Page 41 of Vicious Heir

“That’s good.” He slowly unties his shoes and kicks them off. He sighs as he lies back, head on the arm. His heavy-lidded eyesflutter. “She’ll show you around the house. Find Bianca if you need anything else.”

I watch as he relaxes slightly. When his eyes shut, I step back out into the hall, and it’s only then that I realize what he said to me back there.

Tesoro mio.

And if my Italian isn’t too rusty, I’m pretty sure that means,my treasure.

Since when did I become his anything?

Chapter 13

Adriano

Luca parks the car outside a tall downtown skyscraper. “Leave the car here,” I tell him and climb out.

He follows, locking the black BMW as we stride toward the lobby together. I’m feeling slightly refreshed after getting a few hours of sleep, and now I’m ready to burn this city to the ground.

But first, a bit of important business.

Once inside, I bypass security and get on the elevators. Luca leans against the wall, checking his phone as we rise to the twenty-fifth floor. Not even a prime level in this second-rate building. Look how far the fight has fallen.

“How do you want to play this?” Luca asks once the elevator slides open. We step into a small entry room with another ornate door up ahead. The nameWILLING-MORRIS FUNDis written in gold script at the top of the frosted glass.

“Follow my lead. You’ll be the silent and deadly type.”

Luca grins. “Just be myself. Understood.”

I push my way into WMF and approach a startled-looking secretary. She’s older, in her fifties, with a big pouf of blonde hair and a pinched frown. “Hello, sir. Do you have an appointment?”

“Adriano Marino here to see Pierre Willing-Morris.”

She seems frazzled as she types at her keyboard. “I’m sorry, sir, but?—”

I stride past her and into the fund’s interior. Luca keeps pace with me, grinning like he’s enjoying this.

I’m honestly having fun too.

“Sir!” the secretary cries out and starts to follow. “Sir, Mr. Willing-Morris is in a meeting right now. Sir, you can’t just?—”

I survey my new kingdom. The main trading room floor is composed of dozens of computers and monitors lined up along an open seating plan. Men of all ages are seated there, some typing, some talking on the phone, others looking like they’re doing absolutely nothing. How the hell a failing hedge fund has so many employees, I’ll never know. A fucking scam is what it must be. Heads will roll soon.

“Attention, everyone,” I say, and a bunch of confused faces stare back. The secretary’s still buzzing around me, but I only ignore her as Luca gently moves her back. “My name is Adriano Marino, and I’m your new boss. I don’t know how this fund has been managed up to this point, but there are going to be changes. I hope you’re all prepared.”

“What the fuck?” I hear someone mutter, but otherwise, it’s dead silent.

I walk past them and straight to the far corner office. Pierre’s standing in his doorway now, his face ghost pale, his eyes wide.He’s looking around like he expects someone to come save him. I march straight up to the bastard and shove him hard back into his office.

He staggers and nearly falls. I head inside as the secretary lets out a shocked yelp. Luca slams the door behind me.

“What the fuck is this about, Marino?” Pierre asks, eyes darting from Luca back to me. “My grandmother didn’t mention?—”

“You know damn well what this is about.” I stare at my brother-in-law. I can see some of Lucy in him. The skin color, the nose. But where she’s beautiful and dignified, I find this man to be a pathetic, simpering piece of shit.

He takes a deep breath and blows it out. “I know you have some kind of deal with her, but I’ve been running this fund for years.”

“And you’ve done nothing but tread water, at best.”

“Before me, this place was going bankrupt.” His face turns red with outrage. “I turned it around. I made it profitable.”

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