Page 21 of Heir of Darkness

And yet, her life would have none of that.

She wiped her tears off her cheeks. So much for getting up early to get some work done.

A sigh escaped her lips. Crying was pointless; it wouldn’t change anything. She needed to take control of her life. Luna didn’t have a single clue on how to do that, but she needed to think of something.

Finally, the sun made its way up into the sky, coloring everything in a multitude of blues and pinks. Eventually she stood and walked into the house once again. She entered the kitchen, stopping in her tracks at a shirtless Valerio chugging a water bottle. Her throat became dry and immediately the dream from the night before clouded her mind, her breakdown forgotten for the moment.

She couldn’t stop her eyes from drawing down his body, following the trail of hair that disappeared under the low hanging gray sweats.

She snapped her eyes back to his face and his narrowed look. In a split second he set the water bottle down on the counter and stalked over to where she was standing. He grabbed her face, wiping away any tears that lingered from the chilled skin of her cheeks.

“Who made you cry?” he asked. His voice was dark and bordering on anger.

She couldn’t answer, suddenly so aware of his half-naked body pressed dangerously against hers. “No one,” she answered in a weak voice.

She needed to get out of the kitchen and sort her emotions because her mind was taking her to too many places at once.

“Don’t lie to me,” he said. “Who brought you here? Was it them?”

“I need to find Gianna,” she said, trying to sound more firm that time.

“I’ll take care of it for you.”

“It’s not serious,” she told him, shaking her head.

“It’s serious enough if you’re in my house crying.” His plump lips fell into a frown. His eyes held a dark gleam, one that promised some sort of punishment. “No one in this world has the right to disrespect you. Tell me what they said.”

“Have you ever been with anyone else? During our engagement or before?” she asked. She didn’t even know why she was asking, but the words slipped out before she could stop herself.

“No,” he answered without hesitation. “Never.”

She swallowed harshly. Dante and Allister were telling the truth? Valerio hadn’t been with anyone the entire time they wereengaged. Was it possible he wasn’t like the other mafia men she knew?

Her mind swirled bitterly with a new possibility she hadn’t wanted to discover. She pushed him away from her before regretting letting her hands touch him. She felt the goosebumps that rose on his skin from the contact, snatching her hands away as if he burned her.

Her legs pushed her out of the kitchen. She climbed up the stairs, nearly running down the hall to Gianna’s room. She slammed the door open, waking her up in a confused panic.

“What the hell? Luna? What are you doing here?” Gianna asked, sitting up with her eyes still nearly closed. “It’s too freaking early for this.”

Luna closed the door behind her, walking closer to the bed. The look on her face must have been alarming because Gianna sat up more awake now.

“What happened?” she asked more urgently.

Luna could only throw her hands up in the air.

Something felt like it had changed, and she didn’t like it one bit.

NINE

LUNA

After her breakdownearlier that left her feeling especially fragile, Luna needed a night out.

Her leather pants were tight around her hips, but they made her look extravagant. She wore a cropped black long sleeve shirt, knowing the arena was always freezing inside. Cecilia helped her curl her hair and she decided to wear a little extra makeup to hide the redness around her eyes after her cry session earlier.

After Luna had spit out the nonsense from her mind to Gianna earlier that morning, the blonde forced them into the car, where they drove back to the apartment and woke up Cecilia and Blair. Luna confessed the dream and everything Dante and Allister had said, blurting out a million thoughts per minute. She was confused and just needed someone to listen to her, and that was exactly what they did. They let her get everything out before they reassured her that she wasn’t losing her mind.

“You can’t control your dreams, but also, it doesn’t mean anything,” Blair told her.

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