Page 59 of Sins of the Father
Her stomach clenched.More blood.
“Would you give it up for me?” The question tore from her before she could stop it.
Luc’s gaze sharpened. “Give up what?”
“Your war. The Bonino territory. If they knew you weren’t after it anymore, maybe they’d stop.”
A cruel smile curved his mouth—cold and familiar. For a heartbeat, she saw the man she had once feared.
“No,” he said. “I won’t give it up. “I want their seat of power so I can use it to strengthen my position on the Commission. Like my father and grandfather, I will be its head one day—and I’ll get there by gathering power.”
“Even if you taking that power puts me in danger,” she whispered.
His fingers tightened in her hair.
“You make me feel things I have never before felt for anyone, but what I feel for you and business areseparate. This is why a man shouldn’t let a woman weaken him. The line gets fucking blurred.”
Pain lanced through her chest. Of course, she was not worth as much as power. She broke. The first sob ripped from her throat, violent and unrestrained. Then another. And another.
Luc didn’t move, didn’t flinch. He absorbed every blow of her grief—the anger, the fear, the unbearable weight of survival. When her legs gave out, he caught her, lifting her effortlessly.
He carried her to bed. Held her through the aftershocks. His fingers traced slow, steady circles over her spine until the trembling eased.
When dawn bled through the curtains, Mia realized something worse than fear had taken root inside her—gratitude. For the man who had made her a target. For the hands that had stained her even as they sheltered her. For the devil who kept her alive in a world determined to see her dead.
She lay still, listening to his heartbeat beneath her ear, steady and strong. He had drifted into sleep, his face unguarded, almost boyish in repose. It was the only time he looked human—when he thought she wasn’t watching.
Her fingers curled into the sheets.One day, I’ll run, and you won’t find me, Luc.
The thought should have been a comfort. Instead, it cut deep, sharp as glass, because somewhere between his violence and his vows, she had started to trust him. Worse—she was falling for him.
Leaving might destroy her just as surely as staying would.
The way his voice softened when he said her name. The way he had taken a bullet without hesitation. The way he looked at her like she was precious, even though he could crush her without remorse. And that was the cruelest truth of all. He could love her, and still never stop being what he was.
Luc stirred in his sleep, his arm tightening around her, possessive even in rest.
Mia closed her eyes against the tears that burned.
What kind of fool falls in love with her own cage?
Mia woketo the soft creak of the bedroom door. Her mind was still heavy with exhaustion, her body aching as sunlight slipped through the narrow parting in the drapes. She rolled over, pressing her face into the pillow. Her chest ached. Her heart was at war. And she despised the uncertainty and the gnawing indecision she couldn’t seem to escape.
“Do you plan to go back to sleep?”
Mia smiled faintly into the pillow before turning. Bianca sat on the edge of the bed, watching her with that quiet, patient understanding only old friends possessed. Her eyes were swollen and rimmed with red, and Mia realized she must have been crying for hours.
“You’re thinking yourself into a hole,” Bianca said softly.
Mia pushed herself upright, the sheets twisted around her legs. “Maybe I’m trying to see the bottom of it.”
Bianca tilted her head. “And?”
Mia let out a long breath. “I can’t see my future, and that terrifies me. Once, I had everything mapped out. Teaching at the convent. Marrying someone kind and ordinary. A little house, a few children. A quiet, predictable life.” Her voice trembled. “Now, I look at next week and can’t even imagine what it will bring. There are no rules anymore, no boundaries. It’s like life is something I’m supposed to live—but I don’t know how to livethisone. I probably sound ridiculous.”
Bianca’s smile was faint, sad. “You make perfect sense. I thought you were so lucky, you know? Having a man like Luc Valachi. But last night…” She shuddered. “I’ve never been soafraid. And still, I knew you’d survive. Because that man would burn the world before letting anyone hurt you.”
Mia bit the inside of her cheek, tasting copper. “I don’t know if I can love someone who does the things he does. Who expects danger at every turn.”
