Page 45 of Iron Crown

Eoghan’s slow spreading smile surprised me. I tried not to let that show on my face, but I had not expected him to look so victorious.

“Oh, just an old friend.” Eoghan leaned back, completely self-assured. “You might know him.”

Cosima looked confused. I was, too.

We both waited, hanging on Eoghan’s every micro-expression, and he dragged it out for dramatic effect.

“How has life been for the Durantes since you lost the good Giovanni Morelli?” Eoghan was so smug, bringing up her godfather.

Cosima reacted immediately, her pale face turning beet red.

In a fury, she hissed, “You murdering prick! You came like cowards in the night!”

Beneath the anger, the bluster, there was that current of pain in her eyes.

“I watched you take him. I know it was you, you Irish bastard!”

“Aye, I remember. Two of you, alone, late at night, hard at work in the office,” Eoghan sneered.

So, they had been lovers after all…

“Aye, I know it,” Eoghan said casually, almost laughing, “But that was my father’s time.Now, is different. You and I are at the helm, and we can choose a different path.”

Eoghan let go of my hand, leaning forward on the table, his fingers steepled before him.

“You have rendered your father powerless, and I know you’re giving the orders now, Cosima.” He took a deep breath and calmed himself before he looked her dead in the eyes. “Call off your men and come to the table to broker peace before any more bloodshed happens.”

She leaned back, placing her fingers elegantly across her lap, her eyes traveling up and down Eoghan as if she was looking at an interesting, but vulgar, window display.

“I will never agree to shake hands with the likes of a Green.”

“We need to let the past die. I let it die with my father.” Eoghan jabbed his index finger into the table to emphasize his point as he grew more insistent. “You have no love for yours, I know it. So finish your coup, get rid of him. Hell, you don’t even have to kill him. Take his seat, officially, at the head of your family, and come to the negotiating table, so we can make peace and move on from our family curse!”

He leaned back, as if calming himself again.

“If you do, then I will return Giovanni to you,” he said murmured. “Unharmed.”

My heart skipped a beat, squeezing in my chest.

Hestillhad Morelli? After all of this time? After three years? I kept the shock from registering on my face.

I could remember his screams, and Eoghan’s taunts. I remembered the fear I felt behind the closed door… the anguish that had made me run away in the first place.

No one knew this. It would have been in the reports if we’d known. This meant that Jericho didn’t know this either.

“I don’t fucking believe you!” Cosima’s fingers clutched the edge of the table. “How dare you come with this pathetic lie!”

“Oh, he’s alive and well. Begs me to make sure nothing happens to you in the waryouare escalating.” Again, Eoghan smiled. “He tells me not to hurt his precious angel.”

I knew that Eoghan was getting frustrated, just from the sheer, unnerving calm that took over him.

“I wonder what he’d say if he could see what kind of venomous serpent you’ve become,” he said pensively.

“Giovanni would rather die than betray me!”

The conviction in her voice did not allow for any argument. She had absolute faith in her godfather.

“Oh, that’s true. I believe it wholeheartedly, in fact.” Eoghan leaned forward in his seat again. “He thinks that your father will cause you further harm. He says Eugenio has harmed you for your entire life. He lives because he is still bargaining for your safety.”

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