Page 42 of The Don's Hidden Heir

“He was nine. My brother’s good with a gun. Better than anyone I know.” He notices me fidgeting and his lips curls to the side. “Are you afraid? You love my brother, but it worries you he’s not the gentleman you grew up dreaming off.”

“I don’t love him.”

He scoffs. “Do you know one rule for staying alive in the mafia?” He answers when I shake my head. “Reading body language. You have better luck fooling yourself than me.”

I break eye contact and inhale deeply. “I have to check on Lucas.” I feel Marcus’s eyes on me as I scurry away from the living room and run upstairs.

Lucas is asleep when I reach his bedroom and turn on the light. He’s snoring lightly, with one leg tucked in his SpongeBob blanket and the other draping down his bed. I tuck his leg back in the blanket and the bed dips under my weight as I sit on the edge and watch my son in awe.

It’s hard to believe that me and a man like Dominic, created a child like Lucas. He’s witty, intelligent and kind. He stirs in his sleep and strands of dark hair cascade over his forehead. I tuck the hair away and run a finger over his skin, my chest swelling with pride.

“How about we live with your Dad, Lucas? Would you like that?” I whisper.

Lucas stirs again and wraps his hand around mine. He was five the last time I shared a bed with him. I miss those days when he was just a baby. It’s sad how quick they grow up.

One day he was an infant who cried for my attention, then he became a toddler who followed me everywhere and all of sudden, he’s a fine old man who’ll rather hang out with his friends than me.

I lie beside him, watching in wonderment and consumed by my thoughts, then I drift off to sleep.

It’s almost midnight when I wake up and sneak out of the room so I don’t wake Lucas. Marcus is sitting alone in the living room when I go downstairs for a cup of water.

“Where’s Moira?”

“I’m here to protect you and Lucas, not her.”

I pull my brows together. He’s such an ass. “Do you always have to be so rude? You can just say she’s gone to sleep.”

“You don’t tell me what to say.”

“No, I don’t, but you don’t always have to sound like you’re about to kill someone.”

His jaw flexes and he grinds his teeth. “Maybe if you just do the right thing and move in with my brother, I wouldn’t have to be here babysitting you.”

Anger spirals in my gut like a whirlwind. “I didn’t ask for you to be here. I don’t need to be babysat. You might’ve forgotten but you and your brother are the only reason I’m in this mess to begin with.”

Marcusclenches hisfist[JV6]and slams it on the sofa beside him. In a second, he’s in front of me and I take a step back, heart pounding as cold sweat covers my body.

“I’ve known Dominic all my life, Elena. You may think of him as a monster, but that monster protected me and Vincent all our lives.”

Panic sears my stomach, but I don’t back down. “What does that have to do with me?”

“Everything,” he growls in a low voice that sends shivers down my spine. “Dominic never lies. If he’s protecting you then he cares about you. I haven’t seen him care about anyone as much and I’m fucking angry because you’re taking him for a fool.”

“No.” I dare a step forward. “I won’t let you speak to me like that in my own home. Your brother used me, he kept the truth about the mafia from me. If there’s anyone who took the other for a fool, then it’s him.”

“Would anything have changed if he told you the truth seven years ago?”

When I don’t answer, he smirks. “I thought as much. He probably couldn’t tell you because he knew you were such a coward.” He steps back and returns to the sofa.

I stare at him for minutes and my anger blends with reality kicking me in the guts because I know Marcus is right. I’m a fucking coward and I would have run from him the moment I met him if I knew the truth.

Scampering to my room, I close the door behind me and throw myself on my bed. I stare at the ceiling most of the night, consumed by my own thoughts and the weight of the decision I need to make.

But before I fall asleep, the decision is made.

I’m moving in with Dominic.

Chapter Eleven

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