Page 71 of The Burnt Heart

“Why Ray? Why is he so obsessed with a child between our families?”

“Don’t come any closer,” Jesse barked as Ray shuffled forward. The scent of sweat drifted off him and I noticed the rumpled, stained condition of his clothes for the first time. It was a sickly-sweet desperation, unwashed and thick. Logan’s heart thumped against my back, but I wasn’t panicked. The conversation with my father had me mulling over Harold’s motivation already. What I couldn’t work out is what they had to gain. Especially if they attempted to impregnate me by force. He had to know I wouldn’t stand for it without exacting my revenge. A realization crashed over me, and my jaw dropped open. Ray clapped, a cynical smile stretching his lips. The sound was a slap on my face. I had spent so long thinking I was untouchable. I had forgotten that people would do anything for power.

Anything.

“She gets it. Now you know what we’re dealing with. I’ve been in hiding for weeks. I didn’t dare reach out to you. After we spoke, I went to papa and tried to work out what he’d done that had got you so riled up. He ordered me to get you pregnant, whatever it took. Said if I didn’t go along with it, they would shoot me on sight. I refused. He lost his mind when I tried to reason with him. He tossed me out without a second thought, like he didn’t even care about his only son.”

I covered my mouth with my hand, muffling the gasp I made. My eyes bugged as Logan leaned over, questioning me with a slight squeeze on my shoulder.

“What is it? What have you realized, siren?” They all watched me, lungs hitched on my next words.

I had been right to trust my gut when it had screamed there was a predator chasing me through the shadows. It had been so loud that I couldn’t ignore it. I had thought Harold Donato was devious, but I had no notion he was so cold. He wanted theOrazio bloodline mingled with his own, and it didn’t matter what I thought of it.

As soon as the baby was born, I’d be dead. He could claim our territory and burn down the remaining pillars of it. Scorch Greenich Bay until the only thing that remained was him. And a malleable child. The Unseen would accept the claim of a mixed bloodline, even if it was an infant. I never thought I would be happy about my mom hurting me. There would be no child, no matter what happened.

“Has this been his plan all along? How does he think he’s going to get away with it? No one will follow him,” I asked, shoving down the trembling cords of emotion that threatened to break free and overwhelm me. I couldn’t stop imagining a child, my child, in the arms of that evil man.

The key to two kingdoms.

Ray pressed his lips together, bloodless with barely contained fear. He was doing the same as me, pushing it down and getting a handle on it. How must it feel? To know he’d been a pawn all along. Never with any agency of his own. What would have happened if I’d married him at eighteen?

“It’s exactly what you think, from that very first engagement attempt. I unwittingly ruined it with my rude comment to you. But it didn’t stop his maneuvering. Those scandals your father was nearly embroiled in? He orchestrated all of that with his contact in the authorities. But your whip smart ability to rescue a reputation foiled him again. Then Chief Goldman moved in and fired anyone who even smelled of corruption.”

“He didn’t give up though, did he?” I pressed, and he nodded.

“He went back to his original plan, getting us married. This child is the only thing he wants, a mad obsession. But he amped up his efforts this time. He made a deal with your three doofuses, got them out of the way nice and tidily. He used the sighting of Crimson Claw to force an alliance. Us against a common enemy.He upped the urgency by having us attacked, hoping it would push us together.”

“Nicole, he hired her? The severed hand?” my voice sounded disembodied. She had been right about one thing. This was a game, and I was a pawn, being used for stakes that made my stomach tremble.

“I don’t know about those, but he will stop at nothing. I wouldn’t put it past him.” Ray laughed and shrugged like I’d told a joke, strolling toward me. Jesse launched himself in front of Ray and shoved him away.

“Back. Up,” Jesse growled.

“You’re a hard girl to manipulate Adelaide, although we must have been convincing enough as lovers as he thought he was about to get what he wanted. He thought he had you all worked out, all of this to have you running further into my arms.”

“One step closer to a child,” I stated, and he indicated his agreement with a small nod.

I heard the boys’ shocked inhales.

“Adelaide...” Briar started, but I waved a hand at him.

“A child that gives him the Donato and Orazio kingdoms,” I clarified. My limbs prickled, but the rest of my body was surprisingly numb. Harold had been biding his time, but his plans had failed. His son was here, in front of me. A grim smile stretched my lips. He had done all of this for a child, but it was the one thing he couldn’t get from me.

“I didn’t know anything about this, Adelaide.” Ray clenched his jaw. When he saw his words had no effect, he lowered himself to his knees. Pride kept his shoulders pulled back. A lion born in a den of snakes. His eyes blazed with fury as he spat out his next words. “I swear fealty to you, Adelaide Orazio. Can we stop this now? We’re on the same fucking side.”

Ignoring the protests of everyone else in the warehouse, I closed the distance between us. I held out my hand to Jonah,and he relinquished his gun to me. My thumb dragged the safety off. It sounded like a bullet, the only sound in the deathly quiet space. Ray flinched, his dark hair covering his forehead. I leaned down and tapped the muzzle under his chin, forcing his head up.

He didn’t look angry, only resigned as he swallowed hard.

“This is why I had to put distance between myself and Lara, so can you at least tell her the truth? Papa thought we were real because I’ve been acting like a man in love, but he just got the woman wrong. When he threatened her, I panicked. He would have killed her. Seeing how far he will go for this; I know for certain.”

He tossed the plea to Jonah, eyes sliding to the stoic guard beside me. I cut him a look, wordlessly telling him not to reply. He pursed his lips, like he was insulted at the insinuation.

“I accept your fealty Raimondo but know this.” I leaned down so our eyes were level, wanting him to see how deeply serious I was. “If you are working with Harold, I will make your death painful and I will make it slow.”

His eyes flashed, but he bit his tongue while taking a deep breath. His lungs emptied with a shudder before speaking.

“Adelaide, I will stand beside you when we end him together. He’s a dead man walking.”

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