Page 11 of Heir of Darkness

She grabbed her cup of frozen yogurt, tossing it in the trash and walking out of the sweets shop.

Would Valerio still want her if she was with someone else? She wasn’t sure, but dammit if she wasn’t going to try to make him hate her.

FIVE

LUNA

With how busyLuna had been, she wouldn’t have even known a whole week had passed if Valerio didn’t insist on sending flowers to her apartment every day like clockwork. The kitchen counters, the dining table, and the floors—save for a little walkway—were covered in roses, peonies, and other flowers Luna couldn’t identify and didn’t care to. The entire apartment smelled like a greenhouse. It was overwhelming.

“This has to stop,” Cecilia muttered, kicking dead petals out of her path. “Talk to him.”

Luna scoffed. She picked up a few of the vases, setting them on the floor to clear up counter space. “Absolutely not. Not until I get that contract.”

She had been actively avoiding his calls and texts all week as well. And without the contract in her hands, she would continue to do so.

“Jeez, does it ever stop?” Gianna asked, walking through the front door. One of the vases fell to the floor, water spilling. She ignored it, walking farther into the apartment. Blair followed in after her, moving to open a window immediately.

“Tell him to stop,” Luna told Gianna. “He’s your cousin.”

“You think he’ll listen to me?” she asked with a raised brow. “That man doesn’t know how to listen to people.”

“Luna, I think this is something you’ll have to solve on your own,” Cecilia told her.

“Actually, I might have gotten something that will help you,” Blair said. She reached into her bag, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper.

“What is that?” Luna asked. Her eyes were wide. For a second she thought it could have been the contract, but no way it was a single piece of paper crumpled up beyond repair.

“It’s one page of the contract because I couldn’t get access to all of them, but it’s an important one,” Blair said, handing it over to her.

Luna took it, skimming over every word.

“How exactly did you get a copy of that?” Gianna asked, crossing her arms.

“Allister left his laptop open in class when he went to the bathroom,” Blair said. “I just happened to stumble across it when I was walking to my seat.”

“And you just got it? That easily?” Cecilia asked. Her tone held apprehension.

“I feel like they wanted you to find it,” Gianna said. “How the hell would you have found the file that quick and managed to send it to yourself all while he’s peeing? Boys use the bathroom in like a minute.”

“That’s gross,” Luna muttered, still reading.

“Why would they want me to find it?” Blair asked.

Luna threw down the paper. “Because they want me to see that the only way out of the marriage is death.”

“Simple, just kill him,” Cecilia said, shrugging. “If you hate him that bad then it shouldn’t be that hard.”

Luna shook her head. “I can’t kill him. I want to, but I can’t.”

“Because a small part of you feels something for him?” Gianna asked.

“No. Absolutely not. I’ll kill him just to prove a point,” Luna threatened.

Blair took a seat on the barstool with a disturbed look. “I can’t believe I got played by Allister of all people.”

“We all got played,” Luna muttered, patting her shoulder for comfort. “If I can’t kill him though, I need him to hate me.”

Maybe there was a way that she could pull on his hatred for the Kingsleys. If he hated her father and brother, then maybe he could hate her with the same scope. She just had to do something that would send him off.

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