AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You can’t make me get rid of this child.”
“We’ll have it tested when able, and if it is his, you will get rid of it, or else I will get rid of you both.”
I scrubbed my hand down my face. I couldn’t allow her to carry that thing inside of her that long. I needed to get rid of the child now, and if she fought me on it, I’d have to kill her, too. I closed my eyes and let out an incoherent string of curses under my breath. I should be focused on business matters right now, especially in the light of my father’s recent death. Others that worked under Stefano and still maintained their loyalty to him were gunning for me. I was losing my fucking focus, and that was certainly an added bonus for her. And for them. The Catalanos. As long as I was tied up into knots over Viviana’s pregnancy, I would be distracted and that could spell the end of my entire family.
The Vaccaros’ rivalry with the Catalanos was well documented, and a half decade ago, had even been the cause of a turf war we’d eventually won. I’d thought I’d beaten them... had emerged victorious... It’d all been fucking arrogance because they had an ace in their pocket that neither my father nor I had been aware of. They had Viviana, and they knew she’d destroy us from within. She seduced her way into my father’s bed, and mine, then used us against one another until I took his life. I’d then been so stupid to let her live afterward. Because of that mistake, she was now pregnant and I had another problem on my hands. While I was holed up in my office and drinking myself to a stupor, she was working with them on their next move. I was playing fucking checkers while they were playing chess, and their smiling faces when with her a few days ago was proof.
“I’ll kill you all before I lose my birthright,” I swore.
I needed to start with her. There were so many ways I could kill her. For starters, I could slice her pretty, little throat and watch her bleed out. I could also strangle the life right out of her, and maybe even fuck her tight pussy while doing so. I’d come so hard as she took her last breath. Hell, the very thought made my cock painfully hard. I could also poison her like the maidens in those fairytales my mother used to read, or just set up an accident like the one that had happened before with my mother. If the Catalanos were implicated in the death of another, my entire organization would fight to their deaths to take them out.
“But not you,” I said, still talking to myself like I was crazy. Hell, maybe I was. She certainly drove me there, and it wasn’t a long drive at all.
No one could touch her. If she had to be taken out, I’d be the one to do it. I just needed to figure out when and where. The how would naturally come after. I exhaled sharply, then raked a hand through my hair. The other night, I had more than enough chances to end her life, but I’d been too determined to make her submit to me. And she did. Viviana was so goddamned beautiful, and I was powerless to resist her. I kept allowing her to bait me, and who knows, she could be using my weakness for her on purpose. She almost sacrificed herself to avenge her friend’s death. What, and who else, would she sacrifice herself for?
I picked up the flask and took another few swigs of the gin. The liquor was something we made up north, but even it didn’t help my sour mood. “Nothing can help you, figlio.”
I growled at the voice in my head, and even shook it as if the physical motion would help. The last thing I needed was the devil on my shoulder, and one who took the form of the man I hated most. I tried to ignore it, but he got louder. “Fuck off!”
I got up and started to pace. “She’s playing you, but you’re too weak to do anything about it.”
I growled, and not because there was no truth in his words. I continued to burn the carpet up with my long strides as I walked around in circles.
“Show me how to please you, Naz.”
“What kind of game are you playing?”
Why must I be playing with you. Are you really some toy able to be easily manipulated?”
Hardly. You’re crossing a dangerous line, not just with me, but with the man you pretend to love.”
“I hate him.”
“And you hate me, too.”
“I do, but I want you.”
And God help me because I still wanted her, too. As I walked back to my desk and was about to sit down, another set of voices entered my head, this time the woman’s voice was my mother’s.
“Stefano, please don’t send our son away.”
“What good is he? Nazario will never be able to run this empire. Between his eyes and his heart...”
My heart? I knew he considered me weak, but I was transported to a time when I’d been much younger, probably no older than seven. My parents were on the outside lanai as I stood undetected in the doorway. Neither saw me, and I had ducked behind the heavy, ornate drapes before they could.
“His heart is strong now, Stefano. You heard the doctor.”
The doctor? I didn’t remember ever seeing one and for something heart related. I obviously looked into the mirror every day and saw the different colored eyes staring back at me, but my heart… I brought my hand to my chest. I didn’t really have one anymore, not after Kristalina and my mother. Or so, I thought. Viviana had worked her way inside it somehow.
“It’s hereditary and on your side. You heard the doctor. Any other heir you give me, or him, could carry the same genes. I want another son, but I won’t have one with you.”
I could now remember the way my mother sobbed, then begged my father to reconsider. It all made sense now. Stefano didn’t trust me to carry on our bloodline because I would give a child the same defective heart I’d had. Or still had. Hell, who knew? I sure as fuck didn’t, nor did I care. My thoughts then turned to Viviana. If she wasn’t carrying my brother, and was carrying my son instead, then he would be at risk for whatever it was I’d been born with. Whatever it was that cursed me in my father’s eyes since birth.
I picked up the gin, and this time, I kept taking swig after swig until I downed the entire thing. After, I wiped my mouth and stared at the door. I needed to investigate what I’d heard, and if any of it was true, Viviana had to get rid of this child. There was no other option.
VIVIANA
I was tired of walking on eggshells whenever I ventured out of my room. I had no idea what had happened during the time I was gone, but since I returned, everyone I came in contact with would just flash sympathetic looks at me. I didn’t want their pity, or anyone else’s. I had no idea what was going on with Nazario because he wouldn’t talk to me. He flayed me open the night I returned from Sicily, then treated me as an afterthought ever since.
