Page 57 of Vicious Heir

“I did what I had to do to protect my family,” she says simply.

I let that sink in. It’s true, all of it. Helena offered her granddaughter to Demir as part of their arrangement, but she went back on her agreement to him and married the girl to me instead.

She pushed me into a war with Gray Wolf without ever saying a word.

The clever fucking bitch.

“Why would you get me involved in this? Demir’s got power and influence. If that’s all you needed, why not let Lucy marry him like you promised?”

She scowls at me like I’m the dumbest man alive. “Do you really think I’d ever let my blood get near that Turkish pig? You think I’d let my granddaughter, useless as she is, breed with that animal? You’re bad, Adriano, but your organization is nowhere near as bad as Gray Wolf.”

“This is about racism? You can’t stand the idea of your granddaughter marrying a Turkish man, so you decided to start a war?”

She barks a sharp laugh. “If only it were that simple. I don’t care aboutrace. This is about morality. From the outside, Gray Wolf smuggles stolen artifacts. And that’s true; they have a stranglehold over the high-end antiques business all over the world thanks to their private auctions and their authentication services. But they smuggle far more than just a bunch of old paintings and pottery.”

I tilt my head. From what I know, Gray Wolf really does stick to their specialty. There are always rumors, but I’ve mostly ignored those since I don’t have any business with them.

“You’re talking about the girls.”

Her mouth twitches as she nods, eyes narrowed. “Young girls. The younger, the better. I didn’t know about any of this when I first made the deal with Demir, but once the weight of our financial struggles began to lift thanks to the loan he gave me, I began to research my future family members. And I did not like what I found.”

She stands and drifts over to the window. Her body language is tense, but she retains her quiet dignity. I doubt this woman’s ever been out of control of herself, at least not for a very, very long time.

“Preteens from Jakarta,” she says quietly like she’s listing off items on a shipping container. And maybe that’s what she’s doing. “Sisters from Indonesia. A dozen girls taken from an orphanage in rural China. Six more from Pakistan. More from war-torn Syria, the Philippines, every poverty-stricken corner of this world where awful people will do awful things to survive. Gray Wolf uses their smuggling network to move the girls to where they need to be. Typically to yachts anchored off various private islands. Sometimes to mansions right here in the States. Wealthy people have all sorts of tastes, Adriano, and there is always a market somewhere.”

I sit back and let it wash over me. It’s one thing to run sex workers—there are plenty of men in my position who will gladly employ dozens of OnlyFans models—but another entirely to turn girls into glorified sex slaves. My hands curl as I try to picture all the horrors these rich fucks get away with, protected by their enormous bank accounts and their power. While somehow, I’m the monster. I’m the mantheyhate.

“How did you learn about all this?” I ask finally.

“Sources inside the various operations.” She waves a hand dismissively. “I can provide proof, but I suspect you don’t need it.”

“What, you grew a conscience?”

“Don’t talk to me about a conscience,” she snaps, turning to glare at me with ice in her eyes. “I’ve done many things to protect my family, but even I have lines I won’t cross.”

I lean back and consider. “Let me understand this then. You realized you promised your granddaughter to a human trafficking piece of shit, and you panicked. You couldn’t stomachthe thought of being related to those people. You went looking for someone else.”

“Not just anyone else,” she says, staring right at me now. “I needed someone with enough money to help my family, someone in need of a bride with a good name, and someone with enough power to stop Demir and Gray Wolf when they inevitably had issues with my betrayal. Which is why I chose you.”

Well, fuck me.

I hate to admit it, but I’m impressed.

The conniving old snake found a perfect patsy in me. She played it magnificently as well. Somehow, she kept her secret until after the wedding, after it was already finalized.

But she didn’t consider one thing.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t divorce Lucy right now and leave you all to the wolves?”

She shakes her head and returns to her chair. “You won’t do that.”

“I didn’t sign up for a war.”

“But you won’t let Demir take Lucy. You’re not that kind of man.”

“You don’t know me that well.”

She picks up her bag and rests it under her arm. “You married her, Adriano. She’s your wife now. I’m not so naive as to think you haven’t consummated the relationship. Whatever there is between you two, I don’t think you’ll throw her away now, not knowing what’ll happen if you do. You can hate me all you want. Blame me for this. But you will protect Lucille. You will protectthe fund and the Willing-Morris family. You have no other choice.”

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