Page 56 of Legacy

Then, why the hell had I spent the morning watching her sleep?

Stop thinking of her perfect mouth and serene expression and get your head on straight, asshole.

Fifteen minutes later, I arrived at the Xenos estate with my mask firmly in place. I studied the exterior and held in a sneer.

Over the top. Opulent. Flashy.

Gaudy.

Just for a fucking statement, he’d destroyed the history of the place. At least the architects I’d contacted a few weeks ago assured me restoring the home to its former historic beauty was somewhat possible. With all the extensions and internal changes, nothing could return it to its former classical glory. Still, Avra would get her family home back.

I stepped out of the car and made my way in.

Ozias lived in a grand, ornate, heartless shell. It was nothing like the home I shared with Avra, where, for the first time in my adult life, I felt a sense of comfort and peace every time I walked through the doors.

This fucking estate was so bleak, nothing but an eyesore to draw attention. I’d only ever associate this place with pain and death.

Including my mother’s and countless others’.

Luckily, my early childhood was spent in the countryside, away from Ozias and his cruelty. As soon as my mother recovered from childbirth, he shipped Mama and me as far from him as possible to keep a respectable image and enjoy a life of indulgence.

One day, I planned to show Avra the cottage where I’d grown up. It was a fourth the size of this mansion but full of love and laughter. There were no beatings or lectures on weakness. Instead, I learned my lessons through patient hugs and encouragement.

Mama smiled and laughed during those times. Then, the moment I hit my teens, it had all changed. I was big in height and stature for my age and performed well in my athletic events. This news reached Ozias, and he demanded we return to his main property so he could begin my training as his heir.

I’d begged and pleaded not to go. I hated Ozias. Every interaction I’d experienced with him was cruel, but an order was an order, and Mama had to follow them.

I received my first beating the night we’d arrived. According to Ozias, Xenos men never cried or clung to their mothers.

The laughter and joy stopped. I heard Mama cry more than anything else. The light left her eyes, and she hid her love for me to protect me from Ozias’s scorn.

My mother kept the knowledge of her illness a secret until it was too late. I was nineteen when she admitted she was in the late stages of kidney failure. My father claimed it had happened suddenly, a late diagnosis, but I knew enough that it was all bullshit. I’d suspected something was wrong with her for years, but Ozias said she was weak and nothing more.

That was when I looked up my birth records and learned the truth. The pregnancy with me destroyed Mama’s kidney function, and Ozias knew it. That was the reason he sent us away.

Out of sight and out of mind. He’d waited for her death, even refusing to find her proper treatment so she’d be gone sooner.

Enough.

I shoved down the haunting memories as I reached the floor for my father’s office. Losing myself to the anger only caused more problems when dealing with the asshole.

I strode into his office without requesting permission to enter and said, “You summoned.”

He grunted, looking me up and down before folding his hands on his desk.

Oh, he wanted to play lord of the manor today.

“How’s marriage finding you?”

As if he gives a fuck.

I arched a brow. “Let’s cut the bullshit pleasantries and get to the point. What’s the issue?”

“You could show some respect.”

I gave him no response, causing a crease between his brows.

He continued, “I wanted to discuss the shipments with the Italians.”

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