Page 48 of Heir of Darkness

“Is that a no?” she asked.

“We can swim, but I know a nicer place that’s more private than the house I share with the three most annoying people in the world,” Valerio said. He entered the street, steering carefully between the slight traffic that had built up.

“You know you love them,” Luna muttered, leaning her head back on the seat. For leather seats, they were surprisingly comfortable. She could also feel the heat under her butt from the seat warmers.

“Unfortunately.”

“So, where are you taking me?”

“We’re going to one of the hotels my family owns,” he said. “There’s a penthouse reserved for us that has an indoor pool.”

She snorted. “I didn’t know I signed up for the Vitali business tour.”

He shrugged. “Not my fault my family owns a big portion of the city.”

“How much money do you have?” she asked. “That has to be illegal.”

“Who are you? The Feds?” he asked.

“I don’t think I’m cut out for that type of job,” she told him, looking out the window. “I’m built for something less stressful.”

“Like what?”

She was silent for a moment. “I’ve never actually thought about it. Once I was told I would be getting a husband, I just kind of assumed I wouldn’t get to do anything with my life just like my mom. She just kind of exists, it seems. I didn’t tell you that to make you feel bad or anything,” she added. “I just want to be honest and I’m sick of hiding how I feel. And maybe that’s more of a hit on my father than on you. Truth is, I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive him for what he did to my life. If given the choice, I think I would prefer to put a bullet into his head.” She gasped, opening her eyes that she hadn’t even realized she’d closed. She turned to Valerio. “Please don’t tell anyone I said that. I didn’t mean it.”

“I would never tell a soul, even if you decided to do it,” he told her.

“Have you ever thought about it?” she asked.

“Killing your father?”

“No, killing yours.”

“One time, but even that was too dark for me,” he told her. This time he focused his gaze on the road, speeding up.

“When?” she asked. She was always too curious for her own good.

“When my mother killed herself because she couldn’t handle being married to him any longer,” Valerio admitted. The words felt like venom leaving his lips, but the truth was out in the open for the both of them to deal with.

“Were they arranged?” Luna asked, but her voice was more of a whisper.

“She was pregnant with me,” he told her. “My father couldn’t have his heir out in the world unprotected. He couldn’t have the mother of his child open to the same dangers either. AKA your family if they found out. The story sounds too familiar, huh?”

She shook her head. “I wasn’t thinking that.”

“It’s hard not to compare you to her, and me to my father,” Valerio said. There was a bite to his voice, but she knew it wasn’t intended for her.

“I’m not pregnant,” she said. “There’s one difference.”

“One day you will be.”

“If you’re so scared of that happening, why did you decide to marry me?” she asked in genuine curiosity.

“Maybe it’s the hope that we’ll be different,” he said.

Luna was silent for a second. “My mother and father were arranged too. I wonder what she would have been like if her life had been different.”

“I guess we’ll never know,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

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