Page 60 of Heir of Darkness

Valerio stiffened, but he covered it up effortlessly. “It must have slipped my mind.”

Cesare’s eyes narrowed. “And you shot one of the Kingsleys’ allies for it? What was that about?”

Valerio cursed himself. Sure, he had acted a little bit irrationally, but at the time he hadn’t thought about what his father would think about it. A simple mistake on his part.

“You were so adamant about ending the contract, just to jump back into it. What game are you playing, boy?” Cesare spit out, slapping his hand against the desk. Gone was the faux calm exterior.

Valerio didn’t even flinch. After years of dealing with the man in front of him—twenty-four years to be exact—he didn’t feel anything toward his father, especially not fear.

“There is no game,” Valerio said. He kept his voice leveled.

Cesare turned his gaze to Dante. “Are you in on this too?”

He jumped in before Dante could. Their father wouldn’t do anything to Valerio because he was the heir, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t give Dante double the beating instead. “He had no part of it. He wasn’t even there.”

“Don’t tell me you actually care about the girl.”

A cold chill drifted down Valerio’s back. He didn’t answer and he refused to give his father the satisfaction of the truth.

Cesare let out a mocking laugh. “Dear God, help me. What have I told you love will do to you? It gives you a weakness, something others will use against you—against us. That girl is a liability if you give a shit about her. Had I known about your little crush, I would have never allowed the contract in the first place.”

“It’s too late,” Valerio told him.

Cesare shook his head. “It’s not too late. I can take care of the girl. Sophia’s father would be willing to sign again. I know he would.”

Sophia, the girl his father wanted him to marry before he Luna. That night, all those years ago, when he found Luna crying, he had made up his seventeen-year-old mind. He brought up the contract to his father and hers, and made valid points for how much land, money, and power they would gain through the alliance. It was all bullshit. Even the numbers Valerio created on the spot and had Dante back up so that his father would let him enter the contract with Luna. It had to look strictly business and it had to look more profitable than any other proposition. And it did. Valerio did a good job, but now it was unraveling quicker than he could get ahead of.

He was always a planner. Always two steps ahead.

And now, for the first time in his life, he wasn’t.

Valerio moved quicker than he could even comprehend. He grabbed the bottle of whiskey on the desk, slamming it against the tabletop to create a sharp edge. He was behind his father’s desk in an instant, towering over him with the sharp edge against his jugular and his hand wrapped around his father’s neck, directly under his chin.

“You will not touch my girl,” he hissed, his entire body seething with anger. “She is going to be my wife and there isn’t a single thing you, or her father, or even God could do about it. Do you understand me?”

Cesare continued choking, his face becoming increasingly red by the second. “Do you understand?” Valerio spit out again.

This time Cesare nodded, slumping into his chair to catch his breath once Valerio let him go.

He dropped the top of the bottle on the floor. “If you ever threaten her again, you will be answering to me, only this time I’ll leave you bleeding to death on the floor. Don’t ever make that mistake again.”

The room fell into a tense silence. Cesare didn’t say a word, but Valerio took that as his cue to leave the room. He swung the door open, hearing it hit against the wall violently. Dante followed after him, but neither one said a word until they were in the car, driving.

“What the fuck just happened?” Dante asked, a look of horror on his face.

Valerio just betrayed his own father. That was what happened.

TWENTY-THREE

LUNA

The sun was setting,lighting the sky up in blues, pinks, reds, and purples when Valerio came to pick Luna up for their date night and his birthday celebrations.

He had asked for a comfortable night, which meant comfortable clothing as well, declaring they would save the dressing up for tomorrow night. Luna walked out the door in some running shorts and an oversized sweatshirt. She still felt severely underdressed compared to him in his gray sweatpants and white T-shirt. Everything on him looked so much more luxurious.

She carried a little black gift bag in one hand and an overnight duffle in the other. His smirk grew, but she averted her gaze. When he called her earlier, he hadn’t explicitly stated that she was spending the night, but he also hadn’t said he was taking her home later. She just thought it was better to be prepared for anything. She also might have taken too long of a shower that included shaving everything and making sure her skin was smooth as butter, but he didn’t need to know the details.

He grabbed the duffle from her, but she refused to give him the little black bag. “You’ll see it at the cabin,” she said, standingon her toes to kiss him. “Happy birthday by the way,” she whispered.

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