Page 84 of Heir of Darkness

Everyone swore not to say anything, including Finn. He knew how important it was to stay silent. He wouldn’t have betrayed her like that. He couldn’t.

Then how did they know?

Pure fear rippled through her body. His face didn’t change—it was her mother who let her know that he had slipped up. When her eyes widened for a fraction before they went back to normal. It was like the facade had cracked for a moment, revealing a wrinkle in the plan.

She felt a pair of arms wrap around her shoulder.

“Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley, thank you for joining us,” Valerio sneered, pulling Luna into him.

“We were just giving our congrats,” Eleanora said with a fake smile.

Even Valerio’s warm hand on her shoulder couldn’t calm down the anxiety building up inside of her. They knew something; they did something.

“We need to give our toast, so if you’ll excuse us,” he said, leading them away.

Luna gripped his arm with a death hold, trying to calm her mind. He must have noticed she was off.

“What did they say?” Valerio asked, walking them towards the stage.

“They knew about the assassination attempt,” Luna said. The words felt like acid in her mouth. “They want me out of the contract.”

He stopped walking for a moment. “They said that?”

“Valerio, they seem so against it out of nowhere,” Luna said. She looked at him with fear in her eyes, fear that he didn’t seem to match but he understood. As if he already knew something she didn’t. “I’m not sure if this is a good idea anymore.”

“I knew the assholes had some role in it,” Valerio told her. He sounded like he had been thinking that for a long time. He continued walking.

“What are you talking about?” she asked. “You think they were a part of the assassination attempt?”

He didn’t say anything; he just kept walking. She pulled on his arm to stop him completely and this time he did.

“You think they did it?” she asked, this time in a whisper. Her eyes were wide, dread filling her body.

“The assassin had your family emblem tattooed on him,” Valerio said. “It’s suspicious that they’re suddenly trying to pull you out of the contract after the attempt didn’t work.”

“You really think it was my father?” Even she couldn’t believe it. Or maybe she didn’t want to believe it.

Valerio sighed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “We’ll talk about this tonight. I promise. We need to figure out how we’ll approach him now.”

She nodded, but his promise did nothing to ease the anxiety in her. Why would her father want her dead when he’d just insisted on selling her off for a better deal? Her mind shifted to how deceitful he could be.

Was it so he could try to blame Cesare Vitali for this? Say that he sent the assassin after Luna and give him a way to get her out of the contract? None of this made any sense.

Unless her father knew Valerio wouldn’t let her out of the contract and the only way out was through death. As soon as the marriage was legalized and an heir was on the way, the two families would be tied together forever. If her father was really keen on trying to separate the two before then, they weren’t safe. Who knew what he or anyone who didn’t want the marriage happening would do to make sure the two most powerful families in the world didn’t merge?

There had to be a loophole. Something no one would dare harm; something that could truly unite the two families together until they could buy some time. Either way, she had to do something.

They walked up the stairs onto the stage, Valerio holding Luna’s waist tightly.

She looked out at the crowd.

The separation of families so glaringly obvious. On the left side stood the Kingsleys, including her parents.

On the other side stood the Vitalis, with the grand guest of honor, Cesare Vitali. She didn’t know when he had shown up, or why he did for that matter. His eyes locked on Luna’s, unwavering and unblinking, devoid of any emotion and holding a promise—Luna wouldn’t survive against him. It made her skin crawl, forcing her to break the contact and look away first.

Hatred had only brought on violence, and it had almost caused her death. She was sick of it.

Luna grabbed the microphone, holding it in her shaky hand. She plastered on a smile, ignoring the look Valerio gave her.

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