Page 68 of Cruel Heir

“Then you have to protect us.” I tilt my chin up, looking at him. “There has to be a way to figure this out without my family dying, Andre. You just said yourself that you don’t believe you can defeat my father with the allies you have. Not with the bulk of the Family behind him. So, find a way to bargain with him. Find a way to make him see sense. Our family will never be safe otherwise.”

“Our family,” Andre says softly, the words catching in the airbetween us. “How do I prove to you that this is what I want, Lucia? That I want things to be how they were last night, how they are right now, and not how they were before? How do I make you believe me?”

“Protect us. Find a way that doesn’t mean killing my family. Bebetterthan what your father did. Be better than my father is. Find a different way.” I look at Andre, and I know he can hear the pleading in my voice. “There has to be a way.”

“The other wives might be a key.” Andre’s tone is quiet, subdued. “I know they act as if they know nothing, but it’s not necessarily true. If you can find out something from them—”

“I’ve tried.” I let out a sharp, frustrated breath. “They act as if they don’t care about anything other than children and dinner parties, and—”

“Because they’re told to. Just as you were raised to focus on those things. But mafia wives often know things they shouldn’t. And some husbands share with their wives. Just as I did with you, earlier.” Andre reaches to touch my face, his fingers brushing over my cheekbone. “I would like for things to be different, too, Lucia. But we’ll have to do it together.”

“They’re supposed to come and visit today. I was going to put it off after what happened last night, but—”

Andre shakes his head firmly. “No. Let them see that the mansion is still being cleaned up. See what their reactions are. It might tell you more than they’re willing to say out loud. And it might make them more willing to talk than they were before.”

“Alright.” I nod slowly. “I’ll see what I can manage.”

I retreat back upstairs, to try to eat something and keep it down before anyone arrives. I manage a little oatmeal and fruit, but it’s not just the nausea that makes it hard to eat. Everything feels as if it’s been flipped upside down.

I’m pregnant. My marriage has changed. Andre and I are—on the same side now.I don’t feel like the same person that I did when I was brought here. And I’m not sure I’d want to go back to being that person.

Exactly as Andre had predicted, the other wives can’t hide theirreactions to seeing the state of the mansion when they arrive. I’d expected Carla, Bea, and Rosa, but what Ihadn’texpected was to see Annette with them. I hadn’t thought she would dare show her face, after what she did.

I don’t say anything at first. I bide my time, responding instead to the horrified expression on the others’ faces when they walk in through the open doorway. “I’m so sorry,” I tell Carla, who is the first to walk in. “I thought I should cancel today, but my husband didn’t want our afternoon to be spoiled. Not all of the mansion is in this state, I promise. We can go up to the library, or—”

“What happened?” Carla looks around, her face paling slightly. “This is terrible, Lucia! Are you alright?”

I see her eyes flick to the bruise on my jaw. “There was an attack,” I tell her quietly. “My father’s men. I’m sure Andre has been talking to your husbands about how to respond. But it’s all just cosmetic damage. I’m entirely fine—and so is the baby.”

I touch my stomach lightly as I say it, watching Annette out of the corner of my eye. Her face has paled, and I can see that she wants to flee. The other three women are congratulating me, nearly chirping with excitement over the news, but Annette looks as if she wants to throw up as much as I did this morning.

She wasn’t just hoping that she’d find something to incriminate me upstairs. She was hoping I wouldn’t be able to produce the heir Andre needs at all.

We’re all still standing in the wide entryway, but I turn to look at Annette, my expression cold and hard. For the first time, I feel like what I am—the wife of a powerful man. Someone who wields power over others.

“Get out, Annette.” There’s no emotion in my voice when I speak. “I don’t know what made you think you’d still be welcome here, but you’re not. Go home.”

“Lucia!” Carla gasps aloud. “What’s going on? Annette is a friend—”

“No, she’s not.” I look at her evenly. “She trespassed in parts of my home where she wasn’t invited, and went into my private room tolook through my things. She tried to slander me to my husband. Who knows what else she’s capable of?”

Annette’s eyes narrow, her mouth twisting viciously. “You werelyingto your husband,” she hisses. “Taking birth control to try to keep from giving him the heir he needs. Plotting and conniving with your maid, to try to go home to your daddy so you could get out of your marriage.” She sneers at me, and I hear the soft murmur of shock from the others.

“Annette.” Carla looks as if she’s been struck. “What are you talking about?”

“Tell them the truth, Lucia,” Annette hisses, but I don’t so much as flinch.

“Annette.” Carla stares at her. “Think about what you’re saying. She just told us she’s pregnant. She couldn’t possibly—and—”

“If that were true, we wouldn’t be here.Shewouldn’t still be married.” Bea’s eyes are wide. “You don’t just get away with lying to men like the ones we’re married to. You know that, Annette. Why would you lie about that?”

Rosa is absolutely silent. Her dark-eyed gaze is flicking back and forth among the three of us, and it feels as if she’s waiting to say something. But she doesn’t.

I hadn’t thought Annette’s face could be any paler, but she looks as if she’s been drained of every bit of blood. She’s looking at Carla in horror, as if she can’t believe Carla isn’t taking her side. “She’slying,” Annette breathes. “How long have we known each other? We got married almost at the same time—”

“And you were never one of us,” Rosa speaks up, finally, her voice an icy echo of what mine was a moment ago. “And I know what your husband is doing, Annette. I’m with Lucia on this. Get out.”

If a moment ago Carla was wavering, Rosa’s addition to the conversation seems to shift the mood entirely. She and Bea, I’ve seen, are the followers—the ones who I’d be willing to bet have always been in Carla and Annette’s shadow for as long as the four of them have been a clique. For Rosa to speak up means something.

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