Page 201 of Legacy
“You are,” she says with a sly smirk as she sips her coffee.
I exhale a chuckle, dragging a hand through my hair.
My chest tightens.
“I had you followed because I wanted to come for you. I thought about showing up at your door. Talking to your father. Making an arrangement like I did now.”
She tilts her head, voice barely above a whisper.
“Why didn’t you?”
The quiet in the room deepens. Even the city outside seems to hush.
“I didn’t have a leg to stand on,” I say, voice rough. “I spent five years trying to prove myself. Trying to get my father to step down so I could build The Sovereigns. To be—”
“To be what?”
The word is right there.Worthy.
But I choke on it.
“To be the Don,” I say instead. Shame clings to it like smoke.
She nods slowly.
“Every week, every month that I spent just watching you from a distance, it made less and less sense to go after you.”
She lets out a sharp huff, taking another sip of coffee. Her grip tightens again, the mug protesting with a soft creak.
“What?” I ask.
She lifts her brows. “I didn’t say anything.”
“But you want to.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Adriana, yes you do.”
“Scarlet.”
Her voice lands, firm.
My eyes lock with hers. “Scarlet.”
“I want to use Scarlet again. Scarlet is the one with questions.”
“You realize whatever name you use… it’s still you, right?”
She rolls her eyes, that signature snap of attitude flickering to life.
“I’m aware, Angelo.”
She sets her mug down on the coffee table a little too hard. The ceramic thuds dully against the wood.
“Why didn’t you call?” she asks, her voice more controlled than her hands.
“We were in the middle of a war, I didn’t—”
