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“I was just telling her to behave.” Luca recovers quickly and steps through the door.
Turning his attention back to me, Nicolai straightens himself. “Welcome to Stonewood Estate, Miss Reed.” He speaks to me as though I am a welcomed guest.
I don’t answer him. The last time I saw the lion, he mauled me with his malice. Just as he is about to say something, a woman appears at the bottom of the staircase with a small child. Nicolai smiles affectionately at her.
“I would like to introduce you to my wife Sofia and son Jackson.” He holds his arm open for Sofia to join him at his side. With a cautionary look at me, she slowly walks over to us.
Sofia is stunning, naturally beautiful, with dark hair and sapphire eyes. Tiny in stature but big in presence. She dominates the room with her confidence and poise. The sweet little boy's hands are wrapped around her neck tightly, his eyes a mirror of his mother’s. Nicolai regards them both with an affection I thought wouldn’t ever be possible of him showing.
“Lovely to meet you, Scarlet.” She smiles at me, and I return it as best I can, all the while confused as to why he has invited me to his home and introduced me to his family.
“We were just about to step into a meeting,” Nicolai informs her.
I watch her look over me with a curiosity of her own. I certainly am not dressed like I am here for a business meeting. My jeans and knitted sweater feel way too casual for not only a meeting but this place altogether. I stick out like a thorn on a rose.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was just trying to put Jackson down for his nap, but he keeps demanding to have his truck, but I can’t find it anywhere.”
“Is this what you're looking for?” Luca holds out the little toy truck he’d picked up from the base of the stairs.
“Tuck, tuck.” The little boy's eyes light up as his hand reaches out for it.
“That’s the one,” Sofia says, sounding relieved.
Luca passes the toy to Jackson and scruffs his hair with a smile. Sofia smiles, but it’s strained and false. I get a distinct feeling there is some tension between the two.
“Say ta ta Uncle Luca.” Jackson curls his little hand up and opens it again.
“Ta ta Luc Luc,” he says with the cutest little lisp. Luca waves and winks at him, causing Jackson’s eyes to giggle. My ovaries burst at the site. He really is adorable. Sadness fills me all at once with the realization I will never be a mother. I hadn’t really thought about it up until now. Pain stabs hard and fast in my chest at the loss of something I never knew I wanted.
“I will let you get to your meeting.” Sofia turns to Nicolai. “Maybe now that he has his truck, he will go to sleep.” Nicolai smiles warmly at her and kisses Jackson’s forehead.
As Sofia leaves, she glances back at me with an empathetic smile. Does she know who I am and what her husband is going to do to me? Is that why she is looking at me like I am so fragile? How does she do it? How does she love a man like Nicolai, knowing the things he does? But as my mind wanders through the research I did on this family, I remember she used to be a Kastrati. A mob princess now turned queen. I guess she never knew any different. I wonder if their marriage was arranged or if they fell in love? The way she looked at Nicolai earlier certainly spoke of love and respect.
“Let's take this into my office, shall we?” Nicolai pipes in, interrupting my thoughts. I follow behind Luca as we walk the stone-walled hallway and into an office. It’s so masculine. Every aspect of it screams wealth and power from the dark mahogany desk and bookshelves To the red velvet chairs and, French windows with a terrace that overlooks the magnificent gardens.
“Please take a seat, Miss Reed,” Nicolai orders, and I do. After meeting his wife and son, my heart has stopped hammering so hard in my chest. I am sure he would not have Luca murder me on the very grounds his family sleeps. I don’t know why but that settles me a little, and I am able to sit with a clearer focus.
“You're probably wondering why I brought you to my home today?” he asks as he takes a seat in the chair behind his desk. Luca stands behind me. Joe remains outside the office door.
“You see, Miss Reed, I am a family man. I love my wife and son and would do anything necessary to protect them. When you threaten me, you are threatening them also. Expose me. You hurt them.”
I swallow his words bitterly. Is he trying to manipulate me? He is clever. I will give him that. He wants me to see the faces, know the names of the people I will hurt if I bring him down. Knowing I am nothing like him and recognizing that I have a conscience, he is using that to his advantage.
“It was never my intention to hurt anyone. I was just after the story. I thought it would help my career.”
“I think we both know that is not entirely the truth.” Nicolai places his hands on the table in front of him. “While I do believe you did not know about your brother, you were out for revenge when you sold pictures and information from Alessio and Eden’s wedding.”
“I just wanted my life back,” I interrupt. “After the story went live. I was a sitting duck.”
“Your actions have repercussions.”
I shake my head, mocking a laugh. “You don’t think I am well aware of that? I have spent the last week locked up in your broody brother's apartment. That’s punishment alone.”
Luca tugs down on some strands of my hair subtly. A silent warning to cooperate. Nicolai smirks at me. “I like you, Miss Reed. You have a wittiness about you that most others tend to subdue around me, but you’re gutsy enough to not hide yourself or your opinions from me.”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” I raise a brow.
“It is a shame. It is what it is,” he corrects me with a serious glare.
