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“Yes,” I admitted, keeping my shoulders straight. “I am pregnant.”
Unexpectedly, a smile spread across my father’s face as he settled back into his chair. “You should be pleased. You have accomplished exactly what you should have.”
The way he said that left me feeling gross and violated. I didn’t want to think that was all that mattered to him: how I had been sold off like a broodmare. And all for what? To advancehiscause? To advancehisgoals?
Carefully, I pushed back the chair. “I don’t feel so well.”
“Sit.” He stood up, irritation on his face. “And eat.”
Shaking my head, I placed my napkin on my still-full plate. “I’m sorry, Father. I can’t.”
“Unacceptable!” He slammed his palm on the table. “You will sit, and you will finish your meal!”
I couldn’t take it any longer. “You know what is unacceptable? The fact that you hid Luca’s pin from me! You knew that I gave it to him! You knew it mattered to me! Why didn’t you give it to me when Aleksey returned it to you?”
My father stared at me for a full minute. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You know what I’m talking about,” I shot back, clenching my hand into a fist. “Just give it to me.”
That was all I wanted, but not because it was my brother’s. I wanted some proof that Aleksey wasn’t lying to me about it. I wanted to believe my husband. I wanted to believe that he had been truly remorseful for killing my brother.
Because it would make what my life had become a hell of a lot easier.
“I don’t have it,” he finally said. “Korolev must have kept it as a trophy after killing Luca.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “He told me he gave it back to you.”
The slap came out of nowhere, my ears ringing and my cheek burning from his hand. I stumbled back, blinking to clear the tears that had suddenly welled in my eyes.
He pointed his finger at me like a gun. “Don’t you fuckingdarecall me a liar!”
“Then at least let me see Luca’s grave!” I fought back, swallowing the emotion in my voice. It wasn’t the first time my father had hit me, but dammit, it was going to be the last. This would be the last time I was in his presence if he didn’t give me what I wanted.
I was tired of doing his bidding.
“You will not disturb the dead because of some lie that your husband told you.”
“It wasn’t a lie,” I answered. “I know it wasn’t!”
A short laugh escaped my father. “Then you are a bigger fool than I had thought. If you came back to New York for this, then you’ve been sent here on an empty goose chase. You should go back to Chicago, search his belongings. I’m sure you’ll find the pin that you’re looking for, and you will know who has really been lying to you.”
I snorted. His words couldn’t be further from the truth. “You have always manipulated me,” I said softly, my cheek throbbing. “Even with Dylan.”
“So you want to dredge up the memory of every single dead person tonight?” My father stepped forward. I fought the urge to shrink back from his presence. “Do you not realize that I always protected you and your brother?”
“Protected?” I countered. “Is that what you call it? YoumurderedDylan. You sent Luca to his death. And now you’ve married me to the man who killed him!”
“Don’t you think I know that?!” he bellowed. “Do you know what I sacrificed by handing you over to Korolev? If I had been given a choice, you would never have married the bastard.”
His words shocked me to my core.A choice?He hadn’t wanted me to marry Aleksey? But he had signed the agreement. He had chosen to unite us.
Right?
“You are myheir,Elia,” he added. “Do you really believe that I would have given you away like this?”
He wasn’t wrong…And God help me, I believed him. My father had always put the Mafia first, which meant that the Korolevs had forced him into this.
Oh God. Did Aleksey know? Did he know what had been on the table the day that the agreement was signed?
