Page 86 of Heir of Darkness

She opened her mouth to talk, but the door flying open with Finn and Augustus stopped her once again.

Luna expected Finn to say something threatening, something awful and horrible, but he was silent. He just looked between Luna and Valerio. He was unusually pale for the outrage that was caused a moment ago.

“Save the fucking lecture; your father already made his point known,” Valerio told him, pacing the room.

Finn looked at her. “Were you pregnant when that man broke in? Did anyone know? Anyone like our father?”

Luna huffed, throwing her arms up. “I’m not pregnant.”

The entire room went silent. She was sure a feather falling would be heard like an avalanche. At that moment, she wished she could be buried by an avalanche to avoid the angry gaze Valerio threw at her.

“You’re not pregnant?” he asked, stalking toward her. “Then what the fuck were you thinking announcing something like that? Do you know what you’ve done?”

“Don’t talk to me like that,” Luna said. “I did what I had to do. My parents were going to do whatever they had to in order to get me out of our contract and marry me to someone else. I needed to do something to protect myself.”

“You protected yourself, but what about me? We’re in this together. We plan these things together,” Valerio hissed, running a hand through his hair.

“It doesn’t matter now. The damage is done. They’re expecting a baby in nine months,” Allister pointed out. “Both of the mafia leaders of two very important families are expecting a baby now.”

“Fucking hell, Luna,” Finn muttered. “You couldn’t think of anything else?”

“Someone wants me dead!” she cried out. “Someone you promised to catch tonight and didn’t. I took matters into my own hands.”

“You destroyed the plan completely!” Valerio screamed back. “Do you understand the consequences of what you did?”

“It tied us to each other,” Luna said.

“We would have been tied to each other when we got married. When we actually had a baby,” Valerio pointed out.

“And it would have been too fucking late because someone tried to kill me,” Luna hissed, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “Don’t you understand? We’re not safe. No one in this room is,” Luna told him, walking closer. “They’ll turn on any of us; they already have.”

The paranoia was thick in her voice, but she saw it out there. She saw it in her father, in his. She needed to protect herself, protect Valerio. This was the only way. And it had to work because if it didn’t then she just destroyed everything.

“That wasn’t your call to make,” he muttered, walking out onto the balcony. Luna’s mouth dropped open, her shoulders falling in disbelief.

“We still have the issue of everyone expecting a baby,” Dante said. “From where I’m sitting, we have a few options.”

“Like what?” Blair asked. “She gets pregnant and pops a kid out?”

“That or we tell everyone she lost the baby. It’s believable enough,” he said.

Luna was nauseous listening to them talk. She made her way out onto the balcony where Valerio stood, gripping the white rail in a death grip with his head down.

Her heart was broken, empty. She didn’t mean to cause so much heartbreak and chaos. It was miscalculated, she’d admit, but she only did what she thought she had to. If her father was willing to send someone to kill her, then what was stopping him from doing the same to Valerio? Especially after their engagement party and everything he had told her.

Reece Kingsley wouldn’t harm the father of her child, wouldn’t harm her while she was pregnant. At least she prayed to God he wouldn’t. It bought them some time.

“I’m sorry,” she told him, walking closer. “I only did what I thought would protect us.”

He lifted his head slightly but still didn’t acknowledge her fully. “You could have warned me. I thought you were pregnant, Luna. That really fucked with my head.”

She stepped closer, running her hand along his arm. “You’re right. I should have told you.”

He sighed, lifting his head. “I don’t know how we’re going to get out of this.”

“I’ll get pregnant,” she said. “If it’ll make things easier, then we’ll have a baby.”

“I will not use my child as collateral in this war,” Valerio said. He turned to face her now, towering over her frame with his. “We’ll figure something out.”

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