Page 9 of Vicious Heir

“It comes and goes,” she comments, sighing as she turns and bustles around him. “How are we today, Salvatore?” She talks to him in both English and Italian, but he only mumbles in response. It’s unclear if he’s following her or if he even knows who she is.

I linger a little while longer, but it breaks my heart watching Donatella help my father eat. I turn away as the darkness in my chest threatens to overwhelm me.

That’s my fate. That’s my future. The chair is waiting for me, the fog, the mists that rise around him. One day I’ll be just like my father. All men fall, and I’ll fall harder than most.

I’m in an ugly mood as I head through the house. The Marino Mansion is in the heart of South Philadelphia, right in themiddle of the most Italian section of the city. This is the birthplace of crime, mummers, and hoagies.

Luca’s waiting for me at the table downstairs. “You’ve got a busy day,” he says, walking me through the afternoon’s schedule. Meetings with some of my Capos, visits to some of my businesses, and an evening at Velvet Echo cleaning up after the most recent orgy.

“I meant to say you.” I pretend like it doesn’t matter as I pour myself some coffee. “Did that girl get home safely?”

Luca grunts and looks away. “She called her own car. Insisted on it, actually. But we followed her and made sure she was fine.”

“And it was the Willing-Morris girl like I thought?”

“Went to the Willing-Morris house, so yeah, I’ve got to assume it was her.”

“That’s good.” I take a sip and glance toward the window. How many more sunny mornings does my father have? How many more do I? “Did she take the card?”

“I doubt she’ll call, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“I’m not too worried about that. I’m marrying the girl soon enough.”

“Boss, if you knew who she was the whole time, why the game?”

I smile slightly and shrug. “Because games are fun, and besides, if she wanted me to know who she was, she wouldn’t have kept the mask on. I decided to honor her wishes.”

“What a respectful guy.”

“I doubt she’d agree with that.” I refill my coffee mug. “How’s your sister doing, by the way?”

“Carmela’s good like always. Living her best life.”

“Glad to hear it.” I spend a moment composing myself. Last night’s encounter with my future wife is seared into my memory. Her sweet moans, the taste of her tongue, the way she came for me and begged for more…

I take a deep breath and blow it out.

Attachments are distractions.

My time is fleeting, and I’m going to spend it doing the only thing I care about.

Making my family even more powerful than it already is.

Lucy Willing-Morris is only a means to that end. Her family name will open social doors that are currently closed to me, and her family’s investment firm will be the perfect front for laundering the vast amounts of money currently pouring into my organization’s coffers.

It doesn’t matter if the sex was extremely good. It matters even less that she’s the first woman I’ve touched since my father took an ugly turn.

The Marino Famiglia is everything.

“Let’s get to work then,” I tell my cousin, and we leave the house together.

Chapter 4

Lucy

Istare at myself in the mirror, trying to recognize the girl that looks back.

But she’s a total stranger.

---