Page 70 of Legacy

Pello had barely grazed my arm. The idiot needed glasses. He shot like stormtroopers used their blasters—everywhere but at the target.

My phone dinged again.

Eli: Stop giving Besa a hard time.

Me: I know he didn’t rat on me. He’s a Vitalis. How do you know I did anything to him?

Eli: I know you. And let me correct you. Besa is a Xenos with Vitalis ties.

The hell he was.

Eli: Stay calm. We can fight and fuck about it later.

Me: I hate you.

Eli: Do you?

I sighed. What I felt for Eli was nowhere in the vicinity of hate.

Me: No.

Eli: That’s what I thought.

Me: Finish up and come find me so we can argue about the proper aesthetics for our dining room.

Eli: I’ll be there shortly.

I tucked my mobile back in my handbag and strolled through the blown glass section. I came across a beautiful piece resembling flowers at one angle and ocean waves at another. It was perfect for Eli’s office.

What the fuck was I doing?

Was I looking at art for a home I shared with a husband?

Me. Avra Maria Vitalis.

How was this my reality?

And why wasn’t I upset about it?

If it had stayed mind-consuming, livewire attraction and sex, I wouldn’t have accepted Eli into my circle as my family.

There were genuine emotions between us, a strong connection. We trusted each other in a way I never thought possible. I wasn’t sure when it had happened or precisely why. He was the only one, aside from my sisters and Vik, who knew how we maintained the Vitalis fortune and continued to grow the family influence. It felt natural to share with him, and he reciprocated in kind. We even discussed future plans for managing the territories, details that I’d never shared with anyone, not even Vik or my sisters.

We’d become a partnership, and I knew without a doubt that he would never betray me. We fought still, but in unimportant ways that would always happen when two headstrong people butted heads.

I touched the brilliantly colored glass and pulled my fingers away, almost as if it had burned me.

I felt the emotions in the piece and would buy it.

The fire that created this sculpture burned hot and frightening, exactly the same way my emotions whirled inside me. They were too big, too heavy, molten, and I feared naming them.

Was it too soon? Could I really feel this much? What was happening to me? For the first time in my life, something intimidated me.

I pushed those thoughts back, blinking a few times.

I had to snap out of this. Cali would notice my mood in an instant, and so would Eli. Those two had a way of reading me when no others could.

I blew out a deep breath and glanced around me. Besa nodded as he kept a discreet distance in the background, pretending to admire a painting.

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