Page 50 of Cruel Heir

“Show him, Annette.” The words, coming from Don Gaeta, are an order. His wife says nothing, only holds out her hand, a slim blue rectangle in her palm.

I look at Gaeta, exasperated. “Do you think I have time for games? Do you respect me so little that you intend to keep dragging this out? What is this?”

“Take it,” Gaeta encourages, and I grit my teeth, snatching the item out of Annette Gaeta’s palm. There’s something inside of it, and I slip it out—my stomach clenching the moment I do. I know the moment I look at it that I’ve failed to keep my expression as neutral as I’d like.

“This is a lie.” I look down at the birth control pills in my hand, my emotions roiling. If this is true, it’s a monumental betrayal from Lucia. And yet, even as I stare at it, I hear a small trickle of a thought in my head, one that is as equally unwelcome as this discovery.

Why wouldn’t she use any means at her disposal to keep from getting pregnant? You kidnapped her, forced her into a marriage, and now have told her that you intend to kill her family. What about that inspires loyalty?

A tiny part of me, the one that can’t help it every time I’m faced with some new surprise from my wife, is impressed at her ingenuity. I know she doesn’t leave the estate, and I’ve carefully kept track of the staff’s comings and goings since she arrived. But somehow, if this is the truth, she got her hands on these.

It doesn’t change how angry I am. But I can’t deny that if it’s true, my wife is more of a force to be reckoned with than I first believed.

“I’ll overlook that accusation, given the shock that this must be,” Gaeta says coolly. “Annette, tell Don Leone what you found.”

“They were in her makeup bag. On her vanity.”

“So if I’m to believe you, then I also should believe that you were going through my wife’s things.” I narrow my eyes, a new anger overtaking me on Lucia’s behalf. It surprises me with the intensity of it. “You went into my wife’s room uninvited, and poked through her personal belongings until you found this.”

Gaeta’s jaw clenches. “You seem to be missing the part wheremywife uncovered your wife’s deceit,” he bites out. “Regardless of how—”

“No, not regardless.” I sit forward, setting my glass aside. “If this is true, I will deal with my wife accordingly. But it does not change the fact that yours abused the hospitality of my house.”

I shove the packet of pills into my pocket, standing up as I motion to Annette. “I want her punished. Now, where I can see. And then I will go home and deal with my wife.”

Annette lets out a small whimper, her eyes wide and shocked. Gaeta’s expression mirrors hers for a moment, before his face smooths. “And will you punish yours as I’m to punish mine?” he asks coolly. “In front of the other dons?”

“No.”

“Then I will not—”

“You will.” I cut him off. “What Lucia may or may not have done is a private matter, between us. Your wife has trespassed on my hospitality and stolen private belongings from my household. You will punish her, now, or I will see to it that you are removed from our alliance. I don’t doubt that Fontana’s response to you will be swift.” I hold his gaze, mine hard and steely. “I am to be head of the Family, Don Gaeta, when Fontana is gone.Thatis my goal. And I will begin now as I mean to do things in the future.”

I nod to Annette once more, my face implacable. “Now, Don Gaeta. I have things to attend to at home.”

—

My anger only builds during the drive back to my estate. I can feel the weight of the pills in my pocket, Lucia’s betrayal stoking a rage in me that grows hotter by the moment. I feel sure that Don Gaeta’s wife was telling the truth—my insistence that he punish her in front of me was twofold. Not only did it emphasize my place in the new order of things—my power over him—but I also expected that if it were a lie, the truth would have come out quickly. Annette might be afraid of her husband, but I expected the pain and humiliation of being belted in front of me would have quickly made her admit the truth. But she kept silent, other than a few small cries. It was clear that she didnotenjoy the punishment.

Would Lucia? I haven’t decided how I’ll punish her, once I get back to the mansion. I should do the same that I demanded Gaeta do to his wife. My cock twitches at the thought, imagining Lucia bent over, her perfect ass reddened from my belt. But at the same time, a different emotion floods through me. One that I can only describe as disappointment.

I knew that she didn’t want what I offered her. That she’s continued to fight me, to insist that the world is as she believed it to be, not as it truly is. But I didn’t realize just how much I’d hoped that things might change until she betrayed me in such a crushing way. A way that leaves no question as to where her loyalties truly lie.

“Where is my wife?” I ask abruptly the moment I walk into the mansion, seeing James stepping out into the entrance to greet me.

“Upstairs, I think—”

I don’t bother to wait for him to finish. I take the stairs quickly, striding up to the floor where her bedroom is, feeling the hot embers of rage flickering to life all over again as I walk into the room without knocking. Lucia is curled up on her bed reading a book, a heating pad on her stomach, and for a moment, I’m torn between two such utterly different emotions that it stops me dead in my tracks.

One part of me is furious—furious at seeing her coddling herself through her time of the month when she’s taken such steps toprevent getting pregnant, furious with her lies, furious that she’s kept me from the one thing I need…while making me believe that it could bemyfault, no less.

And another part of me, a strange part that I can’t entirely reconcile, sees that she’s clearly in pain and wants to let her be. I have the strangest, unfamiliar urge to reach over and smooth the hair away from her face, to ask her if there’s anything she needs. To press my lips against her forehead, even slide into bed next to her with my own book, and simply be next to her. I think of the trick she played on me, and that anger and admiration tangles together once again. My wife deceived me—but at the same time, my wifemanagedto deceive me.

If we were on the same side, we would be a truly formidable pair.

“Lucia.” My voice is deadly quiet as it carries across the room to her. She looks up sharply, startled, her eyes going wide for a moment.

“I thought you had a meeting.” She looks at me, her face calm, as if she has no idea what’s happened.Does she have more pills? She must have noticed their absence this morning. In which case, my wife also has a much better poker face than I imagined.

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