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Alec is still watching, his eyes flitting between me and the clap of footsteps on the stairs. He strides over and drops the cup of coffee on the kitchen counter while my heart keeps beating with the sound of her on the stairs.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Xander. It's not just your heart on the line this time. There's more than an empire on your shoulders." His words are almost whispered, but they scissor their way under my skin in many ways.
I have responsibilities now. And Melissa will be part of them soon enough. It's time to see her as she really is.
Just business. One I want to bind to me at all hours of the fucking day, but still just business.
Besides, if I'm not careful, I might end up hurting her too, with my almost obsessive need for her.
11
MEL
Father's office is cold despite the heatwave this summer. The air conditioning is strong, regardless of his doctor's order to tune it down. The cold is bad for his heart, and the pains rock his chest most nights.
He doesn't listen. Just as he isn't listening to me right now. He's a stubborn man, just like me.
"I can't move in with him, father. What about Lucian?" I flick a look at my watch and frown. I should be at Amory Corp right now.
But I'm here at my father's house, in his home office. This seems like a meeting more than a conversation. And I know it's no mistake that he's chosen this room to inform me I'm moving into Xander's house in two days.
Father shrugs but doesn't hold my eyes. He peers at the bust of himself on his table, a gift from my brother Daniel on his birthday three years ago.
"He's bound to find out soon. He's not stupid. And you'll never let Lucian stay here."
How can he ask that? Lucian goes with me. I haven't severed myself from society for almost six years, only to let him go now.
I glower at him, trying to stop the rampant tremble of my hands, winding one around the other on my lap. "Father! This is a contract. We don't even need to live together."
"And what kind of marriage is that? What image does it send of the unity in our ranks if the very head of the Famiglias live in separate homes?"
I squeeze my eyes closed and relax into the seat. He's right. The marriage is to resolve the feud between our family. Living in separate homes sort of defeats the purpose of the entire thing.
But after last night, the last thing I want to do is be stuck in the same house with Xander. We'll never be able to keep our hands off each other. And it would be an insane idea, especially with Lucian in that house.
"What do I do? I can't help worrying. His family can't protect me against the extent of his anger. He's liable to crush them too."
As he would crush me too.
Xander is a possessive man. Learning I had kept his son and heir away from him this entire time would send him into a blind rage. I open my eyes and latch onto my father's hard eyes.
He gives me a slight smile of assurance. "He won't. He can't."
"He can. He'll be wielding control of the Famiglia. He will be able to do all he wants. There will be nothing to stop him this time. And there will be no shade of earth to hide in. Not with us in the same house." My heart speeds up, and I swipe a wet palm across the length of my dress.
"He won't hurt you, Mel. I would hunt him. Besides, we both know he's not over you." A quick smile tugs at the corner of his lips. "Romero says you spent the night at his home."
There is no reason for the flutter in my stomach or the heat creeping from the corner of my ears to the apples of my cheeks. I splay my hand on the desk and keep my eyes from his.
"So it's that way, huh? And you worry? You'll be fine, Amor." He pats my hand on the table.
"I'm not worried about me, Father. I worry he'll use Lucian as a chip. Some way to control me. He's a madman. I refuse to put anything past him."
The beat in my chest is rising higher and higher, until I feel it would choke me, until I feel I can't breathe beyond the boulder of fear lurking like a monster in my stomach.
Father waits a moment, dragging in a measure inhale of air so his chest rises and falls. "He's not a monster. He doesn't need to control you. Have you ever thought me a monster?"
"Mother didn't hide your children from you. It might have been a different tale if she had. Imagine the story when everyone finds out."
