Page 94 of Vicious Heir

“Don’t worry, I’m getting away from you, just like you want. But I’m not going far.” She stomps to the door and glares back at me. “This is my home now. Whether you like it or not.”

Then she leaves.

Well, fuck.

I sit down on the edge of the bed with a long sigh.

So long as she’s still in the house, it’ll be okay. I’ll talk to her again when she calms down and make her understand that this is for the best. She’ll come around. She’ll be okay.

Because if she’s not?

I won’t be able to live with myself.

Chapter 35

Lucy

It feels a little weird camping out in Adriano’s father’s old suite. The rooms are now empty of all the old man’s belongings, but it’s as if his ghost still lingers. There is new furniture, most of it not even fully put together yet. I sleep on a bed with just a brand-new sheet and a lumpy pillow.

“I’m aware that I overreacted a little bit, okay?” I pace back and forth across the empty living room. Kennedy’s sitting on the floor, legs crossed, Chinese food spread out in front of her. “But he pisses me off so much.”

“You’re pregnant. You get a pass.” She grins at me, poking chopsticks in my direction. “I still can’t believe it.”

“That makes two of us.” I collapse back onto the floor and groan as I lie on my back. “Is he going to do this forever? Pull me in, love bomb me, treat me like a princess, then suddenly shove me away all over again? I’m legitimately getting whiplash.”

“He’s complicated.”

“He’s a brooding, self-absorbed prick.”

Her eyebrows raise. “A really hot brooding, self-absorbed prick.”

“I’m aware,” I grumble and stretch my legs. “Seriously, Kennedy. Am I just being stupid here? Should I go to the beach house?”

She’s quiet for a minute as she eats. I pick at some noodles, but I haven’t had much appetite lately. It’s like I’m getting the opposite of hunger cravings. The morning sickness hasn’t been too bad, so I’m not worried about that. I just don’t feel like eating. Still, I force some down since it’s better for the baby.

“I think you get a say in where you live. It’s your life too. But I also understand why Adriano might want to send you far away from everything that’s going on.”

I glance at her. She knows about that stuff with Demir. I told her the full story, which was surprisingly hard. I got some trauma flashbacks toward the end. But Kennedy’s strong and comforting, and she took it all in stride.

“You think he’s right. You think I should go.” I narrow my eyes. “You’re a traitor.”

She laughs and nudges me with her toe. “That isnotwhat I said. But come on. He’s not trying to send you to a nunnery or something because he’s ashamed of you. He watched you nearly get your brains blown out, and he’s scared, right? He wants to protect you.”

“Then he should protect me while I’m here, with him, by his side, where I belong.”

“Do you, though?” She says it very quietly. I sit up, not pleased with where this is going. “I mean, that man is clearly in love with you, right?”

I hold up my hands. “We haven’t said that yet. Don’t get too excited.”

She bursts out laughing. “Are you serious right now? Lucy, he’s so in love with you even I can see it. Come on!”

“I mean, maybe?—”

“And you’re a freak for him too. Just admit it.”

“I’m not a freak!” I sit very straight and prim. “I’m a pregnant woman with a healthy sense of what she likes and doesn’t like in the bedroom.”

“Not what I meant, but okay.”

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