, though my voice lacks the emotion to make it sound lighthearted.

This makes her eyes narrow again. “Is it…do you think that maybe you two could, you know…”

“No,” I say firmly. “Like I said. It was a business transaction. She has no interest in me beyond holding up her side of the agreement.”

Isabella gives me a speculative look. One that sees far too much and makes me stand up from my desk. It’s getting late anyway, and I’m not sure how much I want to continue this conversation.

Thankfully, she seems to take the cue and stands as well.

“You’ll be careful with this, won’t you, Leon?” she asks quietly as she watches me pull on my coat.

“Always am.”

It’sstrange not to be heading back to the hotel tonight. But Max had taken on overseeing the protection of the brownstone, and the family home had been prepared for me in record time.

Yet another reason to be thankful for the competency of my new second. Not that Max knew that my wife would soon be residing there, but it put me at ease knowing she could be there as soon as she got pregnant.

It was also a far nicer feeling walking up the steps of a family home than the impersonal elevator ride to a penthouse that lacked any personal artifacts.

The key twists in the door, and the warm light in the tall entranceway greets me. Already, a few pictures are hanging on the walls. The Caravaggio I purchased from a black market dealer in Italy hung pride of place.

I take in the familiar contrasts and brushstrokes as I loosen the tie from my neck and discard my jacket.

A drink, I think,is needed after that conversation with my sister. It’s already late, and I’ll likely need to be there early again tomorrow. But right now, I can deal with a little indulgence, so I walk into the kitchen with a purpose.

Working hard on the alliance has made for quite a wonderful distraction. But now, alone in this empty house, there’s nothing but the biting loneliness to prevent me from thinking about a certain redhead and the way she sounds when she moans my name.

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