this is the one thing that stands. You don’t touch what’s mine. And as my wife, she’s mine.”
“So, you did it to protect her from me.”
“From you, from our father, and from her father’s enemies.”
“Well, that was very noble of you,” he says sarcastically. “Selfless even.”
“Fuck you, Brother.”
“So you bought her a year? Doesn’t make sense. Unless…”
“I said fuck you.”
“There’s more. You wouldn’t do it if there wasn’t something in it for you. You’re hiding something, Damian.”
I don’t reply but shield my eyes as I study my brother because he knows me well. Better than I realized.
“Tell me something.” He cocks his head to the side. “What happens to The Valentina Foundation if a terrible accident were to befall Cristina, and she should perish before her time?”
I keep my mouth shut. He’s done his homework. He’s not stupid.
“It would go to her uncle. To his line,” he fills in.
“So?”
“So you’d lose control. You’d have no leverage.”
“I controlled it through him while Cristina was a minor. It wouldn’t be any different.”
“But what reason would he have to continue with that sort of arrangement? I mean, I guess he did that in part to keep her alive.”
“She was a child. There was no risk of not keeping her alive.”
“But only because her father bought those precious years with his life. So, tell me, are you more devious than I thought?”
“You’re getting involved in things that aren’t your concern.” Turning away, I pick up the bottle of whiskey on the corner of my desk and pour myself a glass.
“Just let me talk it out. See if I got it right. She’s your wife. If she were to…say…get pregnant, well, then you’d be sitting pretty, wouldn’t you? With or without her. I mean, after the baby comes and she makes you a daddy.”
I tighten my grip on the glass.
“Humor me. Is that it? Is that your plan? To impregnate your unwilling bride?”
I face him, drink my drink, and study him. My brother. My twin. My enemy.
“She deserves to know, don’t you think?”
“You don’t care about her, Lucas. Don’t pretend to.”
“Oh, I’m not. But you do have me thinking.”
“That’s a first.”
“And you know what I’m thinking? Brother?”
“I don’t give a shit.”
“You should because I’m thinking maybe that even if that is your plan, there’s still something else. Something that hasn’t quite gone how you expected.”
“And what’s that? Enlighten me.”
“You’ve got feelings for her. All your plotting didn’t account for that, did they?”
I grit my teeth and swallow hard.
“And you know what that makes her? A weakness. Have I found your weakness, Brother? Because if I have, then so will others.”
Shooting out my arm, I grip him by the throat and walk him backward to the wall, my face an inch from his.
“You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me. But I will tell you this. If you touch what’s mine, I will fucking kill you. Are we fucking clear on that?”
His grin widens even as I choke him. “Does that mean I’m right?”
“Damian,” Tobias says.
I don’t know when he entered the room, so I don’t know how much he heard.
“What?” I snap, not looking away from Lucas.
“We need to talk.”
“You watch your back, Brother,” I warn Lucas once more. “You said it yourself. A lot of accidents happen around me.”
18
Cristina
I jump when the study door flies open, and Lucas storms out, rage darkening his features.
He stops when he sees me.
I remain frozen where I am in the kitchen, one hand on the tap, the other around a glass. I’d come in here to get some water when they’d started arguing in the study. And I admit that I stood riveted.
Snooping again, Damian would say. But I don’t care. He married me to protect me. He told me that, didn’t he? Does he truly believe this is for my own good? And is it for my own good or for some personal gain of his?
Lucas’s eyes zero in on me, and he cocks his head to the side. “Get a good earful?”
I clear my throat and shake my head, turning on the tap and concentrating on filling my glass.
“No?” he asks, approaching.
I wait until the glass is all the way full before I look up at him again, using that time to try to school my features.
“No,” I lie, sipping some water.
“Well, I’ll tell you what.” He walks toward me. “Is this your phone?”
I look at the phone I’d set on the counter. I’d just been texting Liam.