Page 73 of Cruel Heir

“If you do this, then you stay near me,” I tell her, my voice more strained with emotion than I mean for it to be. “I need you to be smart about this. Can you promise me that? Don’t push him. See how it plays out. Don’t let him bait you into anything—”

“Andre.” Lucia places a hand on my chest, gently. “I might not have understood everything about my father before this. But he is still my father. I know him well enough. And I know enough now, about everything, to be cautious. I promise, I’ll stay by you. And I won’t let him get under my skin.”

“You should be staying here.” I pull her in, unable to keep myself from kissing her, the worry too close to the surface. “Our child—”

“Will be safer if I’m there to argue for peace as well. I’m sure of it, Andre.” Lucia kisses me back, softly, the gesture enough to melt my resistance. “I need you to trustme, too.”

I nod, slowly, reluctantly. “Alright,” I agree, and then I hear Antonio’s footsteps, coming to tell me that it’s time to go.

The tension feels worse than the last time. I hadn’t expected Fontana to come to terms when I met with him at Lucia’s request, but this time, it feels as if it’s the only hope we have left. If he still insists on blood or nothing, I won’t be able to keep Lucia safe.

I’ll have to let him take her back, and hope that she and our child will survive it.

Everything in me snarls that I’ll never let anyone take Lucia from me, not even her father. But I know that feeling won’t matter, if Fontana has me killed.

I can feel the shock when I walk into the room with Lucia. Everyone is there—Amalfi, Di Falci, Luisi, the lesser dons who allied with me as well. The elder members of the Family are sitting with Fontana, and my stomach lurches. Fontana has brought his force, just as I have. But it doesn’t measure up. Nothing I have can compare to the power he wields.

The look on his face, calm and unflappable, says that he knows it.

“Daughter.” Fontana looks at Lucia, not even bothering to address me. “Have you changed your mind? Brought me the Leone boy to be punished, while you apologize for the way you spoke to me last? Or—” He spreads his hands. “Or have you decided to betray me twice over?”

Lucia lets out a slow breath. “Andre is here to speak with you,” she says quietly. “And I’m here to be at his side.”

I feel as if all the air has been sucked out of me in that moment. I hadn’t been sure what to expect. Even with how much has changed, I wasn’t sure that she wouldn’t go to her father in the last moment, that she wouldn’t see that staying with me meant a risk she might not be willing to take. But myprincipessahas made her choice.

She’s chosenme.

“You were betrayed, Fontana. But not by your daughter, who has only kept her marriage vows.” I nod to Antonio, who carries the container holding Gaeta’s head to where Fontana sits. I see the others sitting near him tense, but Antonio only sets it down, retreating from the room as silently as he entered.

“What is this?” Fontana’s mouth twists with displeasure. “I don’t enjoy games—”

“There’s no game. Open it.”

I can see Fontana wants to refuse, if only to not take orders from me. “You’ll see what I mean, Don Fontana,” I continue, adding theterm of respect, backing down just a little. Giving him a chance to meet me halfway. “Only open it, and we can have this discussion.”

Fontana lets out a sharp breath, and opens the container.

I feel the moment the room goes still. Fontana doesn’t move, as he looks down at Gaeta’s head. The other elder dons don’t move. There is utter silence that ticks on for long seconds, until Fontana jerks his head to one of the men standing behind him. My security had to wait outside, but he has two guards.

It’s unfair, but I had no place to argue. Not if I wanted to talk.

“Get this out of here,” he snaps to the man behind him, who jumps to obey. “What is the meaning of this?” He looks at me, at Amalfi, at the other dons with me. “I didn’t order this.”

“Gaeta was a traitor. To you, to me, and planned to be one to you again. I removed him.” I meet Fontana’s gaze evenly. “I did this to prove to you that I am a capable son of the Family. That I can be ruthless, when it is needed. That even if you did not give me your daughter, I am worthy of her. And that I am not my father’s son, to not know when it is necessary to bend, and acknowledge that I was wrong. I should not have stood against you. I have brought you the head of someone else who has, and I ask for only what I am owed as the son of Enzo Leone, and the husband of your daughter. I ask for the reinstatement of my family’s name, the return of the wealth I have not already claimed, and a place at your side.”

Fontana is silent for one second, before he laughs. It’s a sharp, barking sound, making everyone in the room flinch. “And you expect me to simply believe this?” He looks around the table. “Does anyone else speak for him?”

“I do.” Amalfi meets his gaze. “As do Dons Di Falci and Luisi.”

The other two nod in agreement. “We do,” Luisi echoes. “I found the proof of Gaeta’s scheming, Don Fontana. I would have brought it to you. But Don Leone’s plan seemed wise to me. I agreed that you would not hear him out otherwise. And it is my belief that he should not continue to suffer for the mistakes of his father.”

“And what about his mistakes?” Fontana sounds as if he’s speaking through clenched teeth. “He took my daughter. He forcedher to marry him. He has stolen the right to a place in my family that he has not earned.”

Amalfi looks at me. “Is that true?” He glances at Lucia. “If that’s true, then go back to your father, child. Ask his forgiveness for any mistakes you might have made on account of Don Leone’s actions. Return to your family, and Don Leone will be dealt with.”

I feel Lucia tense next to me. I can’t bring myself to look at her. With one choice, she could undo it all. She could go back. And Amalfi has made it clear that whatever his alliance with my father, he will not tolerate the same scheming that brought my father down.

If Lucia tells the truth about our marriage, this will all be over.

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