Page 54 of Savage Grace

Theo’s mouth pressed into a hard line as he nodded.

“Get.Fucked.”

He barked a laugh at that, while I scrambled to sit up further in my seat.

“If you don’t want to inherit a bajillion shopping centres, I will trade you right here right now,” I said with wide eyes. I held out my hand for him to shake on it, but he playfully slapped it away.

“My dad’s not dead! He still owns them, not me!”

“Come on! Just onewittleshopping centre.” I jutted out my bottom lip, and I was on my knees in the seat.

Theo’s mood had lightened, and I smiled at him as he chuckled, swatting me away while he tried to concentrate on the road. I knew that the kids we went to school with were all rich—but Theo wasreally-fuckin-rich.

While I could understand the issues he might have had with his family, I still couldn’t quite understand why he wouldn’t just take his trust fund and do what he wanted forever. Surely he didn’t need to be working his way up the ranks for a crime family.

Why work at all?

I supposed maybe he felt similar to me and why I could never give up BoredHeaux. I didn’t want to just be the mafia heiress. I wanted something to pour into, to dedicate my life and time to, to create a name for myself. Not just carry on the reputation that had been handed to me.

Maybe Theo and I were more alike than I thought.

“Wait,” I frowned, finally paying attention to our surroundings once again. The city lights were gone, so was the traffic. We passed mansion after mansion. The street was more familiar than any other I knew. “You were gonna take me home, right?”

Theo offered me a sad smile, and I knew that I was wrong.

“Fuck,” I huffed, slumping back into my seat and glaring at the sight of Antoni’s home.

Well, our old family home.

As soon as Antoni became Don, Mum moved out. It was only a few weeks after Dad passed, and the woman was probably in no state to be packing up a lifetime of things and moving.

Of course, she had been the one to insist, as it was what our dad would have wanted.

It was theDon’shome.

There were, as usual, a mass of cars littered all over the massive driveway. Any unsuspecting passerby might think that they were hosting a party. But I was sure by now that the neighbours would be used to the sight.

Day and night, people came and went.

And as expected, once I stepped foot into the foyer and looked around, the usual chatter of absolute chaos filled the space. But even I could sense that something was different. It wasn’t chaos for the sake of chaos.

Something had happened.

I could feel it deep in my stomach. It churned and twisted and felt like a heavy weight had been dropped on top of my abdomen. A flurry of swears and curses rushed past me as the people did, all their voices strung high and tight.

Whatever it was, it was bad.

I caught eyes with Theo, and I could tell by the look on his face that he was thinking the exact same thing.

We followed the commotion to the dining room, peering around the group of bodies to get a glimpse of the figure that sat crouched over on the chair at the head of the table.

“Toni?” I gasped, pushing my way through the crowd and dropping to my knees in front of him.

He looked up and forced an unsettling attempt at a smile.

My eyes scanned him, looking for the source of the blood trail that led to where he sat, but found none. Instead, he curled back over, hands on his thighs and wincing.

“What’s happening?”

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