Page 58 of Cruel Heir

“Your father didn’t take you to this estate before?”

“I rarely left the mansion that you found me at.” Her voice is clipped, almost angry. “I had everything I needed there. There was no need for me to go anywhere.”

The magnitude of how sheltered she was strikes me all over again. “I’d like to take you to other places.” The words come out before I really have time to think about them, but I don’t wish to take them back. Lucia looks at me, her face still carefully blank—that poker face that impressed me so much when I first saw it.

“Where?” she asks simply, and I have the urge to sayeverywhere.

“Anywhere you’d like,” I tell her instead. “Any country you’d like to visit. We could travel extensively for a while, if you’d like.”

If your father and I are no longer enemies. Or if he’s dead.The words hang heavily in the car between us, and I know it’s what Lucia isthinking, because she turns her head back to the window. There are only two ways that this ends, and only one of them allows the possibility of our marriage becoming something that might bring us happiness. I can see her struggling not to think about it. About what it means if Fontana refuses a compromise.

It startles me how quickly I’ve started to think more and more about the possibility of terms between us. Only days ago, the only terms I would have accepted were the same he forced my father to accept—a bullet on his knees. But the prospect of losing Lucia has put everything into a sharper focus.

If I lose her because of this, I will have twice lost something that matters to me. And while I was loyal to my father, devoted to my family—I can’t say that I’ve ever known love. Familial love isn’t something I’ve understood—only duty and loyalty. Now, with Lucia, I see a chance at a different kind of love. One I never expected to experience, either.

But having felt a taste of it, I’m no longer so certain that I’m prepared to lose it to avenge something already lost.

The front of the estate is heavily guarded, and I feel a knot of apprehension in my gut. Antonio and four more of my personal security guards are at my back, but if Fontana wanted to murder me, they would hardly be able to do much about his force. I’m relying on Fontana’s hands being tied by tradition, that he will respect the Family’s ways. It’s what keeps him in power, and today, I’m betting my life that it will also keep him in check.

The meeting was arranged to be between him and me, but I wondered if other dons would be present when I walk into the large conference room—a show of force to intimidate me. Instead, I’m relieved to see it’s only Fontana, sitting at the end of the long mahogany table, his iron-grey brows drawing together when I step in with Lucia at my side. Antonio and my men are required to wait outside, leaving only the three of us in the room when the doors shut.

It feels as if it’s been a very long time since I was face-to-face with Don Fontana. I had hoped that when I was again, it would also be a very different circumstance.

“I see you’ve brought my daughter.” His voice rings out into the air of the room, and I’m acutely aware of Lucia next to me. I wait for her to break her promise, for her to dart across the room to her father and beg his protection, for his men to come in and slaughter me. But she doesn’t move.

It dawns on me that I hadn’t truly believed her, even if, on the surface, I’d thought I did. Something stirs in my chest at the realization that she intends to keep her promise. That shewasn’tlying to me.

“I’ve come to discuss terms with you,” I tell him coolly. “As my man arranged with yours.”

“The only terms I will accept are the return of my daughter.” Fontana looks at Lucia. “Come here.”

I feel her tremble next to me. And then, to my shock, I feel her draw herself up taller next to me and step forward, ever so slightly.

“I’m not entirely sure I want to go,” she murmurs, and the same shock is mirrored for a moment on her father’s face.

“You’re being foolish.” His voice is clipped. “I’m not sure what game you’re playing, Lucia, but I’m in no mood for it. If he’s threatened you into saying it, I assure you, he will not enjoy that privilege much longer.”

“He has to be allowed to leave.” Lucia’s voice is trembling slightly. “The rules—”

I feel myself tense, waiting for Fontana to declare that the rules don’t apply to him, that he has no interest in following any but his own. But instead, he looks at his daughter curiously, like a dog that has learned to speak. I feel a hot curl of anger in my stomach at the expression on his face, as if he can’t quite believe that this conversation is happening.

“What do you know about the rules?” He chuckles. “He’ll be allowed to leave. But after that, all bets are off, as they say. But it won’t matter to you, daughter. You’ll be home, and we’ll determine how to salvage your future.”

“Her future is with me.” My voice rings out cold and sharp, cutting through the air between us. “Whether you like it or not, Luciais my wife. We were married by a priest, the wedding ordained, and the marriage consummated. You can ask Father Delaney, if you would like. I’m sure you know him well enough.”

“Her future is where I say it is.” Fontana’s voice is almost bored, cut through with irritation, as if I’m taking up his time when he could be elsewhere. “She’s my daughter, Leone, and you stole what was never yours. Leave her here, and be grateful that you’re leaving with your life, for now.”

“And if she doesn’t want to go?” It’s a gamble, for sure, when I have very little reason to think that Lucia wants to remain at my side. But a moment ago, she said just that. I don’t understand why any more than her father does. But it’s a glimmer of possibility, and I hold onto it, as I try to reason with a man who I’d never planned to do anything other than kill.

“It’s not her choice,” Fontana says flatly, and I feel Lucia flinch next to her. “It’s not yours, either.Daughter.” He turns his attention back to her, and I can feel Lucia trembling without even having to touch her. “Come here.”

It’s an order, issued with all the carelessness of someone calling a dog to heel. And I feel that burning flare of rage again—no longer only because of what I and my family have lost at this man’s hands, but for his treatment of his daughter.

More than that, I’m angry not only with Fontana, but with myself. Because I see in his actions an echo of how I’ve treated Lucia myself—as nothing more than a possession, something to be bartered with and used as a means to an end.

She’s more than that—brave, intelligent, and tenacious despite how wholly unprepared she was for the conflict she was thrust into. And in this moment, I hate myself as much as him for reducing her to so little.

“Itshouldbe her choice.” The words come out of my mouth before I can stop them, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Lucia turn towards me, shock written across her features. “I’ll admit as much as anyone else that I’ve taken those choices away from her, too. So let it be her choice now. ” I turn to her, before I can think better of it, orchange my mind. “What do you want, Lucia? To stay here with your father, or go with me?”

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